Play therapy with African American children exposed to adverse childhood experiences.

Abstract

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.

Is There an Ace Up Our Sleeve? A Review of Interventions and Strategies for Addressing Behavioral and Neurobiological Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Youth

“…In a study of children and their incarcerated fathers, FRE showed greater levels of empathy and acceptance in fathers and improved self-concept children had toward their fathers, when compared with the control group (Landreth & Lobaugh, 1998). Similarly, Patterson, Stutey, and Dorsey, (2018) found that a combination of individual and group play therapy demonstrated significant decreases in anxiety and negative intrusions in children exposed to ELA, providing support for variations of child-centered play as a possible intervention to mitigate the impact of ELA.…”

Child-centered play therapy and social–emotional competencies of African American children: A randomized controlled trial.

“…More recently, Patterson et al (2018) conducted a single-cohort study to explore CCPT and CCGPT with 12 African American children exposed to adverse childhood conditions. The 12 referred participants received 6 weeks of CCPT followed by 6 weeks of group CCPT.…”

Healing from adverse childhood experiences through therapeutic powers of play: “I can do it with my hands”.

“…Therapeutic powers of play are the heart and soul of play therapy treatment (Peabody & Schaefer, 2019). Children who have access to play therapy will be better positioned later in life physically, mentally, and socially, for play therapy is well designed to be effective for children who have experienced ACEs (Haas & Ray, 2020; Parker et al, 2021; Patterson et al, 2018).…”

“…These studies, often conducted in realworld settings, such as schools or counseling clinics, provided varied, though statistically significant, positive results; the authors called for more rigorous studies that measure ACEs based on Felitti et al's (1998) ACEs Questionnaire (Parker et al, 2021). Since that time, researchers have found that child-centered play therapy significantly improved children's difficulties and prosocial behaviors for children reporting four or more ACES (e.g., Haas & Ray, 2020) and for African American children living in poverty and having other ACEs (e.g., Patterson et al, 2018). Axline (1969) demonstrated that play is the child's natural medium for self-expression, both within and beyond the therapeutic endeavor.…”