Impacts of an intensive child-centered play therapy training workshop for school counselors

ABSTRACT This mixed methods study examined the impacts of an intensive play therapy workshop that included a micro-practicum for 18 practicing school counselors. This study also explored school counselors’ experiences regarding their training for addressing mental health issues in schools and their experiences following the intensive play therapy workshop. Participants ranged in age from 28 years to 66 years. Fifteen (n = 15) participants identified as female while three (n = 3) identified male. Varying levels of clinical play therapy experience were represented in this study with 44.4% (n = 8) participants reporting having no prior clinical experience in play therapy, 33.3% (n = 6) reporting having under 1 year of clinical experience in play therapy, 5.6% (n = 1) reporting having 2 years of clinical play therapy experience, 5.6% (n = 1) reporting having 3 years of clinical play therapy experience, and 11.1% (n = 2) reporting having more than 3 years of clinical experience in play therapy. Results indicated that an intensive play therapy workshop with micro-practicum positively affects school counselors’ scores on the Play Therapy Attitude Knowledge and Skills Survey and School Counselor Self-efficacy scales.