A Qualitative Examination of Play Therapy and Mindfulness Interventions With Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

This project contributes findings to the existing body of literature on play therapy and mindfulness interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is very limited research conducted on mental health clinicians who provide these interventions for children in a therapeutic setting, such as Registered Play Therapists (RPTs) from the Association for Play Therapy (APT). Thus, the present study qualitatively examined the experiences of seven clinicians who are RPTs from APT. By interviewing clinicians from APT, it was hypothesized that improvements in youths' social, emotional, and behavioral functioning will be observed when play and mindfulness interventions are utilized. Participants have been practicing as an RPT for at least one and a half years treating youth with ASD, with a minimum of eight children or adolescents with ASD, as a means to establish a baseline for expertise. The data collected through responses to 12 semistructured interview questions and six follow-up questions were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Overall, the analysis revealed eight master themes that occurred across transcripts in varying frequencies. Participants demonstrated a shared understanding of play therapy and mindfulness, utilized an integrative treatment approach, have multiple treatment targets, and reported various benefits of play therapy and mindfulness. Additionally, participants expressed training and research needs, have an approach to developmental concerns, and have emphasized play as being essential. There were also subordinate-specific themes that emerged from three of the master themes. Last, the analysis revealed nine universal specific themes, indicating that all seven protocols endorsed the underlying notion.