To Play or Not To Play: The Phenomenological Understanding of Mental Health Professional's Experience of Play Therapy

The field of clinical psychology is moving toward a focus on evidence-based practice and therapeutic interventions supported by rigorous research. Play therapy is an evidence based practice with extensive literature on the benefits, however, there is a lack of rigorous, outcome-focused research in some key foundational areas due to challenges related to measurement. Efficacy data is lacking in describing a model of change and in measuring the relationship effects. This phenomenological study was conducted in order to add to the efficacy literature on play therapy. Participants were asked to describe their experience in response to two questions regarding the change agents of play therapy and perspective on play therapy as evidence based practice. Five general themes were extracted from the data and supported with participant quotes. Findings corroborated literature on play therapy research from the perspective of mental health professionals. The researcher found data to preliminarily address challenges of measuring the relationship in psychotherapy and evidence to support the need for a model of change in play therapy. Participants provided extensive anecdotal evidence, a potential direction for future research in play therapy.