Cross-Cultural Empathy: The Impact of an Undergraduate Play Therapy Course

Abstract

For first-year U.S. college students, a lack of prior knowledge and experience with other cultures can contribute to challenges in understanding differences in views and values. To address this deficit, the authors of this paper turned to child-centered play therapy, a highly focused, empathic approach, as a means for developing students’ empathy skills. This study explored the impact of an undergraduate play therapy course on students’ levels of cross-cultural empathy as measured by pre and posttest responses to cross-cultural vignettes. Results revealed an increase in students’ perspective-taking, attempts to understand others, and refusal to pass judgment.