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Many children who experience trauma demonstrate it through posttraumatic play (PTP). This type of play is seen by professionals as a repetitive reenactment of the traumatic event within the child's play. Reliving the event in this way may serve to retraumatize the child and lead to other psychiatric or behavioral problems. This article examines the issues surrounding childhood trauma and PTP. It uses a case study to illustrate the phases of a play therapy approach that incorporates Ericksonian principles, in order for the child to achieve resolution and acceptance. The countertransference issues that a clinician may encounter also are discussed.

This study compared the perception of social support and the degree of internalized homophobia for two demographically similar groups: lesbians with planned families and lesbians who did not have children. Results found that lesbians with planned families perceived significantly less social support from friends overall, from gay men and lesbian friends specifically, and more support from their families-of-origin than lesbians who did not have children. Lesbians with planned families also reported significantly higher internalized homophobia specific to disclosure of sexual identification. The authors suggest that selective disclosure may be an adaptive response rather than a true measure of internalized homophobia.

This naturalistic study of diagnostic practice in residential treatment agencies for children investigated the use of the DSM-IVconduct disorder diagnosis and its association with residents' externalizing behaviors. The conduct disorder (CD) diagnosis was a poor predictor of participants' externalizing behaviors during their first few months in residence. Additionally, the assignment of the diagnosis was associated with the gender and race of study participants. Decisions of admissions personnel and practitioners in residential treatment facilities regarding their externalizing clients may not be well-served by use of DSM diagnoses. Assessments of caregivers may prove a useful adjunct to DSM diagnoses. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Patterns of interaction theory directs social workers' attention to the relations between structures (psychological and social), and actions: the crossroads of continuity and change. Because it describes sequences of action by key participants that generate specific options at various points in a sequence, it serves as both theory and method for understanding and intervening with human beings and social structures. The use of patterns of interaction as an overarching construct illuminates the reciprocal relationships between social structures, interpersonal actions, and psychological well-being. This paper outlines a preliminary conceptualization of patterns of interaction theory and the methodology that grows out of it. The social service programs of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and a community-based case management welfare-to-work program illustrate how an ethical lens applied to patterns of interaction can help social workers intervene within complex relations to facilitate client growth. Patterns of interaction theory is a potentially effective way of describing and analyzing the therapeutic effects of a range of different social service programs.

The purpose of this study was to examine substance abuse treatment referrals that were made by outreach workers in a homeless outreach project. Ten outreach workers completed questionnaires on each of their clients who they had referred to a substance abuse treatment program over the previous year. Additional data was collected on the client's motivation level at the point the referral was made, which agencies the client was referred to, and if the client was rejected from any of the treatment programs. Bivariate correlation analyses were used to examine relationships between the variables. Of 73 project clients who were referred to substance abuse treatment in a one-year period of time, 41% successfully entered treatment. As might be expected, there was a statistically significant relationship between clients' motivation level and completed referral, and between referrals made and program acceptance. This study provides evidence that assertive outreach is effective in engaging and linking homeless persons with substance use disorders to substance abuse treatment services.

Residents (N = 32) of 3 skilled nursing homes participated in a study designed to document the nature of the stressors they experienced and the coping mechanisms they used. Medical issues were the most common stressors. The most common coping responses were prayer, reading, watching television, listening to music, and talking to friends and family. © 2009 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved.

The Reading Rescue tutoring intervention model was investigated with 64 low-socioeconomic status, language-minority first graders with reading difficulties. School staff provided tutoring in phonological awareness, systematic phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Tutored students made significantly greater gains reading words and comprehending text than controls, who received a small-group intervention (d = 0.70) or neither intervention (d = 0.74). The majority of tutored students reached average reading levels whereas the majority of controls did not. Paraprofessionals tutored students as effectively as reading specialists except in skills benefiting nonword decoding. Paraprofessionals required more sessions to achieve equivalent gains. Contrary to conventional wisdom, results suggest that students make greater gains when they read text at an independent level than at an instructional level.

This study examined student perspectives about writing by interviewing both typically developing and struggling writers in Grades 2 through 8. The findings revealed a progressive developmental pattern of writing knowledge in which novice writers place more emphasis on the physical product and local meaning, while more experienced writers focus on global aspects, such as meaning and communication with an audience. In comparison, struggling writers focus on product over process even at the secondary level. Educational implications are discussed and include careful attention to the developmental level of the students during writing instruction.

An extensive research base on beginning reading acquisition and reading difficulties, developed over the past few decades, has important implications for the teaching of reading. Unfortunately, much of this research does not appear to be reaching teachers, whose knowledge is essential for scientific findings about reading to benefit children. This article focuses on two key areas of teachers' research-based disciplinary knowledge for teaching reading: knowledge about children's early reading development and knowledge about English word structure. Evidence demonstrating a gap between teacher knowledge in these areas and current scientific findings is reviewed. Next, possible reasons for the gap are explored. The article concludes with suggestions for educators who are interested in acquiring additional research-based knowledge about reading.

Following less than 8 hr of instruction in the use of strategies to facilitate planning, self-regulation, and revising while writing opinion essays, a group of 3 middle school students with learning disabilities (LD) made substantial gains in each of 5 quality traits on which their papers were scored. On average, posttest scores of students with LD were better by 1 point on a 6-point scale than were those scores obtained by a group of LD students who served as controls. Participants' scores approached the level of writing performance exhibited by a group of peers without disabilities. The authors also observed treatment effects for number of functional essay elements; students who received strategy instruction gained an average of 1.3 functional elements from pretest to posttest. However, generalization to narrative writing was not obtained.