1. Editorial

Michael Behr - Special Issue Editor

Editorial | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 263-265

2. Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT): Theory, Research, and Practice

Sue C. Bratton, Dee C. Ray, Natalya A. Edwards, Garry Landreth - University of North Texas, USA

Article | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages:

Keywords: play therapy, child-centered, nondirective, person-centered theory, child therapy

Abstract: Beginning with the groundbreaking work of Virginia Axline in the 1940s, nondirective/child-centered/person-centered play therapy has been recognized as a developmentally responsive therapeutic intervention for children that utilizes play, children's natural means of expression. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT), the term used in North America, is founded on the belief that, just as adults, children possess within themselves the ability to make meaning of their experiences and solve their own problems. This article provides an overview of the theory and practice of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), including research to support its effectiveness.

3. The Effects of Peer-Facilitated Filial Therapy: A Play Tutor Approach

Herbert Goetze, Janice A. Grskovic - University of Potsdam, Germany

Article | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 282-298

Keywords: filial therapy, peer tutors, play tutors, Germany

Abstract: Filial therapy has been shown to be an effective intervention for improving child behavior problems and parent-child interactions. This study extends the literature by assessing the effects of peer-facilitated filial therapy on the behavior of both younger and older students with disabilities. We assessed the effects of training and feedback on the therapeutic behaviors of older students who served as play tutors and assessed the effect of play tutor behavior on young tutee behavior as rated by parents and teachers. Results showed that play tutors increased their facilitative play behavior over time and benefited from feedback. Control students did not show similar gains. Teachers, but not parents, recorded a significant decrease in total problematic behavior and in particular decreases in internalizing behavior (i.e., withdrawal, somatic complaints, depression, and anxiety) for the younger students.

4. The Promotion of Resilience: A Person-Centered Perspective of Prevention in Early Childhood Institutions

Maike Rönnau-Böse, Klaus Fröhlich-Gildhoff - Protestant University of Applied Sciences, Freiburg, Germany

Article | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 299-318

Keywords: prevention, resilience, kindergarten, early childhood education, parental courses

Abstract: This article describes the ideas that defined and the data that evaluated the project "Empower children! - Promotion of Resilience in Early Childhood Institutions" ("Kinder Stärken! Resilienzförderung in der Kindertageseinrichtung"). The project's main purpose was to systematically build resilience within children (aged 3-6 years) in a kindergarten setting through the following interventions: (a) The training and supervision of early childhood educators; (b) the children's participation in resilience-focused courses; (c) the parents' participation in both individual counseling and group training; and (d) the establishment of networks that included counseling institutions and other social welfare services. Integral to the project was its person-centered approach. The project's outcome data show positive effects on the self-esteem, behavioral stability, and cognitive development of the children who participated in the project (the treatment group), in contrast to the children included in a comparison group. This article also attempts to show how the concept of resilience and the person-centered view are compatible with each other.

5. The Use of Animals as Co-Therapists

Evelyne Chardonnens - University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Article | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 319-332

Keywords: animal-assisted therapy, equine-assisted psychotherapy, attachment disorder, relational competences, client-centered psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychotherapy

Abstract: Animals, particularly horses, assist in therapy with children and adults with severe psychological and behavioral problems. Through the case study of M., a teenager with the diagnosis of severe mental illness, the author argues that therapy involving animals as co-therapists leads the client to a clear reduction in symptoms, through a process of validation, sense of responsibility, increase in self-esteem, and development of core competencies that enhance relational competences. A link is shown between equine-assisted psychotherapy and Carl Rogers' basic concepts.

6. Dreams: Bringing Us Two Steps Closer

Andrea Koch - Berlin, Germany

Article | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 333-348

Keywords: dream, person-centered counseling, self-healing, focusing, client's perspective

Abstract: Person-centered theory which integrates dreaming is still at its beginning, even though Rogers (1980) explicitly called out for such a development. Since then several authors have written about the importance of dreams for therapy/counseling (Conradi, 2000; Finke, 1990, 2004; Gendlin, 1986; Gerl, 1981; Hill, 2004; Jennings, 1986; Keil, 2002; Klingenbeck, 1998; Leijssen, 2004; Lemke, 2000; Pfeiffer, 1989; Schmid, 1992; Vossen, 1990). This paper strives to show that a person-centered understanding of dreaming is to view it as a process of nightly self-healing, of nightly "psychological adjustment": the mainspring of dreaming being the actualizing tendency (similar to creative and therapeutic processes). Due to this significant role of dreaming and the fact that most people remember more dreams in times of transition and crisis - times when they also seek out counselors or therapists - the art of dream conversations should be cultivated and taught more frequently within the person-centered world.

Book review

7. Book review: Reflections on Human Potential: Bridging the Person-Centered Approach and Positive Psychology

Brian Levitt (Ed.)

Reviewed by Sue Wilders

Review | From volume/issue: 8.4 | Pages: 349-351