Gwen Corley, LCSW     6 CEUs
Designed to provide basic understanding of play therapy as an appropriate mental health intervention with children. Includes major approaches, stages in play therapy process and the role and responsibility of the therapist. Special issues to be addressed, some of which are precursors to other workshop offerings. An historical perspective relative to the origins, contributions of the giants in the field and the early use of play therapy will be included.    Play therapy techniques will be presented and practiced.
Objectives: 

1. Define play therapy
2. Analyze fundamental theoretical approaches
3. Discuss the role of the therapist as intervener
4. Demonstrate application of play therapy techniques to specific issue

Gwen Corley, LCSW     6 CEUs                             
Beginners will gain an understanding of play therapy and learn how it differs from regular play. History and theory of play therapy will be presented as well as how to implement the play therapy process from beginning to end. Participants will learn how to set up the therapy room, identify themes, therapeutic responses and specific interventions during the various stages of play therapy.
Objectives:

1. Define play therapy
2. Describe relevant historical perspectives of play therapy
3. Identify the stages of play and specific interventions

Mary Ortwein, LMFT     12 CEUs        
During this 12-hour session, you will be introduced to the entire play therapy process from start to finish, including learning how to make skilled responses, identifying therapeutic themes and issues, tracking progress, and making decisions surrounding termination of sessions. You will also examine how to select toys for the playroom and work with parents effectively. This workshop will provide a framework for conducting play therapy in order for you to begin conducting this work immediately. Day #1 will include didactic information and videotape presentation. Day #2 will provide you with role-play and hands on practice. If you are serious about play therapy, this workshop is a MUST!
Objectives:

1. Describe the stages of play and the issues/themes present
2. Demonstrate how to utilize empathic responses, tracking responses, and how to respond to questions, requests and commands by the child

Identify methods to constructively engage and maintain a working relationship with parents

Peggy Kolodny CPC, ATR-BC        6 CEUs
This workshop will review several theories of child graphic development and look at how these can reflect cognitive, social and emotional milestones for children. Clinical evaluation of children using the "Art Experience" will be experientially explored. Case examples and art techniques for various age groups/clinical populations will be presented and discussed.
Objectives:

1. Identify various graphic development theories in relation to child's cognitive, social and emotional development
2. Evaluate children's art from a developmental perspective
3. Demonstrate and practice child related art techniques from a developmental perspective

Peggy Kolodny CPC, ATR-BC      6 CEUs
Adults benefit from use of art in therapy much like children, but with a different approach. The history of art will be discussed. Various mediums and means of self-expression through art will be presented and practiced. Ways to help clients process their work will be included. Come prepared for experiential and hands-on presentation.
Objectives:

1. Identify various graphic theories in relation to adult's cognitive and social and emotional states
2. Evaluate various adult's expressions of art
3. Demonstrate and practice adult related art/play therapy techniques

 

Sheri Mitschelen, LCSW, RPT-S    6 CEUs

Psychotherapy with young children can be very challenging. This workshop will focus on work with children ages 0-5 and their families using play therapy techniques:  Developmental stages for children 0-5 years old and how play therapy strategies can be used with young children and families will be emphasized. 
Objectives:
      1.      Describe the developmental stages for children 0-5 years old.
      2.      State three obstacles in emotional, social and behavioral healthy development.
      3.      Identify the differences between Child Centered Play therapy, Theraplay and Floor time. 
      4.      Demonstrate three play therapy interventions that can be used with parents with young children. 

 

Sonia Hinds PMH, CNS-BC               6 CEUs
“I wish I had learned more techniques!”  This will not be said after you experience this training.  A wide variety of play therapy techniques to engage and reach children will be taught and demonstrated.  Techniques to build self-esteem, help children identify and tolerate feelings as well as how to deal with angry feelings and manage ADHD symptoms will be included.    
Objectives:

1. Identify the magical powers of play therapy, how and why it works
2. Demonstrate a variety of play therapy techniques that can be readily applied for individual and group settings
3. Discuss the use of play therapy techniques for building self-esteem, managing anger and ADHD symptoms

 

Duane Bowers, LPC        6 CEUs
This workshop will bring into focus grief and bereavement as children and adolescents generally experience it. Together we will explore play interventions that nurture the youngster's ability to experience their pain and heal as they face the many losses, including death and divorce, which may enter their lives.  Play therapy techniques will be demonstrated and practiced.
Objectives:

1. Describe four tasks of grief and four ways in which children's grief differs from adults
2. Discuss four basic development constructs necessary for children to process grief
3. Demonstrate play therapy interventions specifically useful for the grieving child

 

Duane Bowers, LPC & Stephanie Handel, MSW          6 CEUs
 Participant will be provided with information on how a client experiences an event, and makes the subjective interpretation that it is traumatic. Additionally, how the brain reacts to the interpretation, the brain physiological reacts, the resulting neuro-chemistry, body responses and behavior that follows will be addressed. The psycho-social responses of the traumatic event in children, understanding the behavior that is manifested, and appropriate play therapy techniques to assist the child in processing the event productively will be discussed in depth. Play therapy and other expressive techniques that safely provide an outlet for children to recover and transform from the traumatic event will be demonstrated and practiced.
Objectives:

1. Discuss the three roles that cortisol plays in the traumatic response
2. Identify the difference in function of the limbic brain and executive brain during a traumatic response, and how to choose the correct crisis intervention technique based on this knowledge
3. Describe three specific play therapy techniques which can be used to decrease the anxieties, worries and fears of traumatic events
4. Demonstrate play therapy techniques that will enhance a child's sense of self and help create a traumatic narrative

