International Journal of Play Therapy® Tests


Presentations: 1

Starting with the January 2018 issue, earn non-contact continuing education credit by completing tests based upon the International Journal of Play Therapy®.

ATTENTION: The fee does not include publication material, price includes CE test only. APT Members must consult their print or online International Journal of Play Therapy prior to completing tests online.

Access the International Journal of Play Therapy® archives to view the article issues online.

 
Continuing Education

990f08cb6f305985a4acbc9fb5bf8c04.jpg

APA. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. APT maintains responsibility for this program and its content.


fe5bde07bfdf3d8bf107d7967bf8d345.jpg


NBCC. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5636. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. APT is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.


41588e4dd4010be647512ac45f5d44dc.jpg


APT. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) offers continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 95-100 maintains responsibility for the program.

Sessions

The Effect of Filial Therapy on the Interaction of Deaf Mothers with Their Hearing Children iconThe Effect of Filial Therapy on the Interaction of Deaf Mothers with Their Hearing Children

Preview Available

The Effect of Filial Therapy on the Interaction of Deaf Mothers with Their Hearing Children

Credits: None available.

The current study examined the effect of Filial Therapy (FT) on interaction of deaf mothers with their hearing children. Participants were recruited from association and center of deaf people in Isfahan, Iran. The participants were 30 deaf mothers and their hearing children who selected by convenient sampling method. They were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups and each group included 15 mothers and children. The intervention group received 11 FT weekly sessions for 3 months, while the control group did not receive the intervention. Mothers completed the Child- Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) 2 times, at pre and posttest phases. Results of MANCOVA revealed that FT significantly influenced the interaction of mother-child scores, F (1, 29) = 42.69, p < 0.001. Accordingly, it can be suggested that interaction of deaf mothers with their hearing children was significantly increased following the FT intervention.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Skill and Methods
  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Describe several main features of Filial Therapy.
  • Write the main goals of Filial Therapy specific to play therapy.
  • According to the VanFleet (2012) model, explain three phases of Filial Therapy during play therapy sessions.
Speaker(s):
The Efficacy of Child-Teacher Relationship Training as an Early Childhood Mental Health Intervention in Head Start Programs iconThe Efficacy of Child-Teacher Relationship Training as an Early Childhood Mental Health Intervention in Head Start Programs

Preview Available

The Efficacy of Child-Teacher Relationship Training as an Early Childhood Mental Health Intervention in Head Start Programs

Credits: None available.

This randomized repeated-measured active control group study examined the efficacy of Child-Teacher Relationship Training as a mental health intervention in rural Head Start programs with at-risk children. Experimental group child participants demonstrated statistically significant decreases in total problem behaviors when compared with active control group children. All child participants exhibited improvements in targeted behaviors with small-to-moderate treatment effects. The findings indicate that CTRT positively influences children’s problem behaviors with implications for rural mental health interventions.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Skills and Methods

Learning Objectives:
  • Provide a rationale for utilizing interventions that address the teacher-child relationships in early childhood programs.
  • Describe Phase I and Phase II of CTRT.
  • Identify unique aspects of CTRT that help make it a beneficial early childhood mental health intervention through the lens of play therapy.
Speaker(s):
Playing to Heal: The impact of Bereavement Camp for Children with Grief iconPlaying to Heal: The impact of Bereavement Camp for Children with Grief

Preview Available

Playing to Heal: The impact of Bereavement Camp for Children with Grief

Credits: None available.

Child bereavement is a difficult topic to explore and study because of stigmas indiscussing death, and because of restrictions in doing research with young children.Thus, research in childhood bereavement is limited. This study focused on children whoattended a bereavement camp after the traumatic loss of a loved one. The purpose wasto understand the participants’ grief experiences. This research study usedphenomenological inquiry and analysis methodology. Five female participants wereinterviewed for this study. In addition, participants created a sandtray world to conveytheir experiences at bereavement camp. The essence of participant’s experiences asrevealed through verbal interviews was posttraumatic growth. In addition, the essence ofparticipant’s experiences as revealed through their sandtray worlds was gaining a senseof support. Results of this study extend bereavement research to include the experiencesof children. Further, implications for professional counselors, counselor educators, andbereavement camps are emphasized.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Define Posttraumatic Growth.
  • Identify common grief themes in childrens’ sandtrays.
  • Explain the differences with trauma and grief in play therapy.
Speaker(s):
Considerations for Play Therapy Research with Latino Populations iconConsiderations for Play Therapy Research with Latino Populations

Preview Available

Considerations for Play Therapy Research with Latino Populations

Credits: None available.

