Within this study, the researcher examined an approach to teaching elementary
school counselors a combination of Dr. William Glasser‟s reality therapy and play
counseling techniques, and school counselors‟ perceptions of its implementation with
elementary school students. Many of today‟s elementary school students are lacking
the school relationships required to meet their needs for positive, growth-fostering
interactions which can affect personal, social, and academic issues. Reality therapy
and play counseling both seek to address these poor or missing relationship
components through developmentally appropriate and effective interventions. Through
the use of reality play therapy, elementary school counselors can provide students with
opportunities to create positive relationships and develop problem-solving skills to meet
their needs. Eight school counselors, recruited from a north central Florida public
school system, participated in a series of reality play therapy trainings which introduced
techniques appropriate for counseling upper-grade elementary school students. A
thematic analysis was conducted on feedback sessions following the trainings yielding
three major themes related to the counseling theories, school environment, and reality
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play therapy techniques. The school counselors‟ reflection journals and interview
transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory methods which yielded four core
categories: positive aspects of implementation, concerns regarding implementation,
perceptions of the effectiveness of relationship building, and perceptions of the
effectiveness of developing problem solving skills. The theory developed presents
interconnectivity among the core categories in the school counselors‟ meaning making
and perceptions of the implementation and effectiveness of reality play therapy in
student relationship building and problem-solving skills development.