Article

The Playful Professional School Counselor: A Formalized Measure to Support School Counselor Trainees’ Competencies Development

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Abstract

The Assessment of School Counseling Play Therapy Competencies (ASCPTC) is a developmental measure to support formalized and comprehensive evaluations of play therapy skills among practicum and internship-level school counselors-in-training. We developed the ASCPTC through aligning competencies with professional standards set forth by the American School Counselor Association, Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, and Association for Play Therapy. Using the ASCPTC, supervisors may evaluate school counseling trainees’ developing play therapy and school counseling competencies across four developmental domains: (a) Integration of Play Therapy within a Comprehensive School Counseling Program, (b) Demonstration of Basic Play Therapy and Child Counseling Skills, (c) Stakeholder Collaboration and Consultation, and (d) Professional Dispositions and Behaviors. In this article, we provide: (a) a thorough review of school counseling and play therapy developmental supervision, (b) a description of the ASCPTC measure and instrument development process, and (c) recommendations and implications for school counselors, counselor supervisors, and future researchers. 

Keywords: professional school counseling, play therapy, instrument development, competence, Assessment

How to Cite:

Frawley, C., Stickl Haugen, J., Lambie, G. W. & Dillman Taylor, D., (2025) “The Playful Professional School Counselor: A Formalized Measure to Support School Counselor Trainees’ Competencies Development”, Counseling Scholarship & Practice in Educational Communities 1(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/cspec.2840