Journal, Published Years, Related School Community Counseling.

¶ … journal, published years, related school community counseling. These worth 15 points . The guidelines Article Critique: a. At 2 pages, including title page, abstract references? b.

There is a growing concern regarding the health status of the younger generations nowadays. More and more children and infants are subject to disorders that in time affect the way in which they perform in their social environment which is usually at school or in pre-school. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient attention being given to such issues and usually only serious cases attract the action of public policies concerning for instance disruptive behaviors. Together with this gap of action in terms of dealing with such issues, there is an additional lack of specialized literature to draw the attention on these issues. The article written by Sue C. Bratton et al. "Head Start Early Mental Health Intervention: Effects of Child-Centered Play Therapy on Disruptive Behaviors" aims at pointing out the necessity of further action from the medical staff as well as a different approach to dealing with disruptive behaviors in children.

The article is based on a pilot study that "examined the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) with 54 low income preschool children (42% African-American, 39% Hispanic, and 18% Caucasian) identified with clinical levels of disruptive behaviors." (Bratton et al., 2012) The subject taken into account in the study point out both a qualitative and quantitative approach. Therefore on the one hand, the group is rather diverse in the sense that children from different ethnical background were chosen for this exercise. Even so, there must be pointed out the fact that there is a preponderance of African-American children in the group as opposed to the Caucasian chosen in this sense. This can be explained somewhat through the fact that the children were taken from a particular environment, of low income families, which has the tendency to be populated more with African-American rather than Caucasians. On the other hand, the group is relatively large, an aspect that provides sufficient consideration for the study to ensure a wide range of possible outcomes as a result of the analysis.

There are several issues to consider in the approach provided by the article. Firstly, the article takes into account when dealing with disrupted children a different approach, that of the play therapy. Unlike traditional medical approaches, this one is much more child-focused and may eventually bring more positive results in general rather than a line medical treatment. On the other hand, it is important to underline the targeted group of low-income pre-school children. It has become a rather well-known fact that children coming from broken families, low-income households or special needs home have a tendency to manifest different types of disruptions largely because at such early ages (preschool children) the level of vulnerability is higher than in older children and changes or shortcomings tend to impact them more than in other situations. Moreover, financial hardships determine limited possibilities for the families in which such children exist to take a stand towards improving the children' capabilities. The results are that "The National Center of Children in Poverty (NCCP, 2012) reported a growing concern about the number of disadvantaged children under the age of six exhibiting social-emotional difficulties that negatively impact their behavior and school readiness." (Bratton et al., 2012)

An important aspect of the article is the actual elaboration of the study and the tests conducted on the small children. Despite the fact that similar tests and studies had been conducted in the past, there was no clear result related to children that were younger in age. The conclusions provided by the study revealed that eventually the play-centered therapy was successful with reductions in the number of children that experienced disruptive behavior. At the same time though the research also pointed out that there needs to be a full participatory presence to include children, parents, and teachers alike.

Such findings are extremely useful for the improvement of treatment of children with such disorders. The study has an important impact on the way in which therapy can be conducted at the level of pre-school children suffering from this type of disorders. The results point out that there needs to be an improvement in the way in which treatment in such cases is dealt with, there is an optimistic approach to the subject, with limitations in terms of the way in which these treatments must be handled. More precisely, the critic for such practices lies in the approach to the subject of treatment that must include, as a mandatory requirement, all the subjects involved in the children' life, from parents to teachers, to counselors, and even friends. This approach is important because it may make the difference between success of failure of the therapy.

Although similar results were obtained previously, pre-school children are easier to recuperate than older children. Therefore, action must be taken in such a manner as to ensure that such types of approaches through play and from outside can be benefic for the children, as they get older. The efforts the medical staff or the school counselor would be much higher if children are not treated at the very early stages of life. The results represent a strong component in the overall image of the treatment of disruptive children. This aspect makes the research all the more relevant. At the same time, the relevance of the research is also determined by a limited literature in the area.

The segment of children that were subjected to this study is representative for both a justification of the American society or to further draw the attention on the limited financial needs for non-citizens or citizens pertaining to one social, racial, or religious group and that there is an instinctual discrimination or limitation of these groups to seek further assistance. This is why the article is important from this point-of-view. The information gathered offers a theoretical background that can in time be changed as a result of such practices.