Abstract
Children who exhibit disruptive classroom behaviors often interfere with their classmates’ learning, miss out on opportunities, and are at risk for long-term negative outcomes such as premature drop out and substance use (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2012). Treatment for children who exhibit these behaviors has been successful through a variety of approaches including individual play therapy, treatment of the family system, and school-based interventions (Eyberg et al., 2008; McCart et al., 2016; Ray et al., 2015). The authors propose a plan for developing university and school relationships to support students’ mental health needs through the implementation of a pilot study in one local school district in the Southeast United States. The authors implemented Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) for children exhibiting disruptive classroom behaviors for half of the children referred for services, whereas the other half (the waitlist-control) received group AdPT after postassessments were completed. Learned lessons for gaining school buy-in, navigating the school protocols, and conducting research to ensure quality services are discussed. Recommendations for developing university–school relations as well as areas of future research are included. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)