University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Work
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

      Let’s Play! Counselling Professionals’ Perspectives of Using Play Interventions in Clinical Practices

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      DONALD-THESIS-2019.pdf (974.1Kb)
      Date
      2019-05-08
      Author
      Donald, Emily
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      Abstract
      Counselling professionals often incorporate play interventions when providing therapeutic support to children experiencing adverse circumstances (e.g., family crisis, illness, living in poverty, foster care etc.). It has been suggested that play enhances emotional (i.e. recognizing feelings of sadness, happiness, etc.) and cognitive development (i.e., improving memory, abstract thinking, self-awareness) (Hong & Mason, 2016; Vygotsky, 1973). Play has been found to have a positive effect on improving children’s self-regulation in therapeutic settings (Kenney & Young, 2015; Marcelo & Yates, 2014; Pearson et al., 2007). Teaching children strategies of how to function under hardship can help them become more resilient individuals (Slingman, 1999). Currently there is limited information available that highlights specific skills and strategies counselling professionals are using in play-based interventions to foster improvement and help children learn positive adaption (Baggerly & Parker, 2005; Marcelo & Yates, 2014; Pattison, 2006; Shaefer & Drewes, 2012). This study sought to better understand counselling professionals’ perspectives, specific techniques, and strategies used in play-based interventions. Data was collected through interviews with four counselling psychologists, and analyzed inductively to identify three themes across the data set (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Merriam, 2009): (1) Learn The Steps: Teaching The Prerequisites of Self-Regulation; (2) Build Your Skills: Enhancing Self-Awareness and Resiliency Through Play; and (3) Change Takes Time: Trusting the Play Process. These findings highlighted how meaningful play can help children build self-awareness skills, which can lead to positive adaption. These initial findings can be used as a starting point to assist helping professionals, such as counsellors, to better support their child clients using play.
      Degree
      Master of Education (M.Ed.)
      Department
      Educational Psychology and Special Education
      Program
      School and Counselling Psychology
      Committee
      McIntyre , Laureen; Hellsten, Laurie; Balzer, Geraldine
      Copyright Date
      June 2019
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/12081
      Subject
      Resilience, play, self-regulation, self-awareness, counselling professionals
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy