Researchers continue to identify increasing rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and the devastating effects on individuals into adulthood. The relational focus of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) and the use of toys for personal expression better meets the developmental needs of children who experienced ACEs; however, CCPT is often not included within meta-analyses or explorations of efficacious treatments for children who experienced ACEs. To address this gap, the authors conducted a systematic literature review and explored the existing research on CCPT and ACEs. To explore the utility of CCPT to demonstrate significant therapeutic outcomes for children with a history of trauma. The authors identified 32 between-group design research studies exploring effect of CCPT on children experiencing ACES including childhood poverty, systemic discrimination, attachment difficulties, abuse, and parental incarceration. Additionally, the authors assessed the research quality and potential sources of biases within the identified studies. Findings indicate potential methodological limitations within the current studies and promising results for the use of CCPT with children who experience ACEs. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

The field of animal-assisted counseling (AAC) is burgeoning. However, there is a paucity of research on the perspectives of mental health practitioners regarding its practice and the experience and training needed to effectively utilize AAC with clients. The purpose of this study was to explore how practitioners perceive AAC and its role in clinical settings. Perceptions of 300 mental health practitioners were assessed using a researcher-developed survey instrument. Findings indicated that a majority of practitioners (91.7%) view AAC as a legitimate counseling modality. Practitioners identified client age ranges and the top five clinical issues that would benefit from AAC. While only 12.0% of respondents had received training in AAC, 57.0% of respondents reported interest in receiving AAC training. Respondents identified types of AAC education, training, and supervision that would be sufficient for clinicians to utilize AAC. The findings from this study contribute to the emerging literature on AAC.

Mass shootings and gun violence are becoming more and more commonplace in the United States. Gun control continues to be a controversial topic in America. This controversy extends to the playroom and play therapy literature, as play therapists grapple with the decision to include or exclude toy guns from the playroom. Within this phenomenological study, play therapists considered and defined their decisions to include/exclude guns within the playroom. Themes identified included the influence of personal and theoretical beliefs on inclusion and exclusion, child development, toys as metaphors, and boundaries and limit setting around toy guns in the playroom. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are explored.

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Addressing spirituality with clients from diverse spiritual backgrounds is a facet of culturally competent and ethical practice, yet various obstacles contribute to spirituality being overlooked. This article features a counseling technique used with clients who are experiencing difficulty with issues of a spiritual nature. Based on constructivist principles, the tree ring technique provides a context and process for examining clients' spiritual conflicts, whereby the client is the expert and the counselor adopts a not-knowing stance.