Virginia Axline developed a new field of child psychotherapy by applying a nondirective approach to the burgeoning experimentation of utilizing play in therapeutic work with children. While much biographical information is available regarding other leaders in the fields of counseling and psychology, historical research into Axline and her development of child-centered play therapy represent a gap in the literature. The purpose of the current study was to: 1) examine the professional contributions of Virginia Axline; 2) gather personal information regarding Axline that contributes to deeper understanding of her theory; and 3) identify life circumstances or events that influenced Axline's professional contributions. Historical methodology was utilized to locate and examine artifacts and materials necessary to create an interpretive biography of Axline's life and work, with a focus on her professional influences, experiences, and contributions. Historical methods utilized include historiography, oral history, and interpretive biography, with an emphasis on established and accepted source criticism and data synthesis processes. The research yielded a number of historically significant and previously unknown documents valuable to the field of CCPT including personal correspondence, academic writings, and interviews, as well as academic and government records. The research also established new information about and understandings of several of …

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and queer (LGBTQIQ) adults are more likely to report experiences of complex trauma, and have detrimental mental health effects as a result, when compared to cisgender, heterosexual adults. However, LGBTQIQ adults have excellent capacity for resilience. In this phenomenological investigation, I explored the lived experiences of resilient LGBTQIQ emerging adults (N = 11) who have histories of complex trauma. Five themes emerged as a result of this study, including (a) abuse and neglect, (b) emotional experiences during and after trauma, (c) connections are essential, (d) getting through hard times, and (e) struggles in the counseling process. The results indicated implications for counselors and counselor educators to better address the experiences of complex trauma and identify resilience in LGBTQIQ emerging adults. Recommendations are provided to counselors and counselor educators for integrating knowledge and actions into their counseling, teaching, and supervision practices, as well as for parents and caregivers, teachers and school personnel, and policymakers.

The purpose of the present study was to explore a theoretically based social-cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by investigating attachment-related and social-cognitive predictors of PTSD in a sample of 125 post-9/11 U.S. combat veterans. Subjects completed an online survey assessing PTSD symptomology, attachment-related internal working models, perceived social support, and mentalizing capacity. Path analysis provided empirical support for a respecified version of the model. More negative internal working model of self and poorer mentalizing capacity predicted higher PTSD symptom levels. Contrary to previous findings, greater perceived social support predicted higher, not lower, PTSD symptom levels. Mentalizing capacity mediated the relationship between internal working model of self and PTSD symptoms in a complementary manner, whereas perceived social support as a mediator was dampening. The relationship between internal working model of others and PTSD symptom levels was fully mediated by perceived social support, which buffered the effect of negative working model of others on PTSD symptom levels. These findings underscore the importance of social-cognitive processing, rooted in early attachment experiences, in the development and symptomology of PTSD in trauma-exposed veterans. In preparing clients for trauma work, clinicians may consider employing modalities that promote earned secure attachment and highlight mentalization in …

Within this research study, a qualitative phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experiences of Black master's students (n = 10) who engage in mentorship in CACREP-accredited counselor education programs. The participants in this study represent different ACES regions in the United States, including SACES, NARACES, and NCACES. Six themes were discovered as a result of participants' experiences: (a) impact of mentorship, (b) benefits of mentorship, (c) qualities within mentoring relationships, (d) composition of mentoring relationships, (e) saliency and influence of identity, and (f) barriers to mentorship and program satisfaction. Furthermore, I offer suggestions for increasing support for Black master's students in counseling programs as well as recommendations for supporting the professional and personal development of this population.

In this phenomenological investigation, a qualitative approach to research methodology is utilized to explore the resiliency experiences of Black, Indigenous, people of color counselors in training (N = 12) at historically or predominantly White institutions. The participants represent multiple regions of the United States, spanning from the northeastern United States to the Pacific Northwest. Five themes were uncovered as a result of the interviews: (1) strategies for resiliency; (2) experiences with discrimination and oppression; (3) experiences of allyship and affirmation; (4) awareness of intersections and identity; and (5) call to action. I offer suggestions for ways to increase BIPOC student resiliency as well as increase student retention within counselor education programs and recommendations for creating nurturing and equitable classrooms to provide safety for marginalized students within counselor education programs.

