Individual and Group Child‐Centered Play Therapy: Impact on Social‐Emotional Competencies

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial study with 56 elementary school children to test the effectiveness of 16 sessions of individual and group child‐centered play therapy (CCPT) in improving social‐emotional assets, including self‐regulation/responsibility, social competence, and empathy. Parent reports indicated that treatment in both CCPT conditions was correlated with substantial gains in overall social‐emotional assets and in the constructs of self‐regulation/responsibility and social competence.     

A Meta‐Analytic Review of Child‐Centered Play Therapy Approaches

The authors explored the overall effectiveness of child‐centered play therapy (CCPT) approaches through a meta‐analytic review of 52 controlled outcome studies between 1995 and 2010. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques estimated a statistically significant moderate treatment effect size (.47) for CCPT, as well as statistically significant relationships between effect size and study characteristics, including child's age, child's ethnicity, caregiver involvement, treatment integrity, publication status, and presenting issue.     

Child‐Centered Play Therapy: Aggression,Empathy, and Self‐Regulation

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate differences among 36 elementary school age children who received 16 sessions of child‐centered play therapy and 35 children who were assigned to a waitlist control group. Pre‐ and postassessments were used to measure children's levels of aggression, self‐regulation, and empathy per parent and teacher report. Results revealed statistically significant positive results for parents and nonstatistically significant results for teachers. Implications and future research are examined.     

Introducing Reality Play Therapy: Reactions and Perceptions From Elementary School Counselors

Many elementary school students lack school relationships required for positive personal, social, and academic interactions. Reality therapy and play therapy both seek to address these relationships through developmentally appropriate and effective interventions. Integrating these 2 approaches has the potential for elementary school counselors to provide students with opportunities to create positive relationships and develop problem-solving skills. In this study, 8 school counselors participated in a series of trainings introducing reality play-therapy techniques to assess this potential. A thematic analysis conducted on feedback sessions following the trainings yielded themes related to the participants’ positive perceptions to the training and possible application.     

Some Concomitants of Underachievement at the Elementary School Level

This study compared a group of fourth-grade underachieves with a control group in the areas of peer relationships and measured personality variables. The underachievers were identified by predicting their grade-point average (GPA) from their WISC Verbal Scale IQ score by use of a prediction equation. If the predicted GPA was .8 standard error of estimate above their obtained GPA, the student was identified as an underachiever. This resulted in the identification of 84 male and 34 female underachievers. The results of the investigation indicated that regardless of sex, underachievers are selected less frequently by their peers and have a lower level of personality adjustment.     

Connectedness and Self‐Regulation as Constructs of the Student Success Skills Program in Inner‐City African American Elementary School Students

The authors evaluated a small‐group counseling intervention, Student Success Skills, provided to 53 inner‐city, 4th‐ and 5th‐grade African American students. Compared with the control group, students who received the treatment reported significant changes in metacognitive skill and feelings of connectedness to school. Furthermore, treatment‐group students received higher posttest change scores on certain executive functioning subscale items, as reported by their classroom teachers. Implications for counseling practice are presented.     

The Influence of Africentric Values and Neighborhood Satisfaction on the Academic Self‐Efficacy of African American Elementary School Children

This exploratory study examined the relationships between Africentric values, racial/ethnic identity, neighborhood satisfaction, and academic self‐efficacy beliefs among 88 African American elementary school children. Results indicated that Africentric values and neighborhood satisfaction were both predictive of academic self‐efficacy beliefs. Racial/ethnic identity did not significantly predict the outcome variable. Este estudio exploratorio examinó las relaciones entre valores Afrocéntricos, identidad racial/étnica, satisfacción en el vecindario y convicciones sobre la autoeficacia académica entre 88 niños Afroamericanos en la escuela elemental. Los resultados indicaron que tanto los valores Afrocéntricos como la satisfacción en el vecindario podían predecir las convicciones sobre autoeficacia académica. La identidad racial/étnica no predijo significativamente la variable del resultado.     

Racial Peer Group Selection in African American High School Students

This study examined the influence of racial identity and other potential factors that may contribute to African American high school students' selection of a racial peer group. Results indicated that racial identity, feelings of racial similarity, and racial composition of one's neighborhood were differentially related to peer group selection. Esta investigación examinó la influencia de la identidad racial y otros factures potenciales que pueden contribua a la selección del grupo de compañeros racial de estudiantes de la preparatoria Africano Americanos. Cien y cuatro estudiantes Africano Americanos de una preparatoria multi‐étnica completaron medidas sobre su posición de identidad racial, los sentimientos de la similtud racial, susceptibilidad a la presión de sus compañeros, y la constitución racial su vencindario.     

Group Narrative Therapy for Women With Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Women with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with the developmental challenges of adulthood and ADHD‐related problems. The authors provide specific clinical interventions from a narrative‐based group approach to help women with ADHD understand their symptoms, create strength‐based narratives, and apply these narratives to the developmental tasks of early adulthood.     

