Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	McMonigle, Catherine Lorraine
Author's Email Address	clm@vt.edu
URN	etd-05092008-122953
Title	Parents' and Children's Experiences in Family Play Therapy
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Human Development
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title McCollum, Eric E. Committee Chair Gil, Eliana Committee Member Huebner, Angela J. Committee Member
Keywords	children parents experiences perceptions family play therapy play therapy
Date of Defense	2008-04-30
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Family Play Therapy is a creative therapeutic approach to engage children in therapy in the context of their family system. While the young field of family play therapy offers both the benefits of family therapy and play therapy, research concerning its efficacy is largely unavailable. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the experience of family play therapy in context of child sexual abuse treatment, from the perspective of child clients and their parents. A secondary purpose of this descriptive study was to provide contextual data to inform future quantitative research on family play therapy. In separate, semi-structured and open-ended interviews, eight children and their non-offending parents described their therapy experience of the family puppet interview intervention, in which they created and acted out a story with puppets. Participants’ descriptions of their experience revealed five broad themes: (1) the perceived benefits of play (what participants liked), (2) parents feelings about play as a medium, (3) parent’s perceived role in the session, (4) children’s thoughts about family participation in therapy, and (5) suggestions for improvement. A discussion of the findings’ relevance to previous literature, clinical practice and future research, as well as the limitations of this study is provided
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