Summer 2008
Newsletter
Election of
Officers
The nominating
committee submits the following people to hold elected positions for SGAPT for
the next two years. Their duties start
on
President – Jo
Anne Mitchell
Vice President –
Mary Thompson
Co-Vice President
– Katie McGrory
Secretary –
Jennifer Austin
Treasurer – Janice
Michaels
By-Laws
The Board of
Directors is proposing the following changes to SGAPT by-laws. All changes are in Article IV – Officers.
These changed will be voted on at our general meeting in September, 2008. If you have any concerns, please contact Jo
Anne Mitchell at jmcounseling@msn.com.
1) Section 1-a(10):
Move from President’s duties to Secretary’s duties Section 2-d(6);
“Shall
have the responsibility for publication of SGAPT newsletter a minimum of four
times per year.”
2) Create an elected office of Vice President
Elect, Co-Vice President.
(1)
Shall
assume all duties in the absence of the Vice President.
(2)
Shall
carry out all such duties as assigned by the Vice President.
(3)
Shall
become Vice President of SGAPT, Inc. upon the death or resignation of the Vice
President. The Vice President Elect shall
serve for the unexpired term of the Vice President as well as the following two
years if the Vice President dies or resigns office.
(4)
Shall
serve as co-conference/program committee chair.
Canines
as Co-Therapists in Play Therapy
By: Dr. Mary Thompson, LPC, RPT/S
I finally finished my doctoral dissertation and am
excited to share some of my findings with you. The purpose of my study was to present a
model for combining animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and play therapy as well as
providing data on its effect on a child’s response to play therapy. In
canvassing the literature it was apparent that few studies exist on using AAT
in psychotherapy with children and no studies exist on its integration into
non-directive play therapy. This study provided the first empirical
investigation into the combination of these interventions.
The main research questions for this study were: (1) Does play therapy
work with children who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders, and (2) Does
the presence of a therapy dog change the session characteristics and
effectiveness of play therapy? Methods
combined quantitative and qualitative data collection to examine differences in
children’s behavior in the presence/absence of a certified therapy dog (ABAB
design). Individual non-directive play sessions
occurred weekly for 45 minutes across 16 weeks.
Results of the study showed that the presence of the therapy dog had a
significant impact on a child’s response to play therapy. In the presence of
the dog, children in the study showed an improvement in mood and affect, an
increased ability to engage in thematic play, and more readily established
rapport. They also exhibited a decrease in aggressive behavior and play
disruptions. Another interesting finding was when children with PTSD disclosed
their abuse for the first time it was always in the presence of the therapy
dog. Seven of the 8 children showed a clear differentiation between more
positive and less negative behavior in the presence of the dog, suggesting that
the therapy dog was associated with more organized behavior in anxious
children. It is recommended that treatment professionals in both the AAT and PT
fields consider AAPT as an effective intervention for children with anxiety
disorders, especially PTSD.
Effects of a Trained
Therapy Dog in Child-Centered Play Therapy on Children with Anxiety Disorders
(Thompson, Mustaine, & Weaver, 2008)
From the President
I hope everyone is
having a wonderful summer. We are in the
mist of planning our fall conference and also having a membership drive. Our branch is on probation because we only
have 17 members of SGAPT and we need 20, to be compliant. So if everyone could be an
ambassador for play therapy and SGAPT and encourage membership in our group. I would also like to welcome and thank
Jennifer Austin who is publishing our newsletter for us.
Join APT today!
Just click on http://www.a4pt.org/memberapp.cfm
to fill out the APT membership form and don’t forget to
choose Georgia South as your
branch! By joining APT and SGAPT you will enjoy local conferences offered by SGAPT, a quarterly magazine, semi-annual journal, play therapy directory and much more all offered by APT.
SAVE THE DATE:
SGAPT PLAY THERAPY CONFERENCE
SGAPT’S next
conference will be
Visit us at www.sgapt.org
If you have any play therapy news to share send it
to uno4pt@yahoo.com
attn. Jennifer Austin