Play, as therapy and in therapy, has been established in the research literature as an effective method of intervention with children and youth. It has often been identified as the language of childhood and an appropriate medium for communicating with, and understanding, the world of the child. There is no one definition of play, but there is agreement among multiple disciplines that play is easily recognizable, complex, multi-faceted, and essential to healthy child development. Empirically based research involving both directive and non-directive play has demonstrated the healing power of play within the therapeutic relationship. The therapeutic alliance is considered by many mental health professionals to be the key element in facilitating healing, personal growth, and positive change. My practicum learning experience reinforced and validated many of the therapeutic powers of play documented in the literature and resulted in enhanced clinical skills, and a greater understanding of the therapeutic value of play. The influences of culture, gender, and ethnicity, were not specifically identified, or addressed during clinical or group interventions, though the impact of culture arose as a distinct theme during the context of a group discussion and within the process of game play. Overall, play was experienced as a key component in creating and maintaining a therapeutic relationship while enabling client empowerment and an atmosphere conducive to positive growth and change. --P. ii.
This is a naturalistic inquiry to describe a therapeutic approach called Holistic Expressive Therapy, developed by Marie-José Dhaese. Dhaese is renowned in the play therapy community and has been recognized by the Canadian Association of Child and Play Therapy (CACPT) as one of five leading play therapists in Canada. Dhaese's focus has been on clinical practice, supervision, and teaching at her Centre of Expressive Therapy in Parksville, British Columbia (BC), and at the Justice Institute in Burnaby, BC, Canada. The inquiry begins with a literature review of play, therapeutic play, history of play therapy, and expressive therapy to situate Holistic Expressive Therapy. Marie-José Dhaese was interviewed, and a thematic analysis was used to develop a case study on the principles and components of Holistic Expressive Therapy. Then four participants volunteered to be interviewed to describe the influences of Dhaese's approach on their therapeutic practice. A grounded theory method was used to analyze the data -- seven categories and 14 subcategories emerged. There is a marked congruence between Dhaese's description of Holistic Expressive Therapy and the influences described by the four participants. The congruence discovered in the findings can be linked with the current literature. This naturalistic inquiry positions Holistic Expressive Therapy as a distinctive, original therapeutic approach that is grounded in theory and empirical research of insights from Dhaese's personal and professional self-healing journey. --P. ii.
Mountain pine beetle (MPB)-killed wood remaining on the landscape is predicted to release significant amounts of carbon to the atmosphere as it decays. A lack of field-based wood decomposition data for validating simulation models reduces certainty in such predictions. Using a chronosequence approach, I quantified decomposition of MPB-killed wood to improve decay rate parameters. Changes in carbon density over time and climatic variability showed distinct patterns for bole position categories. Snag carbon density was similar to that of live lodgepole pine, and did not change considerably with time or climatic influences. Decay in suspended boles increased with summer precipitation, but declined with increasing summer temperature, suggesting decay in elevated boles is moisture-limited on warmer sites. Down boles decayed four times faster with increasing proximity to the soil than suspended boles, but did not clearly reflect climatic influences. Position of dead boles appears more important for wood decay than previously thought. --Leaf ii.
