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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Dale Elizabeth Pehrsson, a professor of counselor education at Oregon State University, has been named clinical editor of one of the most widely read publications on the increasingly popular diagnostic and treatment method of play therapy.

Play Therapy magazine publishes news articles, reviews and other information and is distributed to mental health professionals throughout the United States and 27 other countries. It is published quarterly by the Association for Play Therapy. Developed around the turn of the 20th century, play therapy is a play-based modality that mental health professionals use to communicate with and help clients, particularly children, to achieve optimal mental health.

Pehrsson earned her doctorate degree in counseling and counselor education at Idaho State University with dissertation research focused on play therapy. She has been a registered nurse, hospital department administrator and school counselor; she is also a licensed professional counselor, a national certified counselor and an advanced clinical supervisor. She maintains the Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor credential conferred by the Association for Play Therapy, and has been a faculty member at OSU since 1999.

Pehrsson's work at OSU has also focused on researching fictional therapeutic story work with children. Pehrsson believes in the power of literature and stories as therapeutic tools. She is the co-creator and co-director of the Bibliotherapy Education Project, an ongoing effort to connect individuals with reading material that can promote personal and/or professional growth. Pehrsson has published papers and conducted presentations and workshops on bibliotherapy.

Along with her husband, Bob Pehrsson, and Michael Dalton - both OSU faculty members - Pehrsson, or "Dr. Dale," as her students call her, helped pioneer the OSU Faculty in Residence Program and served as its first full time Faculty-in-Residence from 2002-05 at Halsell Hall.

As clinical editor of Play Therapy magazine, Pehrsson will collaborate with national staff and a communications committee to monitor mental health trends and edit articles submitted for publication.

More information on Pehrsson and the bibliotherapy project can be found at the OSU Libraries and College of Education website at http://bibliotherapy.library.oregonstate.edu/index.php.