Solution‐Focused Therapy as a Culturally Acknowledging Approach With American Indians

Limited literature is available applying specific theoretical orientations with American Indians. Solution‐focused therapy may be appropriate, given the client‐identified solutions, the egalitarian counselor/client relationship, the use of relationships, and the view that change is inevitable. However, adaption of scaling questions and the miracle question may be necessary. Hay una limitada cantidad de literatura disponible que aplique orientaciones teóricas específicas con indios americanos. La terapia centrada en soluciones puede ser apropiada, dadas las soluciones identificadas por los clientes, la relación igualitaria entre consejero y cliente, el uso de relaciones y la visión de que el cambio es inevitable. Sin embargo, puede que sea necesario adaptar las preguntas de escala y la pregunta del milagro.     

The Development and Evolution of Person‐Centered Expressive Art Therapy: A Conversation With Natalie Rogers

Many counselors are unaware that Natalie Rogers, daughter of Carl Rogers, has extended her father's work into the creative and expressive arts. This article includes a verbatim conversation with Natalie Rogers as she reflects on her childhood and her professional work. Person‐centered expressive art therapy is an alternative to traditional verbal counseling approaches and may be especially helpful for clients stuck in linear, rigid, and analytic ways of thinking and experiencing the world.     

Differential Item Functioning of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener for Caucasian and African American Elementary School Students

The present study examined the psychometric properties of a universal screening instrument called the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS), which is designed to identify students exhibiting emotional and behavioral problems. The primary purposes of this study were to assess the measurement invariance of EBS items between Caucasian and African-American students and to assess the impact of differential item functioning (DIF) on EBS scores. The sample consisted of 946 elementary students from throughout the U.S. The findings suggested that EBS items exhibited small to negligible levels of DIF, and that DIF did not significantly impact EBS scores. The results supported the EBS as universal screening instrument that is fair in measuring the emotional and behavioral risk of elementary students. Research limitations and implications for school professionals are discussed.     

Using the WDEP System of Reality Therapy to Support Person‐Centered Treatment Planning

Formulating a written treatment plan is now required by most 3rd‐party payers and is standard practice in mental health agencies throughout the United Sates. Treatment plans include the formulation of goals, objectives, and treatment interventions. Congruent with diagnostic categories, the WDEP (wants, doing, evaluation, and planning; Wubbolding, 2000 , 2011 ) system of reality therapy provides a useful structure for fulfilling these requirements. This structure can be readily integrated into other modalities used by counselors for a person‐centered approach to treatment planning.     

Play Therapy With Abused Children: A Review of the Literature

The authors present a review and critique of the play therapy literature related to abused and neglected children, and they discuss seven characteristic play behaviors of maltreated children along with two common play themes. Recommendations for future research are also presented.     

The Impact of Al‐Islam on the African American Population

At the beginning of the 21st century, there seems to be a growing interest in the Islamic religion, or Al‐Islam, in the African American community. This interest is evidenced by the recognition that Al‐Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. In some cases, Muslims outnumber some of the traditional religions in America. In addition, of the 5 million Muslims in the United States, approximately 40% are African Americans. This article explores different aspects of Al‐Islam, including the beliefs and religious practice of Muslims; the historical relationship among Africa, African Americans, and Al‐Islam; and the current and future implications for African Americans.     

An Analysis of How Carl Rogers Enacted Client‐Centered Conversation With Gloria

This study analyzed Carl Rogers's session with Gloria in Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (E. L. Shostrom, 1965a) to determine how Rogers's conversational style functioned to enact his core conditions of empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard. Rogers's conversational style was found to be congruent with his espoused theory as well as a catalyst for client‐centered counseling. The authors suggest that despite the film's popularity, the “client‐centeredness” of the therapeutic interaction between Carl Rogers and Gloria has been previously underrecognized.     

Answer Similarity Analysis at the Group Level

Answer similarity indices were developed to detect pairs of test takers who may have worked together on an exam or instances in which one test taker copied from another. For any pair of test takers, an answer similarity index can be used to estimate the probability that the pair would exhibit the observed response similarity or a greater degree of similarity under the assumption that the test takers worked independently. To identify groups of test takers with unusually similar response patterns, Wollack and Maynes suggested conducting cluster analysis using probabilities obtained from an answer similarity index as measures of distance. However, interpretation of results at the cluster level can be challenging because the method is sensitive to the choice of clustering procedure and only enables probabilistic statements about pairwise relationships. This article addresses these challenges by presenting a statistical test that can be applied to clusters of examinees rather than pairs. The method is illustrated with both simulated and real data.     

Effects of Feedback on Self‐Evaluations and Self‐Regulation in Elementary School

Elementary school learners are typically highly confident when judging accuracy of their test responses, relatively independent of whether these are correct. While feedback has been shown to improve accuracy of adults' and adolescents' self‐evaluations and subsequent self‐regulation, little is known about beneficial effects for elementary school children. We investigated effects of fine‐grained feedback on fourth and sixth graders' self‐evaluations and restudy selections by presenting them the ideas they were meant to bring up in their test responses. One group received full‐definition feedback standards, whereas the other group received idea‐unit feedback standards. The two types of feedback strongly improved fourth and sixth graders' self‐evaluations for commission errors and for partially correct responses. While restudy selections before feedback were more adaptive for sixth than fourth graders, age differences disappeared after receiving feedback. Findings imply that feedback standards are a suitable tool to calibrate elementary school learners and to support effective self‐regulation.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.