Play therapy instruction: A model based on objectives developed by the Delphi technique.

Abstract

pp., 25 tables, 54 references.The purpose of this study was to determine the core skills/methods and practicum experiences play therapy experts and professors believe to be essential in the education of the beginning play therapist in the specific areas of theory and history, terms, organizations, authors who have contributed to the field, methods, skills, training in special populations, practicum experience, and advanced skills.Two questionnaires were used to obtain opinions from play therapy experts and play therapy instructors. The first questionnaire was sent to twelve play therapy experts to obtain their opinions on the core curriculum and experiences necessary for training a play therapist in an introductory play therapy class, practicum experience, and advanced play therapy training.Frequencies and means were obtained and used to delete and add items for Questionnaire II. Questionnaire II was sent to 180 play therapy professors. Fifty play therapy professors returned the instrument. The ratings on Questionnaire II given by the professors were used to provide curriculum guidelines for developing a play therapy program. This program includes an introduction to play therapy course, play therapy practicum experiences, and advanced skills and advanced practicum (Bratton, Landreth, & Homeyer, 1993).Publications within the past ten years have acknowledged the deficit in training facilities and have indicated a need for the development of criteria for play therapy training in counselor education, psychology, and social work programs (Kao & Landreth, 1997;Tanner & Mathis, 1995; Lund, 1993, andHomeyer, 1993 Description and Early Research Using the Delphi TechniqueThe Delphi technique was originally developed in the 1950sby Olaf Helmer and Norman Dalkey through the Rand Corporation (Dalkey & Helmer, 1962). This procedure was designed to obtain discussion among experts on urgent defense problems without having to place experts in a face-to-face forum. In 1952, the The Rand Cooperation has published a number of booklets to describe the technique and phases for selection of a panel of experts (Dalkey & Helmer, 1962; Lechowics, 1973). The Delphi technique consists of the following five phases:In Phase I, the researcher sends a questionnaire containing specific topics experts are to respond to. The respondent is asked to not discuss the study with any peers, but may consult data that pertains to the topic being reviewed. These topics may be future oriented and/or contain goals the researcher is wanting answered. Once the questionnaires have been returned, the author edits the responses and sends out another questionnaire to the respondents containing the group's opinions and data summary (Dalkey & Helmer, 1962;Lechowicz, 1973).In Phase II, the experts are asked to respond to the summary of responses from the first questionnaire. The major themes and problems are summarized and respondents are asked to review their original answers and to discuss possible revisions.The researcher again summarizes the responses recei...

Real World Connections in High School Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching

“…Data was collected using the Delphi method from the teachers and academicians in this study (Joiner & Landreth, 2005). This method was used as it allows collecting data from a relatively larger group of subjects without requiring face to face interaction compared to, for example, interview method.…”

Examining Students’ Self-Perceived Competence and Comfort in an Experiential Play Therapy Counseling Course: A Single Group Pretest-Posttest Investigation

“…The instructor gained valuable insight into aspects of the course that appeared to be covered well and those content areas which could be expanded. This current study provided avenues for additional research to explore student learning and meet the call for evaluation of current university-based courses (Joiner & Landreth, 2005;Yousef & Ener, 2013;Lindo et al, 2014). All results were statistically significant.…”

“…The current instructor plans to evaluate the course curriculum as it aligns with the Association for Play Therapy's (APT, 2012) Best Practices in subsequent offerings of the course. Future research will begin to answer the call of current practitioners that emphasize a continuing evaluation of current university-based play therapy courses (Joiner & Landreth, 2005;Yousef & Ener, 2013;Lindo et al, 2012). Continual evaluation is needed to ensure that instructors are meeting the needs of their students as well as closing the instructional gap in the field.…”

“…Little research exists that examines the most effective content and teaching methods for play therapy, although most play therapy courses consist of a mixture of experiential and lecture components with added opportunities for role play (Jones & Rubin, 2005). Therefore, it is essential to emphasize the need for development of standards for best practice and criteria for the training of skilled play therapists, so they can be fully equipped and prepared to work with various populations (Joiner & Landreth, 2005;Lindo et al, 2012;Yousef & Ener, 2013). It behooves the field of play therapy to continue evaluating current courses and integrating new research findings, best practices, and students' needs into each course.…”

Theory of Work Adjustment and Student-Athletes' Transition out of Collegiate Sport

“…Other Delphi study researchers have explored the opinions of experts in order to create guidelines for curriculum or programs. Joiner and Landreth's (2005) Delphi panel consisted of play therapy experts and play therapy instructors who were asked opinions on necessary core curriculum and experiences for play therapy training within a developmental approach. The resulting data were used to create a scale that was sent out to play therapy professors to which the data was used to develop play therapy training curriculum.…”