The Use of Dolls to Assist Children with PTSD Symptoms - Research Paper Example

The Use of Dolls to Assist Children with PTSD Symptoms The findings of the article are not as a result of a survey, but research on other written scholarly articles. The authors of the article, Elise Cole, and Fred Piercy refer to articles by America Psychiatric Association (APA), P. Ross, and L. Theall among others. The article attempts to explain how to use dolls in assisting young children with PTSD symptoms (Cole & Piercy, 2007).The article finds that puppet play gives children an opportunity to express their point of view in a way that is developmentally correct.

Doll play allows therapists to intervene in a manner that will inspire shifts in the feelings, thoughts, and behavior of children. The doll activity involves children in the process of helping the doll. The activity helps children to focus on coping and healing thoughts so that they cannot re-experience the trauma. The article concludes that the doll activity help children to engage more with their parents as the parents learn more about the children’s needs and how to address them (Cole & Piercy, 2007).

The major flow of the article is that it relies on works of other authors and fails to conduct its study. Information from other sources may not provide the best way to assist children with PTSD symptoms. Additionally, the article fails to mention the symptoms associated with PTSD. Future studies on the same topic need to involve participants so as to get primary information on the effect of dolls.Article 2: Childhood trauma and play therapy intervention for traumatized childrenThe article relies on a number of case studies in order to come up with the findings.

The article has also relied on credible organizations such as the American Counseling Association and American Psychiatric Association. The article discusses Child-Centered Play Therapy and Release Play Therapy as the approaches in the treatment of traumatized children (Ogawa, 2004).The article shows that play therapy is the best way to treat traumatized children. The child-centered play therapy allows children to have an innate self-directed ability that enables them to adjust and grow as they know how to deal with their experiences.

In Release Play Therapy, the therapist encourages a child to create situations by using play methods where the anxiety of the child is given expression. The method works well with traumatized children (Ogawa, 2004). The article does not carry out its research but depends on the research of other researchers. The problem with relying on other sources is that the information may not be correct. There is a need for more research on the effectiveness of play therapy. Researchers need to study children for an extended period in order to come up with a conclusive report on the role of play therapy on traumatized children.

Article 3: A longitudinal study assessing trauma symptoms in sexually abused children engaged in play therapyCarla J. Reyes and James P. Asbrand conduct a study to explore the effect of play therapy as the treatment towards sexually abused children. The study involved 43 children, but 18 of them remained after the completion of the collection of data. Forty-three children began the study; however, only 18 remained for the full time of data collection. 5 males and 13 females managed to stay put until the end of the study.

Of the participants, 15% were Latino, 39% Caucasian, while 11% were Asian American (Reyes & Asbrand, 2005).The study examined the overall levels of traumatic symptoms among the children. The following symptoms showed a significant change: anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression, and sexual distress. The findings reveal that play therapy is an effective approach when treating children who are sexually abused. Not every symptom showed change after 9 months of treatment. Symptoms such as anger, dissociation, fantasy, sexual concerns, and sexual pre-occupation did not show much change (Reyes & Asbrand, 2005).

The time used in the study was very short, and the minimal change in some symptoms can be attributed to the short time of the study. The study was carried out using a sample of children from three different races. It would have been important to involve more races in order to come out with the best findings.ReferencesCole, E. M., & Piercy, F. P. (2007). The use of dolls to assist young children with PTSD Symptoms. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 18(2), 83-89.Ogawa, Y. (2004). Childhood trauma and play therapy intervention for traumatized children.

Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory, & Research.Reyes, C. J., & Asbrand, J. P. (2005). A longitudinal study assessing trauma symptoms in sexually abused children engaged in play therapy. International Journal of play therapy, 14(2), 25.