A plethora of innovative play therapy techniques have been developed in recent years to implement the therapeutic powers of play. The purpose of this article is to concisely describe 15 techniques that are effective, enjoyable, inexpensive, and easy to implement. Included in the description of each technique are the therapeutic rationale, materials needed, step-by-step implementation guide, and applications. The techniques selected are appropriate for 4-12-year-old children and cover an extensive array of play approaches (e.g., art, fantasy, sensorimotor, and game play). The chosen techniques address several pertinent presenting problems such as anxiety, depression, impulsivity, distractibility, and noncompliance.
This study was designed to compare the effects of self-control training, using cognitive-behavioral game play (CB) and biofeedback game play (BF), on the behaviors of 63 elementary school-age children diagnosed with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The experimental groups were compared to a control game group (GO, which received no self-control training. A 3 x 3 (treatment x time) factorial design with repeated measures, using IQ as a covariate, and multiple outcome criteria was employed comparing the groups.Findings from this study support the hypothesis that self-control training by BF reduces a child's perception of his or her self-control problems, but the same does not generalize to parental report of self-control or behavioral measures. Hyperactivity, one of the cardinal symptoms of ADHD, was significantly decreased in GC. Barkley (1981) has argued that the difficulties experienced by children with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in applying problem solving strategies, as well as their tendency to be shaped by the immediate contingencies of the environment, can be explained by apparent deficits in rule-governed behavior. Perhaps the most important underlying mechanism for establishing rule-governed behavior and reducing impulsivity is self-control. Two components of self-control seems particularly apt for ADHD children: cognitive self-
The concurrent validity of the Creative Personality Scale of the Adjective Check List was studied by resting 10 highly creative women, first identified as high school students in 1965 and then retested in 1990. Analysis indicates that 7 of these 10 women scored above the mean of 48.24 set for the profile sheet; scores ranged from 43 to 75 with a mean of 60. These high scores on the Creative Personality Scale are consistent with the concurrent validity of this measure.
Throughout the ages, children have been exposed to violent events such as wars, abuse, domestic violence, and community turmoil, yet for many years children's reactions to traumatic events were ignored or minimized. Youth violence was largely confined to the inner city and received scant attention from the public-at-large (Garbarino, 1999). The research of Terr (1990) clearly demonstrated that children have powerful and long-lasting reactions to trauma. More recently, the increasing incidents of violence by children in previously quiet rural communities and schools have focused mainstream attention on the problem.Children who have been exposed to violence certainly are at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This term refers to the impact of an extremely stressful event on a person. The stressful event is defined as one that is outside the range of usual human experience and that would be markedly distressing to almost anyone. Posttraumatic reactions in children, as with adults, take the form of several symptoms:
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