The purpose of this participatory action research study was to explore queer womxn of color's experiences of microaggressions in therapy. Due to the multifaceted and complex experiences of queer womxn of color, this study was informed by intersectionality theory and utilized photovoice methodology to answer the following question: How do queer womxn of color experience microaggressions in therapy? The seven queer womxn of color who participated in this study provided vivid, honest, and courageous portrayals of their experience of microaggressions in therapy. Six major themes were prominent in their photographs and narratives: (a) collective and pervasive experiences of oppression, (b) therapy as a tool of oppression, (c) impact of oppression in therapy, (d) strategies for survival, (e) healing for queer womxn of color, and (f) the power of sharing mi historia. Overall, co-researchers provided insight into their experiences of oppression in therapy, while highlighting clinical and research practices that may be healing and liberatory for queer womxn of color. Additionally, implications and conclusions drawn from the experiences of co-researchers provide recommendations for mental health professionals, educational programs, and researchers to consider when working with queer womxn of color.

Depression in childhood is a significant mental health concern, impacting cognitive, affective, social, behavioral, and physical domains. Children who experience depressive symptoms are at an increased risk for physical and mental health, social, and behavioral problems throughout adulthood. Children who are marginalized due to their socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic identities are at an increased risk to experience depression and limited access to mental health care. Further, previous research has demonstrated limited efficacy of depression treatments for young children. In this study, I examined the efficacy of child-centered play therapy [CCPT], a culturally and developmentally responsive treatment, on depression among young children. Participants were 71 children from five Title 1 elementary schools in the southwestern U.S. referred by school personnel for depressive symptoms (49 males, 22 females; ages 5-9, mean age M = 6.21). The sample consisted of 14 (19.7%) African American, 3 (4.2%) Asian American, 15 (21.1%) biracial, 19 (26.8%) Caucasian, and 20 (28.2%) Latino children. Participants were randomly assigned to eight weeks of twice-weekly CCPT treatment group (n = 34) or a waitlist control group (n = 37). Results of doubly multivariate repeated-measures MANOVA revealed statistically significant improvement in depressive symptoms for children who participated in CCPT on …

This study aimed to gain insight into the clinical practices and attitudes of currently practicing play therapists working with children with a parent with a substance use disorder. Participants in the study were play therapists credentialed by the Association for Play Therapy, either as a Registered Play Therapist™ or Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™. A total of 198 play therapists participated in the study. Results demonstrated that variables including prior education, caseload of children affected by parental substance use, and the number of years since obtaining a mental health licensure explained 16% of the variance in participant attitude scores on the Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (DDPPQ). Specifically, education (β = -.335, rs2 = .884, p < .001) was found to be a significant predictor of play therapist attitudes towards substance users as it explained 88% of the variance accounted for in the effect. Additionally, although not found to be significant, caseload (β = -.134, rs2 = .325, p = .058) was found to explain 33% of the variance accounted for in the effect. This initial exploration of play therapists' attitudes towards substance users provides strong evidence towards the importance of education and training in substance use disorders. Further exploration of …

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological inquiry was to explore the experiences of adoptive parents who have Black transracially adopted children. More specifically, I sought to understand how the parents perceived their child's cultural and racial identity development and how they perceived the child-parent relationship. Therefore, I used the cultural-racial identity model created for transracial adoptees as a theoretical framework to answer the following questions: What are Black transracially adoptive parents' perceptions of their child's racial/cultural identity development? What are Black transracially adoptive parents' perceptions of the parent-child relationship? Upon approval from the Institutional Review Board, six transracially adoptive parents with Black transracially adopted children participated in this study. Participants engaged in a 60-minute interview that was transcribed and coded to develop themes consistent with other participants. There were six themes identified from the data: (a) experience of the child-parent relationship, (b) impact of trauma, (c) becoming a transracially adoptive parent, (d) cultural, racial, ethnic, identity development process (CREID), (e) encounters with microaggressions, and (f) cultural socialization practices. Implications and conclusions drawn from the themes were identified for transracially adoptive parents, counselors, counselor education programs, and transracial adoption researchers to inform culturally responsive practices when working within the adoption kinship …

