Play therapy and academic achievement: Evolution and application of researched practice

Abstract

The purpose of this research presentation is to present recent research on play therapy and academic achievement in populations of at‐risk and normal functioning students. These studies include both long‐term and short‐term play therapy methods. Using a population of elementary school students, short‐term play therapy studies demonstrate the variety of impact that in‐school play therapy can have for students. This includes the impact of short‐ term play therapy on child academic achievement, and self‐ regulation with academically at‐risk students. Studies have shown the impact of bi‐weekly short‐term play therapy on academic performance in at‐risk students, as well as bi‐weekly short‐term play therapy on academic performance in normal functioning students. Additionally, short‐term play therapy with normal functioning students demonstrated improvement in both performance anxiety and academic achievement. Studies which use long‐term play therapy methods include improvement in overall academic performance for normal‐functioning students and improvement in academic achievement scores for academically at‐ risk students