St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Education Doctoral Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education 8-2012 Toward an Understanding of Administrative Support For School- based Play Therapy Mary Anne Peabody St. John Fisher College Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd Part of the Education Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Peabody, Mary Anne, "Toward an Understanding of Administrative Support For School-based Play Therapy" (2012). Education Doctoral. Paper 17. Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd/17 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Toward an Understanding of Administrative Support For School-based Play Therapy Abstract Play therapy exists with successful outcomes for young children. Despite the popularity and empirical support of play therapy, it is underutilized in the elementary school setting due to multiple individual and systemic barriers, which are indirectly or directly influenced yb school administrator support. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of administrative support from the perspective of elementary school mental health professionals. Specifically, this study looked at how school mental health professionals describe administrative support and how important support is for play therapy utilization. This study is grounded in social support theory which holds that workplace administrative support can be studied through four domains of support: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal. The qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with elementary public school mental health professionals from rural, suburban, and urban schools in New York and Maine. Using directed content analysis, the findings showed administrators generally provided administrative support for play therapy, however lacked understanding of play therapy and the need for clinical supervision. Other findings included gaps in an appraisal system that did not align with their counseling role and a need to show therapy data outcomes because of the data driven climate of the school setting. This study has implications for future practitioners and administrators in providing insight regarding support for play therapy utilization. Document Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Dianne Cooney Miner Second Supervisor Susan Schultz Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd/17 Toward an Understanding of Administrative Support For School-based Play Therapy By Mary Anne Peabody Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Ed.D. in Executive Leadership Supervised by Dr. Dianne Cooney Miner Committee Member Dr. Susan Schultz Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education St. John Fisher College August, 2012 Dedication This dedication starts with my parents who I know are looking down from heaven. They encouraged a love of learning. I also dedicate this to my husband, Glenn, who I know wasn’t really surprised when I said I was going back to school to deal with feelings around “empty nest”. And to my adult children, Katie and Matt, that I hope this dissertation journey serves as a model to never stop being curious and asking questions. You are both so strong in so many ways. I wish to thank Dr. Dianne Cooney Miner, my chair, for understanding what I needed, when I needed it most. She encouraged and challenged me to go deeper through her insights, questions, and ever present support. Dr. Susan Shultz, my committee member, brought the perfect balance of suggestions for improvement with continuous messages of encouragement. In a dissertation that examined the topic of “support” both Dr. Cooney Miner and Dr. Shultz are exemplary models of what “support” truly can be. To Dr. Arthur Walton, my advisor, you taught me to embrace the unexpected lessons as part of the doctoral journey, and I am forever grateful for your guidance. To Dr. Guillermo Montes whose words of wisdom about leadership, research, and trusting yourself, never cease to amaze me and to both Dr. Jeannine Dingus-Eason and Dr. Joellen Maples for their early guidance in the journey. To all my course professors who enriched my thinking along the two and a half years, I loved learning from you. A special thanks to Betsy Christiansen, who always seemed to have the time to answer my questions. To my mentors who enriched this experience in so many ways, I appreciated our ii scholarly conversations. To Dr. Marijane Fall, who influenced me as a play therapist and always believed in advancing the field of play therapy through research. I so wish you here on earth to share in this accomplishment. Thanks to Joan Hoffman, who loves play and children as much as I do, to Dr. Rob Rice who loves therapy as much as I do, and Dr. Dirk Hightower who continually believes in encouraging my professional growth. I am a better leader because of each of you and I am forever grateful. To my National Services team and colleagues at Children’s Institute, your support, patience, and encouragement means the world to me. To mighty Cohort 5, and especially my own group, the 5 Docs, what an experience to be shared, you are amazing leaders. And finally, to my dear colleague and friend, Debbie Johnson, who opened her heart and her home so I could actually accomplish this goal. It was a crazy ride, but I am so happy I was buckled in next to you. I believe you above all others, knows how much ringing the bell outside of the Alesi building means. Yes, all shapes and sizes of “dissertation angels” have truly watched over us both. Thanks for the long discussions, the tears, the laughter, the Saturday morning diner rituals, and sharing the passion for making the world a better place for children. iii Biographical Sketch Mary Anne Peabody is currently Deputy Director of National Services at Children’s Institute in Rochester, New York. Mrs. Peabody attended University of Utah in Salt Lake City with a Bachelors of Science degree in both Psychology and Therapeutic Recreation. She completed her Masters of Social Work at University of Utah, and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Play Therapy and Clinical Supervision from University of Southern Maine, in Gorham, Maine. She began doctoral studies in the summer of 2010 at St. John Fisher College in the Ed. D. Program in Executive Leadership. Mrs. Peabody pursued her research in understanding administrative support for play therapy in public elementary school settings under the direction of Dr. Dianne Cooney Miner and received the Ed.D. degree in 2012. iv Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge Children’s Institute, Inc. for providing multiple levels of support. From our association with the University of Rochester to aid in financial support, to on-going discussions with agency researchers, to continuous encouragement to think as a scholar, researcher, practitioner and executive leader. This dissertation could not have been possible without the encouragement and support to move forward in our organizations mission of strengthening children’s social and emotional health. v Abstract Play therapy exists with successful outcomes for young children. Despite the popularity and empirical support of play therapy, it is underutilized in the elementary school setting due to multiple individual and systemic barriers, which are indirectly or directly influenced by school administrator support. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of administrative support from the perspective of elementary school mental health professionals. Specifically, this study looked at how school mental health professionals describe administrative support and how important support is for play therapy utilization. This study is grounded in social support theory which holds that workplace administrative support can be studied through four domains of support: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal. The qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with elementary public school mental health professionals from rural, suburban, and urban schools in New York and Maine. Using directed content analysis, the findings showed administrators generally provided administrative support for play therapy, however lacked understanding of play therapy and the need for clinical supervision. Other findings included gaps in an appraisal system that did not align with their counseling role and a need to show therapy data outcomes because of the data driven climate of the school setting. This study has implications for future practitioners and administrators in providing insight regarding support for play therapy utilization. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 Background of the Study .................................................................................................3 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................6