ABSTRACT
Without the necessary research, play therapy processes remain intangible and elusive. This is particularly challenging because of the range of communications within play therapy that are essentially non-verbal. This chapter explores what one means by play therapy and what differentiates it from other forms of therapy. It also explores what one means by play therapy research. It discusses some of the structural barriers to conceive and carry out research in play therapy, and explores challenges that relate to adopting and developing research approaches consistent with the values and practices of play therapy. The chapter explains some of the possibilities for qualitative, quantitative, process and outcome-oriented research. It describes some research into the applicability of a validated measure, namely the child psychotherapy Q-Set (CPQ), to play therapy. This measure offers a way of delineating play therapy from other therapeutic approaches and of developing a characteristic prototype to be used in research studies, including those that include qualitative measures.
