Examining the trends of play therapy articles: A 10-year content analysis.

Abstract

The field of play therapy is rapidly growing and has been recognized as an evidencebased practice. As the field continues to grow, there is an increasing need to examine publication trends in this field to better understand areas of strengths and potential for improvements. To accomplish this goal, we conducted a content analysis of play therapy articles that were published within the years 2008 -2017. Publication trends revealed seven themes that all articles fell under, with the theory/approach theme having the most articles (44.6%). There were mixed results between research and nonresearch articles with some topics having more research articles and other topics having more nonresearch articles. Unfortunately, all topics severely lacked articles with a multicultural focus. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Teacher professional development training: Utilizing child-centered play therapy skills in the classroom.

“…CCPT has the longest history and is the most researched theoretical orientation of play therapy, with a wealth of outcome research supporting its effectiveness (Yee et al, 2019). Research, including multiple meta-analytic studies, supports the efficacy of CCPT for positive emotional and behavioral outcomes (Bratton et al, 2005; Leung, 2015; Lin & Bratton, 2015).…”

Relational–cultural play therapy supervision: Integrating RCT into the supervision of play therapists.

“…In general, there is a need to build the literature base for play therapy supervision (Donald et al, 2015; Thanasiu et al, 2018; Yee et al, 2019). For example, a 10-year content analysis of trends in articles from the International Journal of Play Therapy (IJPT) revealed only 11 articles focusing on play therapy supervision, with seven coming from a special supervision-focused issue in 2015 (Yee et al, 2019). This means there have been only four articles specifically focused on play therapy supervision in IJPT since 2016.…”