This randomized, controlled study examined the effectiveness of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) in school settings with 48 low-income Latino immigrant parents whose children were identiÞed with behavioral concerns. Results from a 2 (group) × 2 (measures) split plot analysis of variance indicated that parents who participated in 11 weeks of CPRT reported statistically signiÞcant decreases (p < .001) in child behavior problems and parent -child relationship stress. Large treatment effects were demonstrated for all dependent variables. Clinical signiÞcance of Þndings and cultural considerations are discussed. C 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This pilot study examined the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) with 54 low income preschool children (42% African American, 39% Hispanic, and 18% Caucasian) identified with clinical levels of disruptive behaviors. Children were assigned to the experimental treatment, CCPT, or to the active control, reading mentoring (RM), through block randomization. Results from a 2 (group) × 3 (measures) split plot analysis of variance indicated that according to teachers blinded to children's treatment group assignment, experimental group children demonstrated a statistically significant decrease (p < .05) in disruptive behaviors compared with the RM group across 3 points of measurement. Post hoc analysis showed that children receiving CCPT demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .025) in aggression and attention problems. Regarding practical significance of the findings, CCPT demonstrated large ηp2 treatment effects ranging from .17 to .34. Of the 27 children receiving CCPT, 21 children moved from clinical levels of behavioral concern at pretest to more normative levels of functioning following treatment, thus establishing the clinical significance of CCPT as an early mental health intervention for at-risk children in Head Start.

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Evidence-based school counseling requires that practitioners and scholars utilize formal counseling theory. Theories that inform school counseling must cohere with the unique needs of students and school environments. Therefore, we propose that school counseling theories must include the following constituents: (a) qualities of students and school environments, (b) empirical and professional endorsements, (c) school counseling customs, and (c) methodological relevance. We describe the utility of these constituents through example using a school counseling–specific theory, the Advocating Student-within-Environment approach.

This article reports the findings of a survey that investigated social justice attitudes among play therapists (N = 448) and its relation to multicultural supervision and multicultural education. Descriptive statistics and a Pearson correlations test were used to analyze results. Results indicated that social justice attitude was positively correlated to the number of continuing education credits, the percentage of time both receiving and providing supervision with a multicultural focus, the quality of supervision provided, and the years as a play therapist. The importance of working from a social justice paradigm and its direct impact on the work of play therapists is discussed. In addition, implications of the results, including findings from descriptive statistics, are explained.