Polyamory is an identity that describes the ability to experience romantic love with more than one romantic partner at a time. Polyamory is often perceived as being perverse, amoral, and relationally broken or deficient; however, people who identify as polyamorous are found to be as mentally healthy and happy as people who are monogamous. Clients who identify as polyamorous may experience their counselor as lacking familiarity with and knowledge of polyamory or as actively working against their identity. This study was a phenomenological inquiry designed to illuminate the counseling experiences of polyamorous people. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight participants and analyzed with a modified van Kaam method with relational-cultural theory as the framework. The three major findings that constitute the essence of this inquiry were: (a) participants experienced disappointment and disrespect in the counselor's ignorance of their vital identities, (b) the necessities of trust and connection between participant and counselor for empowerment and growth, and (c) the complementary nature of relationality in polyamory and counseling. These findings indicated counselors should seek a baseline of education on polyamory. The implications for counselor educators were to strive to envelope counselors-in-training in a culture that supports developing multicultural competency and …

Assessment is a foundational part of counseling practice, which includes the process of providing assessment feedback to those tested. Millions of children are assessed across the United States through the public-school system, hospital, agency, and private practice settings. Though millions of children are assessed yearly, there has been little research surrounding providing assessment feedback with children. In this study, the author qualitatively explored children's experiences with a developmentally appropriate feedback model, the young children's assessment feedback (YCAF). Participants included ten 6 to 10-year old children, who had not previously gone through psychoeducational testing within the last year. Participants completed a battery of psychoeducational assessments and the YCAF feedback process. Data sources included session transcriptions, session observation notes, child interviews, parent interviews, and expressive arts observation notes. In order to explore the perceptions regarding the YCAF, the author utilized interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand the children's feedback experiences. Findings included the following themes: freedom for self-direction, self-concept, therapeutic relationship, affective responses of child, systemic shifts, and developmental considerations. The themes show that the children in this study saw a variety of benefits and experiences surrounding receiving their own personalized, developmentally appropriate assessment feedback.

Childhood poverty is a prevalent concern in the United States and is associated with poor psychological and academic outcomes. Psychosocial stressors associated with life in poverty may interrupt the development of a positive self-concept, ultimately hampering the academic achievement of children in poverty. As the therapeutic objectives of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) support the development of an increasingly positive self-concept, I explored the impact of CCPT on the academic achievement of children in poverty. Participants were composed of 55 students between the ages of 4-7 years old from seven Title 1 elementary schools in the southern United States. Of the 55 study participants, 12 (22%) were female and 43 (78%) were male. Regarding participant ethnicity, 7 (13%) were African American, 1 (2%) was Asian American, 5 (9%) were multi-racial, 35 (64%) were Latino, 6 (11%) were Caucasian, and 1 (2%) did not report ethnicity. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 16 session CCPT treatment group (n = 25) or a waitlist control group (n = 30). A mixed between-within ANOVA was conducted to evaluate improvement in academic achievement scores between treatment and control groups across time. Results indicated a statistically significant interaction effect on the Early Achievement Composite Score …

Mindfulness is a practice that has the potential to help counseling students build a variety of skills that are necessary for clinical efficacy, including therapeutic presence, attunement, empathy, cognitive flexibility, and non-reactivity. However, mindfulness is rarely taught to students in mental health training programs, which makes it an untapped possibility to improve counselor education. Additionally, rarely do researchers explore the role of counselor mindfulness and counselor trauma on clients' perceptions of therapeutic presence. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the effects of a 15-week mindfulness training program for counseling students to understand its effect on client's perceptions of therapeutic presence, counselor state mindfulness development, and counselor trauma symptoms. Participants in this cluster-randomized controlled intervention were masters counseling students currently enrolled in clinical practicum accredited by the Counsel for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Counselors provided data at three timepoints on their state mindfulness, trauma symptoms, and therapeutic presence. Clients provided data at three timepoints on their perceptions of their counselor's therapeutic presence. We analyzed data through repeated measures ANOVA and two-level longitudinal hierarchical linear models. Implications for counselor education, professional counselor development, and future research are offered and limitations are discussed.

Neuroscience is a relevant topic for counseling and counselor education, and it is a required area of competency for accredited counseling education programs. Despite this required competency, current counseling literature scarcely addresses neuroscience in counselor education. I have designed the present study to address this scarcity by exploring counselor educators' experiences of incorporating neuroscience into the counselor education curriculum using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) approach. The purpose of this study is to create a foundational understanding of (a) what elements of neuroscience counselor educators are currently including in their courses, and (b) the experience of counselor educators with teaching neuroscience. I interviewed eight counselor educators about their experiences learning and teaching neuroscience. Six domains emerged from the interviews: (1) participants' background and experience, (2) influence of neuroscience on participants' teaching, (3) personal, academic, and professional responses to neuroscience, (4) ethical concerns and recommendations for neuroscience, (5) areas of interest and future research in neuroscience, and (6) counseling literature and publication in neuroscience. The information shared by the participants will contribute to future research of teaching effectiveness and outcomes using neuroscience in counselor education.