Although Latino children represent about 25% of total enrollment in the elementary school setting across United States (Musu-Gillette et al., 2016), they continue to be underrepresented in receiving mental health services (Martinez, Arriola, & Corvin, 2016; Ojeda, Flores, Rosales, & Morales, 2011; Sixbey, An, & Puig, 2017). This is concerning given that Latino children face risk factors that puts them at-risk for socioemotional and academic problems (Vazsonyi & Pan Chen, 2010). In addition, there is a scarcity of research regarding the effectiveness of mental health interventions for Latinos (Ojeda et al.). Although play therapy has been supported as an effective intervention for Latino children and their parents (Ceballos & Bratton, 2010; Garza & Bratton, 2005), more research is needed to establish play therapy as an evidenced based treatment for this population (Ojeda et al.). Thus, this article provides practical guidelines for play therapy researchers to maximize recruitment efforts, minimize attrition rates, and address important cultural values within the research. Specifically, the authors address the impact of cultural values, the acculturation level, language challenges, considerations for participant recruitment, set up of the playroom, advocacy, and social justice when conducting research with Latino populations.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Describe current research supporting the continuing need for the representation of Latino children in counseling literature..
  • Identify practical guidelines for play therapy researchers to include Latino children and their parents as participants.
  • Discuss the impact of Latino culture, language, and acculturation on play therapy research and advocacy.
Speaker(s):
Indoor Nature-Based Play Therapy: Taking the Natural World Inside the Playroom iconIndoor Nature-Based Play Therapy: Taking the Natural World Inside the Playroom

Preview Available

Indoor Nature-Based Play Therapy: Taking the Natural World Inside the Playroom

Credits: None available.

Nature is a powerful partner in the counseling process; however, it is not always feasible to take clients outside for sessions. Nonetheless, practitioners may still involve nature within the counseling process by integrating natural materials within the counseling room. In this article, the integration of natural items within the playroom will be discussed, along with the presentation of a case illustration, and exploration of implications for practice and research.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Identify various natural materials to integrate within the playroom.
  • Discuss cautions and considerations when integrating the natural world within the playroom.
  • Examine a case illustration integrating the natural world in the playroom.
Speaker(s):
Playing through the Unimaginable: Play Therapy for Traumatic Loss iconPlaying through the Unimaginable: Play Therapy for Traumatic Loss

Preview Available

Playing through the Unimaginable: Play Therapy for Traumatic Loss

Credits: None available.

Play therapists inevitably work with traumatic death loss at some point in their careers. Unfortunately, most play therapists are not specialty-trained in traumatic loss, creating a treatment gap with this unique population. Although traditional methods of play therapy are empirically effective for traumatic death loss, adjustments in intake, toy selection, and termination can greatly enhance the therapeutic process. This article reviews the short- and long-term impacts of traumatic death loss, with a discussion of developmental processes and reactions to this painful experience. A detailed description of toy selection and traumatic play themes are discussed along with types of play demonstrated by traumatically bereaved children.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Identify toys and items which facilitate traumatic grief play.
  • Describe the developmental reactions to traumatic loss in children.
  • Integrate procedures into the play therapy treatment process (e.g., intake, termination) which support the unique needs of traumatically bereaved children.
Speaker(s):
Play Therapy Treatment of Pediatric Medical Trauma: A Retrospective Case Study of a Preschool Child iconPlay Therapy Treatment of Pediatric Medical Trauma: A Retrospective Case Study of a Preschool Child

Preview Available

Play Therapy Treatment of Pediatric Medical Trauma: A Retrospective Case Study of a Preschool Child

Credits: None available.

