Many children benefit from play therapy interventions because they are developmentally appropriate and allow children to speak in their native language of play. Furthermore, children are given freedom and control in the playroom to work through problems at their own pace. Reality therapy is also grounded in the idea that freedom and control are important aspects to explore for optimal client growth. Helping children examine what they want and can control in their lives allows them to think about and evaluate their choices. Evaluating what they are doing and planning for future decisions can improve children's quality world and positively impact their total behavior. In this article, we propose integrating reality therapy with play therapy. We provide specific information on reality play therapy activities and a case example to highlight how this might look in the playroom.

African American children living in poverty often experience adverse childhood conditions such as overexposure to violence, either witnessing domestic violence or community violence, or direct victimization. These conditions can cause an increase in future mental health problems. In this pilot study, 12 African American children ages 5-9 participated in six weeks of child-centered individual play therapy followed by six weeks of group play therapy. Individual and group play therapy addressed the participants' problematic behaviors as reported by teachers at an afterschool program for disadvantaged youth. Findings indicated that a combination of individual and group child-centered play therapy significantly decreased problematic behaviors affecting academic performance and the classroom overall. The combination of individual and group interventions also demonstrated a significant decrease in general worry and negative intrusive thought patterns. The results support therapists utilizing individual and group child-centered play therapy when working with children who experience adverse childhood experiences. Further research is needed to understand the impact of child-centered play therapy as a preventative intervention for children at-risk for developing mental health problems.

African American children experience higher rates of poverty than other children. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2014), not only does poverty contribute to children's poor physical and mental health, it can also impede their learning abilities and contribute to problems socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. In this single-case design study, 4 at-risk African American preschool children ages 3-5 participated in 7 weeks of Adlerian individual play therapy followed by 7 weeks of Adlerian group play therapy. This intervention was chosen to address the participants' problematic classroom behaviors, i.e., "calling out" and maintaining boundaries. Findings showed that upon completion of 7 weeks of individual Adlerian play therapy, children demonstrated questionable to moderate effect-size (ES) gains in reducing disruptive classroom behaviors. After receiving an additional 7 weeks of the Adlerian group play therapy, children demonstrated moderate to high ES improvements. Implications for play therapists working with African American preschool children living in poverty, interventions for addressing externalizing behaviors, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on preconceived ideas of the phenomenon being studied. In this article, bridling is explained, followed by a model of how to implement bridling, examples of bridling applied to phenomenological research studies involving counselors, and implications for the field.