In the U.S., an estimated 61 million people identify as having a disability, making up 26% of all adults. The occurrence of a disability for one person within a couple impacts the physical, social, psychological, and emotional state of the person who acquired a disability, forcing changes to quality of life. Interabled couples, defined as one partner having a physical disability and the other partner identifying as nondisabled, navigate various systems of care as they respond to the needs of the partner with the disability. Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) has shown benefits in reducing relationship stress and increasing security within couples. In this study, the researcher explored the experiences of 10 EFT therapists who served at least one interabled couple in couple therapy. Participants completed a semi-structured interview designed to explore how EFT therapists make sense of their lived experiences serving interabled couples. The researcher utilized interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand how EFT therapists made meaning from their experiences serving interabled couples. Findings included four super-ordinate themes that emerged from the data including (a) ableism, (b) self-of-the-therapist, (c) relationship dynamics of interabled couples, and (d) the "fit" of EFT approach with interabled couples. The themes demonstrate a need to further …

In this study, I examined the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on the social and emotional functioning and mindful expressions of preschoolers in Head Start preschool programs. Participants were 23 children from two Head Start preschool programs in the southwestern U.S. who qualified for free or reduced lunch and were referred by school personnel for behavioral or academic concerns (18 males, 5 females; ages 3-5, mean age = 3.74). The sample consisted of 1 (4.3%) African American, 5 (21.7%) Caucasian, 14 (60.9%) Latino, and 3 (13%) multiracial children. Participants were randomly assigned to eight weeks of twice-weekly CCPT experimental groups (n = 11) or a waitlist control group (n = 12). Results of the independent samples t-tests revealed statistically significant improvement in preschool children's empathy and responsibility for children who participated in CCPT on the Social Emotional Assets and Resiliency Scale for Preschool. Practically significant findings revealed that CCPT may influence specific mindful expressions including curiosity and openness as well as overall social-emotional competence, emotional knowledge and expression, and empathy and responsibility in Head Start preschool children. Results of this study support the effectiveness of CCPT with disadvantaged preschool children.

This study aimed to explore the ability to capture the theoretical constructs of Adlerian crucial Cs (capable, connect, count, and courage) through creation of a self-report instrument for children. After following a four-phase process to develop the Crucial Cs Self Report (CCSR), including use of an expert panel, field reviews, preliminary testing, and final administration, the researcher utilized a series of exploratory factor analyses to explore the internal factor structure and relationships between items and resulting factors. The final EFA sample consisted of 112 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years recruited from various settings including three elementary schools, two mental health counseling clinics, and one private practice mental health agency. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure with 14 items. Refined model identified three factors later named count/significance, connect/belonging, and capable/striving. This initial exploration into the constructs of the Crucial Cs provides increased understanding of the widely used concepts. Further exploration and validation of the CCSR can help support parents and teachers in their efforts to foster healthy development of children as well as allow professionals and researchers to conceptualize progress and measure effectiveness of counseling intervention more accurately.

The current study is the first repeated-measures design exploring the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), an evidence-based child psychotherapy intervention, on autistic children's social-emotional assets, and emotional and behavioral problems across four times during intervention based on teacher reports. Participants consisted of 19 autistic children recruited from two Title-1 elementary schools in the southwest United States who were aged between 5 years and 8.25 years (M = 6.22, SD = .91), presented with varied levels of cognitive functioning and speech and language abilities. Over 60% of participants were identified by their parents as children of color. Results indicated participants' increased time in CCPT predicted statistically significant improvement in social-emotional assets measured by Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales-Teacher (SEARS-T) total score with a large effect size. Results also indicated participants' increased time in CCPT predicted a statistically significant reduction in emotional and behavioral problems of irritability, social withdrawal, and hyperactivity/ noncompliance, measured by Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Second Edition (ABC- 2), with large effect sizes. Findings of this study revealed substantive changes in social-emotional assets as early as 8 CCPT sessions, and reduction of emotional and behavioral concerns as early as 12 CCPT sessions. Clinical significance, implications for practice, and limitations of …