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Observational Study
. 2021 Jan;26(1):257-267.
doi: 10.1177/1359104520964510. Epub 2020 Oct 24.

Can children's play themes be assessed to inform play therapy practice?

Bridget Sarah  1 , Judi Parson  1 , Kate Renshaw  1 , Karen Stagnitti  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Can children's play themes be assessed to inform play therapy practice?

Bridget Sarah et al. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

In play therapy with children, identifying play themes is key to understanding the meaning within sessions, and allows therapists to systematically track therapeutic change. This study investigated if play themes could be identified using a time limited, standardized assessment, for children aged 5-7 years. A descriptive, observational mixed methods, non-experimental study with 30 typically developing children was conducted, with participants assessed individually on one occasion using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA). Play themes were able to be identified for 26 of the 30 participants. Of these 26 children, a range of primary and subthemes were observed. These findings indicate that a baseline measure of both play ability and play themes can be integrated to prescribe and align the model of play therapy with the needs of the child. Play themes were not identified for four participants which may be due to limited pretend play ability, indicating that deficits in play ability may need to be addressed in the first instance.

Keywords: Prescriptive; assessment; play ability; play themes; play therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

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