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A Journey Within A Journey: A Naturalistic Study Of The Early Relationship Development Process In Non-Directive Play Therapy, Nancy Lynne Riedel Bowers

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An innovative qualitative methodology of "thematic analysis" was developed to describe the early relationship development process of non-directive play therapy. Through the analysis of individual and focus group meetings, six themes and hundreds of categories emerged which together describe the early process of play therapy and examine how these themes, separately and together, might facilitate the relationship development process. The themes identified are: description, qualities, goals, therapeutic support, process and indicators of growth. A new category emerged through the videotape analysis process of the research indicating that children resort to 'comfort play' when in time of distress. In addition, relationship …