Non-directive play therapy with autistic adolescents: a qualitative study of therapists’ interactional practices

This case study identifies and examines interactional practices of non-directive play therapists during their therapeutic sessions with autistic adolescents. The study involved two therapists and two adolescents (siblings) on the autism spectrum. The video-recorded sessions took place at participants’ home and were conducted in Polish. Employing insights and tools from discourse-analytic approaches, in particular conversation analysis (CA), the findings show how clients and therapists are both involved in co-constructing therapeutic interactions by orienting to each other’s utterances. CA is presented in this article as a useful tool for recognizing and describing the therapists’ interactional contributions and their local functions. The therapeutic practices identified in the analysis (talk-in-practice) – e.g. mirroring, meaning expansion, recast and scaffolding – are further juxtaposed with theories concerning interactional practices in non-directive therapies (talk-in-theory) in order to provide a more detailed picture of these practices as well as complete them. The findings from this study expand the current state of knowledge of non-directive play therapies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and carry practical implications for specialists involved in ASD treatment.

STUDY OF THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT IN LOWER LIMB PEDIATRIC TRAUMA

Amputations of limbs, in terms of traumatic pediatric afflictions, are sparse, but severe indispositions that can become very uncomfortable for the ones involved. The role of the orthopedic or the plastic surgeon is crucial here, for she or he needs to preserve as much as possible from the viable physis in order for the bond development of the child to still happen. In following steps, a wound examination should be done to check for symptoms of ischemia or tissue non-viability. Some problems, such as neuromas, can be avoided by dividing the nerves proximally. A multidisciplinary approach involving physiotherapists, play therapists, and a child psychiatrist, in addition to the surgeon and primary care practitioners, may lead to a successful recovery.

Development of the child’s ego strength scale: an observation-based assessment of the board game behaviors in play therapy in Korea

Background The purpose of this study was to develop a scale for assessing children’s ego strength through the observation of children playing board games in a therapeutic setting. Because ego strength is an index of psychosocial health, it is important to assess ego strength in childhood. In particular, children aged 7 to 9 exhibit their ego-strength characteristics in a situation challenged by self-competence due to their latency period. Therapists can identify such ego strength through game behaviors of children aged 7 to 9 in the play therapy setting. Thus, it is needed to develop a scale by selecting game play behaviors that grasp ego-strength. Method Data were collected from 127 play therapists and play therapist-supervisors, who observed 468 play therapy sessions and 55 children aged 7–9 who received play therapy in Korea. The scale was created through content validity verification, factor analysis and verification of criterion-related validity. Results We generated a Child’s Ego Strength Scale (CESS) consisting of five sub-factors (Coping Strategy, Cognitive Strategy, Ego Restriction, Interpersonal Functioning, Frustration Tolerance) through exploratory factor analysis. The scale met the goodness of fit criteria in a confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis of therapy sessions of children with strong and weak ego strength, as identified by play therapists, showed a significant difference between the two groups in all five sub-variables. There was a significant correlation between the CESS scores and scores of ego strength-related variables of the Rorschach scale, indicating good criterion-related validity. Conclusion The CESS appears to be a practical method for the assessment of ego strength in the field of child counseling.