Search Results

open access

Impact of Child-Centered Play Therapy on the Mindful Expressions and Social-Emotional Competencies of Head Start Preschoolers

Description: In this study, I examined the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on the social and emotional functioning and mindful expressions of preschoolers in Head Start preschool programs. Participants were 23 children from two Head Start preschool programs in the southwestern U.S. who qualified for free or reduced lunch and were referred by school personnel for behavioral or academic concerns (18 males, 5 females; ages 3-5, mean age = 3.74). The sample consisted of 1 (4.3%) African American, 5… more
Date: August 2021
Creator: Robinson, Hannah Beth
open access

Factors Impacting Multicultural Teaching Competence among Counselor Educators: Ethnic/Racial Identity Development and Social Justice Orientation

Description: Multicultural (MC) counseling and social justice (SJ) are foundational parts of counselors' professional identity, and they are fostered through a developmental process that counselor educators facilitate. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between counselor educators' ethnic/racial identity development (ERI), their social justice orientation (SJO) and their multicultural teaching competence (MCTC). MCTC was examined using the constructs of knowledge and sensitivity. Data… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Laird, Amber N
open access

Involving Children in the Assessment Process: Experiences of a Developmentally Appropriate Feedback Model

Description: Assessment is a foundational part of counseling practice, which includes the process of providing assessment feedback to those tested. Millions of children are assessed across the United States through the public-school system, hospital, agency, and private practice settings. Though millions of children are assessed yearly, there has been little research surrounding providing assessment feedback with children. In this study, the author qualitatively explored children's experiences with a develo… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Weeks, Sara Eaton
open access

Outdoor Child-Centered Play Therapy with Attention and Social-Emotional Competencies in Children

Description: Children experience a multitude of benefits in response to interactions with nature. Despite documented effects, children have increasingly spent less time outdoors over the last century and experienced higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. Although child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a culturally and developmentally responsive mental health treatment for children, researchers have limited study of environmental structure and materials employed in the therapeutic process of CCPT. … more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Walker, Kimberly L. A.
open access

Relational and Social-Cognitive Predictors of PTSD in U.S. Combat Veterans: A Path Analysis

Description: The purpose of the present study was to explore a theoretically based social-cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by investigating attachment-related and social-cognitive predictors of PTSD in a sample of 125 post-9/11 U.S. combat veterans. Subjects completed an online survey assessing PTSD symptomology, attachment-related internal working models, perceived social support, and mentalizing capacity. Path analysis provided empirical support for a respecified version of the mode… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Smith, Julia E.
open access

A Consensual Qualitative Analysis of Counselor Educators' Experiences Incorporating Neuroscience

Description: Neuroscience is a relevant topic for counseling and counselor education, and it is a required area of competency for accredited counseling education programs. Despite this required competency, current counseling literature scarcely addresses neuroscience in counselor education. I have designed the present study to address this scarcity by exploring counselor educators' experiences of incorporating neuroscience into the counselor education curriculum using a consensual qualitative research (CQR)… more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Beijan, Lisa Lee

Centralizing the Voices and Experiences of Microaggressions of Queer Womxn of Color in Therapy

Description: The purpose of this participatory action research study was to explore queer womxn of color's experiences of microaggressions in therapy. Due to the multifaceted and complex experiences of queer womxn of color, this study was informed by intersectionality theory and utilized photovoice methodology to answer the following question: How do queer womxn of color experience microaggressions in therapy? The seven queer womxn of color who participated in this study provided vivid, honest, and courag… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Reyes, Ana Guadalupe
open access

Development and Exploration of the Crucial Cs Self Report Instrument

Description: This study aimed to explore the ability to capture the theoretical constructs of Adlerian crucial Cs (capable, connect, count, and courage) through creation of a self-report instrument for children. After following a four-phase process to develop the Crucial Cs Self Report (CCSR), including use of an expert panel, field reviews, preliminary testing, and final administration, the researcher utilized a series of exploratory factor analyses to explore the internal factor structure and relationship… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Angus, Emily

The Experiences of Black Transracially Adoptive Parents

Description: The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological inquiry was to explore the experiences of adoptive parents who have Black transracially adopted children. More specifically, I sought to understand how the parents perceived their child's cultural and racial identity development and how they perceived the child-parent relationship. Therefore, I used the cultural-racial identity model created for transracial adoptees as a theoretical framework to answer the following questions: What are Black t… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Conner, Charmaine Lanae

Faculty of Color Mentorship Experiences in Counselor Education

Description: Professional counseling associations and ethical accrediting bodies mandate that counseling programs, counselor educators, and leaders in the counseling field uphold a commitment to the recruitment, employment, and retention of ethnically and culturally diverse faculty. Despite written standards and growth in the profession, faculty of color in counselor education programs continue to be significantly underrepresented at the assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor ranks. Ad… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Oller, Marianna L.
open access

Effectiveness of Child-Centered Play Therapy on Childhood Depression

Description: Depression in childhood is a significant mental health concern, impacting cognitive, affective, social, behavioral, and physical domains. Children who experience depressive symptoms are at an increased risk for physical and mental health, social, and behavioral problems throughout adulthood. Children who are marginalized due to their socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic identities are at an increased risk to experience depression and limited access to mental health care. Further, previous re… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Burgin, Elizabeth
open access

Every Body Matters: College-Aged Women's Experiences of Body Positivity and Self-Acceptance

Description: The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological inquiry was to explore college-aged women's experiences of body positivity and self-acceptance. I applied a conceptual framework that blended feminist identity development model (FIDM) and relational cultural theory (RCT) to answer the following questions: (a) what are the lived experiences of college-aged women who identify as having a positive and accepting body image? and (b) how do college-aged women's intersecting identities contribute to… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Rogers, Jordan N.

