Play Therapy in Schools

Turning the focus to behavioral, emotional, and social well-being: The impact of child-centered play therapy.

“…CCPT is a nondirective approach that has been described as “both a basic philosophy of the innate human capacity of the child to strive toward growth and maturity and an attitude of deep and abiding belief in the child’s ability to be constructively self-directing” (Landreth, 2012, p. 60). CCPT is also the most developmentally appropriate approach for working with elementary students because it does not rely on verbalization on the part of the child in order to heal (Landreth, Ray, & Bratton, 2009; Perryman, 2016; Ray, 2011). Because children’s cognitive development supersedes their acquisition of language, they will play out their problems within the confines of a safe therapeutic relationship.…”

A child-centered play therapy workshop for professional elementary school counselors: An exploratory study.

“…Schools, in particular, provide an accessible site for children’s mental health services, and the effects of services on academic performance, peer relations, and classroom behavior can be readily assessed (Atkins, Graczyk, Frazier, & Abdul-Adil, 2003). Furthermore, the integration of techniques and strategies from play therapy in school settings as preventive and responsive interventions for counseling programs is aligned with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national school counselor competencies (Perryman, 2015). The ASCA national school counselor competencies recommends counselors use developmentally appropriate, responsive interventions for their students.…”

“…The ASCA national school counselor competencies recommends counselors use developmentally appropriate, responsive interventions for their students. Responsive services that school counselors may provide their students include individual and small-group counseling (Perryman, 2015; Winburn, Gilstrap, & Perryman, 2017). In addition, competencies such as IV-A-3 and IV-B-3b (ASCA, 2012) recommend school counselors to be competent in using strategies and techniques from different counseling theories.…”

“…ventions for counseling programs is aligned with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national school counselor competencies (Perryman, 2015). The ASCA national school counselor competencies recommends counselors use developmentally appropriate, responsive interventions for their students.…”

“…This additional credential reflects the current trends and needs for using play therapy in schools. Because school counseling was instituted in school systems in the 1960s, the integration of play in school counseling has been a growing recommendation because it facilitates connections with students and assists them at a level they can better relate to (Perryman, 2015; Ray, Armstrong, Balkin, & Jayne, 2015; Shen, 2017; Trice-Black, Bailey, & Kiper Riechel, 2013). Also, empirical studies have supported the use of play therapy to promote the emotional (Raman & Kapur, 1999; Ray, Schottelkorb, & Tsai, 2007), behavioral (Bratton et al, 2013; Fall, Navelski, & Welch, 2002; Garza & Bratton, 2005; Meany-Walen, Bratton, & Kottman, 2014; Ray, Blanco, Sullivan, & Holliman, 2009), and academic development of students (Blanco, Holliman, Muro, Toland, & Farnam, 2017; Blanco & Ray, 2011).…”