Play therapists have become sensitized to interpersonal trauma and its varied presentations and consequences. Children who experience frightening and painful medical procedures may become traumatized by these experiences. Personnel working in inpatient medical facilities are presumably familiar with emotional and behavioral presentations of pediatric medical trauma. However, underlying pediatric medical trauma may be overlooked in outpatient play therapy settings. This article describes the clinical case of a young child whose relatively severe emotional and behavioral problems masked medical trauma. Examples of thematic play sessions are presented to illustrate the child’s underlying trauma and the process of play therapy that led to considerable improvement. The importance of the play therapy relationship is emphasized. Play therapists are encouraged to consider the presence of pediatric medical trauma when assessing young children with histories of medical intervention.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Identify multiple examples of post-traumatic and abreactive play in children suffering from medical trauma.
  • Compare the similarities and differences between PTSD and PTMS.
  • Discuss how pediatric medical stress can be identified in young children who are brought to outpatient play therapy for services.
Speaker(s):
Part 2: The Virtual Environment Social Program for Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorder iconPart 2: The Virtual Environment Social Program for Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Preview Available

Part 2: The Virtual Environment Social Program for Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Credits: None available.

This article describes a pilot study for a play-based intervention designed to support the development of social competence of youths with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that includes play with the video game, Mine craft. Four boys with ASD, ages 11–13, participated in play with the video game during 8 1-hr sessions with a typically developing peer and 2 adults during structured play (role-based objective play) and free play (no roles or objectives) with video modeling, adult facilitation, and mediation from a typically developing peer. High rates of initiations were maintained during structured play; the quality of social play started as weak during free play but improved by the later sessions. Implications of the results for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Describe how video-game play can be utilized to create structured and free play social interventions.
  • Understand some of the difficulties faced by program designers when creating social competence programs and interventions for youth with ASD.
  • Analyze the play behaviors of youth with ASD as they use problem solving strategies to cooperate on shared tasks.
Speaker(s):
Why Child-Centered Play Therapists Should Care About Play-Based Social Interventions for Youth with ASD iconWhy Child-Centered Play Therapists Should Care About Play-Based Social Interventions for Youth with ASD

Preview Available

Why Child-Centered Play Therapists Should Care About Play-Based Social Interventions for Youth with ASD

Credits: None available.

The field of child-centered play therapy has long recognized the value of play for children’s growth and development, however other fields of inquiry have come to realize the value of play as well, such as play-based social interventions for youth with autism spectrum disorder. Despite the differences between the theoretical and pragmatic applications of child-centered play therapy and play-based social interventions, the purpose of this work is to orient a play-based social intervention study with child-centered play therapy approach. In particular, this work will discuss the theoretical and pragmatic approaches of the two fields with emphasis on 2 factors of play: (a) play materials and (b) permissiveness. Additionally, the play experiences of 1 boy, Enoch, are reviewed through the typical stages of child-centered play therapy, to demonstrate how permissive play with technology-based play materials functions in play-based social interventions.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Skills and Methods
  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Describe how play-based social interventions may enrich our understandings of play, in terms of modality and process.
  • Compare the use of permissive play (during child-centered play therapy) and free play (during play-based social interventions).
  • Compare child-centered play therapy and play-based social interactions by listing two differences and two similarities.
Speaker(s):
Effectiveness of Child-Centered Play Therapy among Marginalized Children iconEffectiveness of Child-Centered Play Therapy among Marginalized Children

Preview Available

Effectiveness of Child-Centered Play Therapy among Marginalized Children

Credits: None available.

Marginalized children are often excluded from mainstream social, economic, cultural, and political life because of ethnicity or poverty. These children are more likely to have behavior problems that place them at risk later in life. The impact is evident at an early age. The purpose of this article was to review the literature that examined the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) conducted with marginalized children. The literature was reviewed with regard to the results of the studies, the outcome variables used, the identification of who completed the assessments about the children, and the ethnicity of the play therapists who conducted the interventions. The findings demonstrated that CCPT is effective for marginalized children, externalized behaviors are most frequently assessed, teachers most frequently completed the assessments about the children, and the ethnicity of the play therapists is not usually reported. The results are considered in terms of implications for play therapists and future research.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

  • Skills and Methods
  • Special Topics

Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) interventions conducted with marginalized children.
  • Describe the outcome variables examined.
  • Assess the ethnicity of the play therapists who conducted the interventions.
Speaker(s):