Child Centered Play-Therapy with a Child Diagnosed with Kabuki Syndrome

Kabuki Syndrome (KS) is a rare genetic disorder first diagnosed in 1981 (Matsumoto & Niikawa, 2003). It's clinical presentation and treatment is unknown by most clinicians the mental health fields. Children with KS present with unique facial characteristics, mental retardation, health problems and socio-emotional delays that are often mistaken for other diagnostic problems. Literature detailing the psychological and psychosocial features of this disorder is scant, and psychotherapeutic approaches have not been described. In this article we present a brief review of Kabuki Syndrome, highlighting its signs and symptoms. Differential diagnoses are identified to aid the clinician in better understanding this unique and relatively unheard of syndrome. Finally, a client-centered play therapy and parent consultation approach is described that addresses the many child and family challenges that may accompany KS.

The Impact of Sexual Boundary Violations in Supervision and Therapy: A Qualitative Study of a Trainee's First-Hand Account

This study involves a qualitative analysis of a doctoral-level psychology trainee's first-hand account of sexual attraction and boundary violations that occurred in her clinical supervision and psychotherapy. Concepts of power, gender, social performance theory, and relational framing are applied to two case examples, illustrating the differing demands on a trainee when her relationships were sexualized in two distinct professional contexts. Ramifications of supervisory exploitation and the impact of such an experience on a trainee's professional development are discussed. Recommendations are provided for improving psychology training programs' prevention and response efforts.

Examining the Complex Relationships of Early Intervention on Language and Psychosocial Development in Families Facing Multiple Risks with a Focus on Children of Hispanic Immigrants

Abundant research has shown that poverty has negative influences on young child academic and psychosocial development, and unfortunately, disparities in school readiness between low and high income children can be seen as early the first year of life. The largest federal early care and education intervention for these vulnerable children is Early Head Start (EHS). To diminish these disparate child outcomes, EHS seeks to provide community based flexible programming for infants and toddlers and their families. Given how relatively recent these programs have been offered, little is known about the nuances of how EHS impacts infant and toddler language and psychosocial development. Using a framework of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) this paper had 5 goals: 1) to characterize the associations between domain specific and cumulative risk and child outcomes 2) to validate and explore these risk-outcome associations separately for Children of Hispanic immigrants (COHIs), 3) to explore relationships among family characteristics, multiple environmental factors, and dosage patterns in different EHS program types, 4) to examine the relationship between EHS dosage and child outcomes, and 5) to examine how EHS compliance impacts child internalizing and externalizing behaviors and emerging language abilities. Results of the current study showed that risks were differentially related to child outcomes. Poor maternal mental health was related to child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, but not related to emerging child language skills. Although child language skills were not related to maternal mental health, they were related to economic hardship. Additionally, parent level Spanish use and heritage orientation were associated with positive child outcomes. Results also showed that these relationships differed when COHIs and children with native-born parents were examined separately. Further, unique patterns emerged for EHS program use, for example families who participated in home-based care were less likely to comply with EHS attendance requirements. These findings provide tangible suggestions for EHS stakeholders: namely, the need to develop effective programming that targets engagement for diverse families enrolled in EHS programs.