• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.299-314
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• 2008

The purpose of this study wasto understand Theraplay interaction and to find out how Theraplay works to bring about change in withdrawn children. In exploring the meaning of Theraplay interaction, I used a phenomenology, which looked reflectively into a child's experience. Examining the situation, I found that the child had changed by "touch" with a therapist, which had been done throughout thewhole process of therapy. The child had changed from "child with horny body" to "playful child." Furthermore, I realized the four meanings (of what?) through research: "encounter", "reconstruction", "responsibility", and "immersion." Those four meaningscould have made the subject of interaction go beyond and look for its own existence. In addition, those four meanings melt together in the phenomena of interaction. There were always those four meanings throughout Theraplay interaction. This study has presented different consequences, compared to Theraplay research that is based on effectiveness, and examined the process of change that includes position tendency.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.112-117
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• 2021

Objectives: This study identified changes in social communication and interaction among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through Theraplay. Methods: This study included 20 children who were diagnosed with ASD by a child and adolescent psychiatrist and were recommended to undergo Theraplay in 2012-2017. The Marschak interaction method was used to identify and analyze the interactions between parents and their children. The Korean version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (K-SCQ) was used to evaluate symptoms of ASD. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the differences before and after Theraplay. Results: Upon comparing the differences in total K-SCQ scores, there were statistically significant changes (z=-3.269, p=0.001) in children with ASD. Changes were also confirmed in each category, namely social interaction, communication, and limited and repetitive behavior patterns (p=0.011, p=0.025, p=0.039, respectively). Conclusion: This study found that Theraplay may cause significant changes in social communication in children with ASD. Further studies are needed to establish the effectiveness of Theraplay in children with ASD.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.89-108
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• 2008

This study used Family Group Theraplay (Munns, 2005) to investigate the effects of enhancing interaction between child and mother on mitigating developmental risks for children growing up in low-income households. The subjects for the study were selected from among Community Child Care Centers and Community Welfare Centers in Seoul. The children were in the first, second, and third grades of elementary school. Eleven child-mother dyads participated in Family Group Theraplay once a week for a total of 12 45-minute sessions. The control group consisted of 9 child-mother dyads. The Family Group Theraplay program improved interaction between the children and their mothers and also reduced children's behavior problems and mothers' parenting stress.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.189-205
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• 2008

A group theraplay program for improving social competence of children in group homes was composed of 24 sessions. The researcher and a therapist accessed 5 children living in a group home and conducted one session each week for 6 months from May to September. Before the application of the program, a pre-test was conducted using evaluation measures of attachment stability, social competence, and children's behavioral problems. A post-test was performed after the end of the program and a follow-up test was carried out to determine the long term effects of the program. Results showed that the group theraplay program improved attachment stability and social competence of children in group homes and was effective in changing problem behaviors.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.183-197
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a group program using theraplay on 2-year-olds' prosocial behavior. The changes of prosocial behavior in the process of program were also examined. Methods: Subjects were 12 infants who attended a child care center in W city. Subjects were attached to the experimental or control group. The experimental group participated in 11 group theraplay sessions twice a week. The adaptive social behavior inventory (Hogan et al., 1992) was used for pre and post tests. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed to verify the effectiveness of a group theraplay program. Every sessions was video-taped and recorded verbatim. The verbatim were analyzed using the Padgett (2001)'s qualitative data analysis method. Results: Infants who assigned to the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement in prosocial behavior. Their expressive behavior and compliant behavior gradually increased over the sessions. Conclusion/Implications: The present study showed that the use of group program utilizing theraplay was an effective strategy for improving prosocial behavior of 2-year-old infants.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.601-612
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• 2018

This study is a clinical single case study of the application of Theraplay approach for the treatment of children with eating disorder based on Polyvagal Theory. The first research question is how children with eating disorder change through Theraplay. The second research question is to analyze what the therapeutic factors are for changes in children with eating disorder. To do this, I used a qualitative case study method that explores a small number of cases closely and reveals the case deeply. As a result, the client has a sense of security in Theraplay session, expands the window of tolerance and develops a social engagement system. Through these, client become increasingly adaptable and overcome eating disorder. The results of this study can contribute to neuroscience validation of the counseling effect.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.299-320
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• 2013

This research aims to develop and evaulate the effectiveness a group theraplay program for teachers than can boost full-day kindergarteners' ego resilence, peer competence and teacher-child relationships. A total of 14 children attending a full-day kindergarten located in Seoul were the subjects of this study. The experimental group consisted of 7 children exposed to 10 sessions of group theraplay for 50 minutes per session, held twice a week. The control group consisted of 7 children who did not receive any treatment. The teacher evaluated ego resilience, children's peer competence and student-teacher relationships to investigate two group's behavioral changes. Data analysis was done by performing the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test and Wilcoxon test after classifying and evaluating pre- and post-examinations of each group. The results of this research are as follows : The group theraplay program was found to be effective based on the study results of improving ego resilience and peer competence among full-day kindergartners and strengthening teacher-child relationships.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.221-240
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• 2015

This study developed a group theraplay program for enhancing intimacy in infant-teacher relationships and infant's adaptation to child care centers. And it also examined the effects of a theraplay program. The participants were 16 infants between the ages of 2-3. Each group of 8 infants was attached to the experimental or the control group. The experimental group had 45 minute group theraplay sessions two times per week for a total of 10 while the control group did not have any treatment. The Child-Teacher Relationship Scale(Pianta, 2001) and the Preschool Adjustment Questionnaire(Jewsuwan, Luster & Kostelnik, 1993) were used for pre-test and follow-up tests. Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test analyzed data via SPSS ver. 20.0. The results were that: (1) In the pre-test, the degree of intimacy in the infant-teacher relationship had no difference between the experimental and control group. However, in follow-up test, the degree of intimacy in the infant-teacher relationship of the experimental group was enhanced. (2) In the pre-test, the degree of adaptation to child care centers had no difference between the experimental and control group. But in the follow-up test, the degree of adaptation to child care centers of the experimental group was changed optimistically. Therefore, it can be concluded that group theraplay program is an effective means to facilitate intimacy in infant-teacher relationships and adaptation to child care centers.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.5-23
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of a group theraplay program on the affection improvement between mothers and their children to prevent the factors dangerous to the development of the infants in the low-income families by organizing and carrying out the program. In this way, the study investigated the changes in the interaction between mothers and their infants, and in the mothers' efficacy in rearing. First, the results from the analysis of preliminary and post tests showed significant differences in 4 aspects such as structure, challenge, intervention and rearing. Especially, the results from the analysis of MIM showed that the interaction between mothers and their infants increased more in post tests than preliminary tests. Second, for the rearing efficacy, there were significant changes in general rearing efficacy, communication ability and teaching ability. These results showed that the theraplay for the affection improvement of mothers and their infants had effects on their interaction improvement.

• Proceedings of KHEA Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.141-141
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• 2006