Play Counseling Intercessions used by Elementary School Counselors: Perceptions and barriers they Face

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the play counseling interventions used by school counselors, their perceptions about and barriers facing them in applying these interventions. To answer the questions of the study a play therapy intervention in elementary school scale was developed and applied on (178) male and female school counselors randomly selected from the elementary schools of Amman and Alzarqa cities. Results showed that female counselors were more using play counseling interventions than males. Results also revealed significant differences between males and females in their perceptions of play counseling interventions. However, no significant differences were found in using play counseling interventions according to school size or counselor’s specialty. On the other hand, the most interventions used by counselors were story telling, role playing and drawing, while water, games, sand and sculpt were less used. Results showed that the most barriers to implementing play counseling were lacking of teachers and principals acceptance and support, suitable place, training opportunities in play counseling techniques and time required to implement these interventions.