SPECIAL SECTION
The Evidence- Base Determination:
A Moving Target
| DEE C. RAY, PHD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S, APT RESEARCH COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON
The Association for Play Therapy is committed to the development and support of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of play therapy. We strive to stay informed of changes and progress related to the evidence-base movement and to disseminate information to our members. One of the challenges in staying up-to-date is the evolving nature of evidence-based criteria from private and public organizations. In 2017, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recognized several forms of play therapy as promising and evidence-based in their National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
In January 2018, SAMHSA ended their relationship with NREPP in a particularly strong statement from Elinore F. McCance-Katz, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use (
https://www.samhsa. gov/newsroom/press-announcements/201801110330),
citing that
NREPP has been deemed ineffective and that SAMHSA will be seeking new ways to determine what interventions are considered effective. NREPP had been the national determining body of evidence-based mental health interventions since 1997. This abrupt development marks substantial upcoming changes at SAMHSA to the evidence- based movement and because of a lack of clarity in upcoming plans, processes. However, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the recognition of play therapy as an effective and empirically-supported intervention.
Is play therapy evidence-based? This is a question I am frequently asked. The question is based on a false premise that there is one entity that determines the effectiveness of an intervention. There is no one organization that determines what mental health interventions are evidence-based. NREPP was one database of evidence-based programs that was considered a national stamp of approval. NREPP reviews will continue to be online (
https://www.samhsa.gov/nrepp) until SAMHSA makes a decision about how long they will continue to keep reviews posted (at last correspondence, SAMHSA indicated no plans to delete the registry for now). Although a state-level entity,
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (http://
www.cebc4cw.org) is highly regarded as a credible reviewer of mental health interventions for children, and is often used by other states to determine state-level support for interventions. Several forms of play therapy are recognized by CEBC, and this entity appears to be a stable force in assessing evidence-based interventions.
Beyond SAMHSA and CEBC, there are a myriad of organizations that develop lists of evidence-based programs that they support, including state entities, private organizations, and insurance corporations. Play therapists are typically subject to the determination provided by the particular entity that governs their practice. Hence, possible answers to “Is play therapy evidence-based?” are “Yes, play therapy is certainly evidence-based, but your workplace may be limited in its knowledge or determination of play therapy as evidence-based.” Or, “It depends on where you work and who makes the determination of what interventions are evidence-based.”
Nevertheless, it can clearly be stated that play therapy is empirically- provides multiple resources to help practitioners access empirical research on play therapy (
http://www.a4pt.org/?page=Research). On in support of play therapy. Additionally, the site Evidence-based Child Therapy (
http://evidencebasedchildtherapy.com/) allows play therapists to search for research related to the effectiveness of play therapy with various populations and presenting issues. The Center for Play Therapy at University of North Texas (
http://cpt.unt.edu/) also offers PlayLit™, a searchable database of all literature related to play therapy. Using these resources, play therapists in private practice, agency, and school settings can use research literature to present play therapy as an evidence-based intervention to parents, administrators, is a moving target, play therapists make a difference by using research evidence to advocate for play therapy within their governing organizations.
www.a4pt.org | March 2018 | PLAYTHERAPY | 21
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