Adlerian Play Therapy: Effectiveness on Disruptive Behaviors of Early Elementary-Aged Children

Approximately 20% of children experience serious mental health problems severe enough to meet diagnosis criteria, and less than one third of these children receive the services they need. Identifying effective school-based counseling interventions provides a viable and accessible solution, especially for families with financial barriers. This randomized, controlled outcome study examined the effectiveness of Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) compared to reading mentoring (RM) with 58 kindergarten through third grade students who qualified with clinical levels of disruptive behavior in the classroom. Participants were identified as 48% Latino, 33% European American, and 19% African American. Approximately four-fifths of participants were male. Children were randomly assigned to AdPT (experimental group) or RM (active control group) for 16 sessions of treatment. Children in both groups participated in twice weekly, individual, 30-minute interventions that took place in their schools. Results from a two (group) by two (repeated measures) split plot ANOVA indicated that, compared to the RM group over time, the AdPT group demonstrated statistically significant improvement on (a) disruptive behaviors in the classroom, as directly observed by objective raters and as reported by teachers, and (b) stress in the teacher-child relationship, as reported by teachers. Teachers and observers were blinded to children's treatment group assignment. AdPT demonstrated moderate to large effect sizes on all measures, indicating the practical significance of treatment. Further, 72% of children receiving AdPT improved from clinical/borderline levels of disruptive behavior problems to more normative functioning post-intervention, demonstrating the clinical significance of results. Whereas further research is warranted, results from this preliminary study are promising and support the use of AdPT in elementary schools to meet the needs of children exhibiting disruptive classroom behavior

Creative Interventions to Increase Counselor-in-Training Wellness

Wellness is a broad term that emphasizes a person’s current state of mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and professional wellness. Professional counseling was built upon the foundations of wellness and practitioner self-care. While counseling programs understand the importance of wellness and counseling ethics emphasize the necessity of professional wellness, students frequently do not feel prepared or trained enough in wellness dimensions. This manuscript provides a rationale for a program wellness model and outlines a proposed series of interventions aimed at increasing students’ understanding, ability to self-assess, and strategies related to self-care and wellness

Effects Of Adlerian Play Therapy On Children\u27S Externalizing Behavior

Without intervention, children\u27s externalizing behaviors tend to worsen over time and increase the risk that they will experience future problems. The authors used a single-case research design with 6 Caucasian boys in kindergarten and 1st grade to measure the effectiveness of Adlerian play therapy on children\u27s classroom behaviors. The results revealed an improvement in the children\u27s behavior during and after the intervention, suggesting that Adlerian play therapy is a promising intervention for children\u27s externalizing classroom behaviors

Group Adlerian Play Therapy With Children With Off-Task Behaviors

Children who are off-task in schools struggle with completing their work and engage in disruptive behaviors. Without intervention, these behaviors tend to worsen, putting them at risk for more serious, ongoing problems throughout life. Group counseling provides opportunities for people to practice socially useful behaviors. Using a single case design, we investigated the effectiveness of Adlerian group play therapy with children identified by teachers as having problematic classroom behaviors. Results suggest that students’ on-task behaviors improve during the Adlerian group play therapy intervention. The results revealed mixed findings for the follow-up period

Investigating group Adlerian play therapy for children with disruptive behaviors: A single-case research design

Children with disruptive behaviors have an increased risk of ongoing and more severe problems throughout life. Early intervention can mitigate these consequences. We used a single-case design to research the impact of Adlerian group play therapy on children's disruptive classroom behaviors. Results were mixed, with an overall improvement in children's behaviors over the course of the study. Detailed results, implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies are described. © 2019 Association for Play Therapy

Group Adlerian Play Therapy With Children With Off-Task Behaviors

Children who are off-task in schools struggle with completing their work and engage in disruptive behaviors. Without intervention, these behaviors tend to worsen, putting them at risk for more serious, ongoing problems throughout life. Group counseling provides opportunities for people to practice socially useful behaviors. Using a single case design, we investigated the effectiveness of Adlerian group play therapy with children identified by teachers as having problematic classroom behaviors. Results suggest that students’ on-task behaviors improve during the Adlerian group play therapy intervention. The results revealed mixed findings for the follow-up period