COUN 567 Advanced Child Development and Play Therapy

This course explores child growth and development and its effects on how children grow and learn while also navigating the landscape of education within a PK-12 setting including the context of historical and current theoretical models, as well as the practicality and application of play therapy within the context of each stage of child growth and development. Topics include: effects of various ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and age considerations on development, strategies and which may assist future school counselors working with students in various developmental stages. Methods of instruction primarily feature: in- class face-to-face learning, with some additional asynchronous online work. 

Credits

5

Prerequisite

Admission to the MAC Program.

Outcomes

1. This course will prepare students to:
2. Develop an awareness of the child’s world as viewed by the child.
3. Review developmental stages of children and children’s play.
4. Learn the non-directive play therapy model.
5. Be able to conceptualize a client’s presenting clinical problem(s) developmentally and theoretically.
6. Build a developmentally appropriate play therapy tool kit for both assessment and treatment.
7. Identify an understanding of the play therapy relationship between counselor and client.
8. Practice play therapy skills, including tracking, reflection of feeling, returning responsibility, setting limits, etc.
9. Understand the person of the play therapist and how it impacts the counselor-client relationship.
10. Identify issues of diversity and how they impact the play therapy process.