A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the School of Psychology & Counseling, Regent University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Abstract: A comparison between Child-Centered Group Play Counseling (CCGPC), a psychoeducational group and a non-therapeutic control group resulted in three of four hypotheses being supported. Participants included 79 second and third graders, with one fourth grader, from seven elementary schools. The children had behavioral and social skills difficulties as reported by a teacher rating scale. Using the TRF, DOF and PSPCSAYC as pre-post measures, a two-way repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data. CCGPC showed statistical significance in reducing externalizing behavior as well as increasing social skills. However, when examining the participants’ self-perceptions, CCGPC did not show statistical significance in increasing social skills. Also, there was no statistically significant difference in the variables when examining the results between the three groups.