The effect of child-centered play therapy on the externalizing behaviors of low-income male preschoolers: A single-case design study.

As the demand for childhood mental health intervention rises, there is a need for increased evidentiary support for developmentally sensitive approaches that address childhood mental health symptoms. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) has been recognized as one of the most frequently used approaches for this population due to its responsiveness to cognitive and psychosocial developmental levels. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the degree of effectiveness of CCPT for decreasing common childhood mental health symptoms based on single-case research design (SCRD) data. The systematic search strategy yielded 11 CCPT SCRD studies with 65 total effect sizes that were analyzed to determine omnibus treatment effect. Results indicated CCPT had a moderate effect for decreasing internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social skill deficits. This study adds to the evidence base for CCPT incorporating SCRD data into the corpus of CCPT meta-analytic data and provides further support that CCPT should be considered an appropriate intervention to address common childhood mental health symptoms. Based on these results, the authors provide implications for CCPT practitioners and for future directions to build the intervention’s evidence base.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-analysis of single-case evaluations of child-centered play therapy for treating mental health symptoms.

Pester

Lenz

Dell’Aquila

2019

“…Clinically, this shows evidence of needing to provide counseling services to school-age female children who often may go unnoticed. Phipps and Post (2020) interject that male student may exhibit more disruptive behaviors in the classroom, while female students may be overlooked as benefiting from treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play therapy and academic achievement: A secondary analysis.

Holliman¹,

Blanco²,

Kowalis³

2022

The authors of this manuscript conducted a secondary analysis of a group of studies exploring the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on academic achievement that was conducted over the past 10 years. Using mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVAs) the researchers made the following comparison analyses: gender (male and female); ethnicity (Caucasian, Latinx, non-Latinx student of Color, All students of color); and the interaction of gender and ethnicity. Rates of improvement from pretest to posttest showed that females tended to have larger amounts of academic growth than males. Latinx students also demonstrated larger rates of growth when compared to Caucasian students. These results not only provide important data about the response of different groups to CCPT, but seem to indicate that students who might typically not receive services can have significant improvement. This study serves as a call for counselors to advocate for services for students who might not normally receive services.

“…Play therapy referrals are often initiated when children have been subjected to trauma, abuse, and neglect (Meany-Walen et al, 2018). Additionally, children dealing with neurodevelopmental challenges (Guest & Ohrt, 2018; Salter et al, 2016), anxiety (Baggerly, 2004; Stulmaker & Ray, 2015), depressive symptoms (Baggerly, 2004), or behavioral challenges (Bratton et al, 2013; Phipps & Post, 2019) are also referred to play therapy services. Although play therapists are most often trained to work with children who have experienced such challenges and adverse experiences (Ray et al, 2022), the work can take a cumulative toll on one’s mental health and well-being.…”

Section: Play Therapists’ Job Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining perceived levels of stress, burnout, and job satisfaction among play therapists.

Windburn¹,

Neal²,

Reysen³

2023

Work-related stress and burnout have become a popular topic for research studies over the course of many years. The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of monitoring stress and well-being for workers in a variety of fields. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction among play therapists. We found a strong correlation between perceived stress and burnout among sample participants. We also found a strong negative relationship between these variables and job satisfaction. Based on our findings, we recommend several strategies that supervisors can implement when working with counselors-in-training in order to prevent stress and burnout for this specific therapist population.