Interpreting Children\u27s Dreams Through Humanistic Sandtray Therapy

Children’s dreams often depict waking-life events and experiences. Although dream work therapy for adults is fairly established, recommendations for processing children’s dreams appear fractional. Because of the distinct developmental needs of children, we postulated that sandtray therapy might assist children to express and discover enlarged meanings in dreams. In this article, we present the Sandtray for Interpreting Childhood Dreams (SICD) intervention for the purpose of potentially helping children gain insight into how their dreams may be related to past and present waking-life experiences. An explanation and application of the model is presented, and the developmental rationale for using the SICD intervention with children is provided

Rhythmic Relating : Bidirectional support for social timing in autism therapies

We propose Rhythmic Relating for autism: a system of supports for friends, therapists, parents, and educators; a system which aims to augment bidirectional communication and complement existing therapeutic approaches. We begin by summarizing the developmental significance of social timing and the social-motor-synchrony challenges observed in early autism. Meta-analyses conclude the early primacy of such challenges, yet cite the lack of focused therapies. We identify core relational parameters in support of social-motor-synchrony and systematize these using the communicative musicality constructs: pulse; quality; and narrative. Rhythmic Relating aims to augment the clarity, contiguity, and pulse-beat of spontaneous behavior by recruiting rhythmic supports (cues, accents, turbulence) and relatable vitality; facilitating the predictive flow and just-ahead-in-time planning needed for good-enough social timing. From here, we describe possibilities for playful therapeutic interaction, small-step co-regulation, and layered sensorimotor integration. Lastly, we include several clinical case examples demonstrating the use of Rhythmic Relating within four different therapeutic approaches (Dance Movement Therapy, Improvisational Music Therapy, Play Therapy, and Musical Interaction Therapy). These clinical case examples are introduced here and several more are included in the Supplementary Material (Examples of Rhythmic Relating in Practice). A suite of pilot intervention studies is proposed to assess the efficacy of combining Rhythmic Relating with different therapeutic approaches in playful work with individuals with autism. Further experimental hypotheses are outlined, designed to clarify the significance of certain key features of the Rhythmic Relating approach

Effectiveness of Play Therapy on Problem Behaviors of Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Single Subject Design

A growing disparity between the mental health needs of children and their lack of treatment served as the basis of this study. To address this existent gap, I proposed that child-centered play therapy (CCPT), a holistic treatment that fosters children's emotional, developmental, and social growth would serve as a viable treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of CCPT on problem behaviors among children identified with an intellectual disability. Specifically, a single case, A-B-A design (N = 2) was used to examine changes in participant's problem behaviors as measured on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) across conditions. Trained raters used the ABC to rate participant's problem behaviors 3 times per week during the course of this study. Participants completed 2 weeks of a no-intervention phase, 5 weeks of play therapy 3 times per week, and 2 weeks of a no-intervention maintenance phase. Additionally, participants were administered the Gesell Developmental Observation to assess their maturational age during the baseline and maintenance phases. Parents also completed the ABC during two intervals: baseline phase, and maintenance phase. Analysis of results indicated that problem behaviors decreased for both participants. Results from the percent of non-overlapping data (PND), an indice for effect size further revealed that play therapy was a very effective treatment for participants. Follow-up interviews suggested that play therapy is a viable intervention for children with intellectual disabilities and problem behaviors. Clinical observations and implications for future research are presented

Contact Work in Child-Centered Play Therapy: A Case Study

In this study, a case study approach (N= 1) was employed to investigate the process of change in child-centered play therapy for a child with an intellectual disability. A task analytic method was used to assess the effects of therapist use of contact reflections on reparation of contact for the client. Process and outcome measures were used to differentiate treatment processes and outcome. Results indicated that the client’s use of contact behaviors and exhibition of behavioral problems were affected by contact work in child-centered play therapy. Possible implications and future research are discussed

Relationship Conditions and Multicultural Competence for Counselors of Children and Adolescents

A single-case research design (N = 3) was implemented to explore the efficacy of a multicultural skills-based experiential training model on the multicultural competency and relationship conditions of counselors. Results indicated that counselor perceptions of multicultural competence and relationship conditions increased as a result of participating in this particular training intervention. Possible implications and future research are discussed

Therapist Perceptions of Relationship Conditions in Child-Centered Play Therapy

Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) has over 70 years of research documenting its’ effectiveness for children with a variety of presenting problems and diagnoses. Less is known about the therapeutic relationship and its’ influence in the process of CCPT. In this study, a single case design was employed to examine the therapist’s perspective of relationship conditions across CCPT. Two child–therapist dyads participated in this study. Two preschool children qualified for participation because of their clinical level of behavioral problems as identified by parents on the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2: Parent Rating Scales – Preschool (BASC-2:PRS-P). Therapist perceptions of the therapeutic relationship were assessed with the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory: Form MO-40 (BLRI: MO-40) after each session. The effectiveness of CCPT was assessed with pre-, mid-, and post-parent ratings on the BASC-2:PRS-P. In this investigation, we found that both children showed progress in reducing their presenting problems, and that therapist-perceived congruence, level of regard, and empathy increased while unconditionality decreased. Possible implications and future research is discusse

Rhythmic Relating: Bidirectional support for social timing in autism therapies

We propose Rhythmic Relating for autism: a system of supports for friends, therapists, parents, and educators; a system which aims to augment bidirectional communication and complement existing therapeutic approaches. We begin by summarizing the developmental significance of social timing and the social-motor-synchrony challenges observed in early autism. Meta-analyses conclude the early primacy of such challenges, yet cite the lack of focused therapies. We identify core relational parameters in support of social-motor-synchrony and systematize these using the communicative musicality constructs: pulse; quality; and narrative. Rhythmic Relating aims to augment the clarity, contiguity, and pulse-beat of spontaneous behavior by recruiting rhythmic supports (cues, accents, turbulence) and relatable vitality; facilitating the predictive flow and just-ahead-in-time planning needed for good-enough social timing. From here, we describe possibilities for playful therapeutic interaction, small-step co-regulation, and layered sensorimotor integration. Lastly, we include several clinical case examples demonstrating the use of Rhythmic Relating within four different therapeutic approaches (Dance Movement Therapy, Improvisational Music Therapy, Play Therapy, and Musical Interaction Therapy). These clinical case examples are introduced here and several more are included in the Supplementary Material (Examples of Rhythmic Relating in Practice). A suite of pilot intervention studies is proposed to assess the efficacy of combining Rhythmic Relating with different therapeutic approaches in playful work with individuals with autism. Further experimental hypotheses are outlined, designed to clarify the significance of certain key features of the Rhythmic Relating approach