An Historical Biography of Virginia Axline

Description: Virginia Axline developed a new field of child psychotherapy by applying a nondirective approach to the burgeoning experimentation of utilizing play in therapeutic work with children. While much biographical information is available regarding other leaders in the fields of counseling and psychology, historical research into Axline and her development of child-centered play therapy represent a gap in the literature. The purpose of the current study was to: 1) examine the professional contributio… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Turley Stich, Erin
open access

The Impact of Child-Centered Play Therapy on Academic Achievement of Children in Poverty

Description: Childhood poverty is a prevalent concern in the United States and is associated with poor psychological and academic outcomes. Psychosocial stressors associated with life in poverty may interrupt the development of a positive self-concept, ultimately hampering the academic achievement of children in poverty. As the therapeutic objectives of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) support the development of an increasingly positive self-concept, I explored the impact of CCPT on the academic achieveme… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Tucker, Sarah K
open access

Child-Centered Canine-Assisted Therapy: An Investigative Look at Integrating Therapy Dogs into Child-Centered Play Therapy

Description: Play therapy and animal-assisted therapy are two specialized modalities within the field of counseling. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a specific theoretical approach to play therapy that regards the therapeutic relationship as the primary healing factor. With much empirical support, CCPT is considered an effective mental health treatment option for working with children. Animal-assisted therapy in counseling (AAT-C) is acknowledged in the literature as a supplemental treatment modality … more
Date: December 2019
Creator: Talley, Lindsay P
open access

The Effectiveness of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) for Fathers

Description: High levels of quality father involvement in childhood are associated with children's socio-emotional, cognitive, and behavioral wellbeing. However, fathers can experience difficulty in building positive relationships with their kids due to work-life balance, lack of relational experience, and other life stressors. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT) on fathers' parental empathy, parental stress, and child behavior problems. Thou… more
Date: December 2019
Creator: McClintock, Damian Gearld
open access

Child Centered Play Therapy and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Effectiveness on Impulsivity and Inattention

Description: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a certain set of abuse household dysfunction experiences that many children in the United States experience. Children who experience multiple ACEs are more likely to have negative mental and physical health issues as they grow older. These outcomes include ADHD, depression, cancer, heart disease, and early death. In this study, I examined the effectiveness of child centered play therapy (CCPT), a developmentally appropriate treatment modality, with ch… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Kram, Kirsten
open access

The Client-Counselor Encounter: Assessing Relational Depth and Motivation to Change in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Description: This non-experimental field study examined the relationship between participant reported experiences of relational depth (RD) with their individual counselors in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and participant reported motivation to change substance use. Participants in the study were clients enrolled in inpatient and outpatient levels of substance use disorder treatment. A total of 78 clients (aged 18-77, with mean age 35.97, 80.1% Caucasian, 11.5% African-American, 3.8% Hispanic, 1.3% … more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Woehler, Elliott
open access

The Impact of Child Teacher Relationship Training for Early Childhood Educators: The Role of the Relationship

Description: In this qualitative study, I explored the lived experiences of eight early childhood educators implementing a play-based teacher professional development intervention, child teacher relationship training (CTRT), in an affluent Christian based preschool. Through the building of relationships, CTRT provided the teachers a person-centered approach to develop skills to establish relationships and to attend to the intentional emotional and relational development of young children. The research ques… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Miller, Leah Fowlkes
open access

Shifting Identities: A Qualitative Inquiry of Black Transgender Men's Experiences

Description: The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore Black transgender men's experiences navigating systems of racism and transphobia. To this end, I utilized a critical race theory and intersectionality theory framework to answer the following question: What are Black transgender men's experiences with power, privilege, and oppression? The ten Black transgender men and transmasculine people who participated in this study provided detailed and moving accounts of their expe… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: White, Mickey E.
open access

Child-Centered Play Therapists' Experiences Delivering Shortened Session Lengths

Description: This phenomenological study examined the experiences and perceptions of child-centered play therapists who deliver shortened sessions in the clinic setting. Using the phenomenological analysis procedures based on Moustakas' modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, a coding team of three doctoral students found 10 themes related to child-centered play therapists' (N = 5) experiences delivering shortened session lengths. Each theme is defined and further described using verbatim transcript example… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Edwards, Joshua Michael
open access

Adventure in the Classroom: Role and Practices of Adventure Therapy in School Counseling Curriculum

Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the role and impact of adventure therapy (AT) on student development and to identify the greatest challenges to the implementation of AT in schools. The Delphi method was used to generate consensus of opinion within a group of experts in the field of adventure therapy and school counseling. Purposive sampling was used to identify the members of the expert panel and the definition of consensus was set at 80% for each item. Content and descriptive analy… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Sharp, Jason Reid
open access

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with Latina/o Children Exhibiting School Behavior Problems: Comparative Effects of Delivery by Spanish-Speaking and English-Speaking Counselors

Description: The shortage of bilingual counselors is one barrier to young Latina/o children receiving mental health services. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a developmentally responsive intervention based on the premise that play is children's natural means of communication across cultures. This randomized controlled study examined the effects of CCPT with young Spanish-speaking Latina/o children exhibiting clinical levels of school behavior problems. Participants were 57 pre-K to kindergarten Latina… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Barcenas Jaimez, Gustavo
open access

Child-Centered Play Therapy with Children Affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Single Case Design

Description: Child centered play therapy (CCPT) is a therapeutic intervention that provides the environment for children to work through and heal from difficult experiences through expression of play and therapeutic relationship. It has been demonstrated effective with multiple types of disruptive behaviors. I conducted single-case research to explore CCPT's influence on children who had four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and provided analysis of data collected from one assessment administere… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Haas, Sara C
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