 

Peggy Kolodny CPC, ATR-BC     6 CEUs

Ethical and clinical guidelines of art assessment and treatment as used by the play therapist. Focus will be on sexually traumatized children but other populations will be presented. Appropriate art based techniques will be demonstrated in both didactic and experiential formats. Case histories and patient artwork will be presented. This workshop provides an outstanding foundation for the clinical application of art interventions in play therapy.
Objectives:

1. Discuss foundation of art therapy history and theory
2. Identify clinical guidelines of art as applied to the play therapy practice
3. Identify the basic use of art materials needed in therapy as well as the developmental stages of art
4. Demonstrate skills needed with specific art techniques and interventions for the traumatized child in play therapy
5. Describe appropriate art assessment tools for the play therapist

Yorvska Salazar, PsyD, RPT-S     12 CEUs
 
One of the goals of our Play Therapy Institute is to provide participants with not only play therapy theory and techniques but also to ensure a level of clinical competency. During this session, participants will discuss authentic case studies and devise treatment plans with appropriate play-based interventions. Additionally, participants are required to bring at least one 20-minute videotaped (DVD-R or VCR) play therapy session with a real client (child aged 3-14) for group consultation or written summary of case. A discussion to include the purpose of the session, play therapy technique(s) utilized, theoretical foundation, and outcome(s) of sessions should be prepared along with the summary.  Please contact the administrator of the program for additional guidelines.  A pre-requisite of this session is prior play therapy training in history, theory and techniques, or special permission from the instructor.
Objectives:

1. Analyze authentic play therapy cases from a developmentally-sound clinical perspective
2. Demonstrate application of theory and techniques to cases presented

Evaluate effectiveness of therapeutic interventions  

Sonia Hinds, PMH, CNS-BC           6 CEUs 
Often parents who bring their child into treatment look to the therapist to provide parenting skills. The therapist therefore needs to be prepared to guide parents in understanding the dynamics of the child’s behaviors. This workshop presents Adlerian child-rearing principles, as well as strategies to help parents develop respectful and rewarding relationships with their children. These strategies can also be adapted for use in therapy and school settings. These principles and strategies are especially helpful for families who are dealing with children who have disruptive behaviors.
Objectives:

1. Describe the Adlerian approach to parenting using the 4 Crucial C's and Goals of Misbehavior
2. Discuss ways to use encouragement and foster cooperation rather than intimidation in the parent-child relationship
3. Demonstrate specific child-rearing challenges and practical solutions

 

Mary Ortwein, MSW, LMFT              12 CEUs
This 12-hour workshop will introduce participants to the history and methods of the Filial Family Play Therapy (FFT) model of involving parents in play therapy with their own children. The workshop will help participants learn the necessary skills for structuring sessions and teaching parents play therapy skills to be used in the home. Focus will also be on teaching individuals/couples, although reference to using FFT with groups of parents will be discussed. Pre-requisite to attending this workshop is Child Centered Play.
Objectives:

1. State how FFT model is presented and recommended to parents
2. Describe the stages of the FFT process and the necessary skills associated with each stage
3. Identify specific problems and possible solutions in utilizing FFT

 

Sonia Hinds, PMH, CNS, BC   6 CEUs
The psychodynamics around anger, some reasons why it occurs and how it is manifested in the child will be discussed. Specific strategies for working with the child in the playroom as well as how to coach parents in managing the child's behavior will also are explored.
Objectives:

1. Identify various reasons for anger in the child
2. Describe specific techniques to utilize in the play room with the angry child
3. Identify various resources such as books, games and toys to use as interventions with the angry child

 

Marcella Marcey, PhD                       6 CEUs
Storytelling to teach and heal is a non-intrusive effective technique that has been used with children since the beginning of human history. This workshop explains the use of therapeutic storytelling with children and adolescents as part of play therapy. Learn the necessary components to write your own therapeutic stories. This training is based in part on the book: Therapeutic Stories to Te ach and Heal by Nancy Davis, PhD and Marcella Marcey, PhD.

Objectives:

1. Define therapeutic stories and describe specific characteristics
2. Describe methods for selecting the appropriate story to match the child's therapeutic issues
3. Demonstrate the effective use of therapeutic stories by applying various case studies

 

Kristen Carey, PsyD   12 CEUs        
This 12-hour training (Part I and II) will review relevant contributions of the giants in the field to child psychotherapy. A rich discussion about the unconscious mind and primary process thinking, psychosexual stages, transference, counter-transference, projection and resistance will be included. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of play as a tool to express unconscious feelings and conflicts in a symbolic manner.  Additionally, participants will learn how to use clarification, confrontation and make interpretations. This training is the cornerstone to understanding the depth of play therapy work and will deepen your awareness and understanding as a clinician. This is a very intense training and is essential to all child play therapists/psychotherapists.
Objectives:

1. Discuss the role of theories by Freud, Klein, and Winnicott in understanding the meaning of children's symptoms
2. Demonstrate the therapeutic value of psychodynamic play by describing four common themes in play
3. Discuss the process of remaining in the metaphor of play when making interpretations, judging the impact of interpretations and working with resistance

 

Yehuda Bergman, PhD, RDT     12 CEUs
Children and teens, unlike adults, often need more innovative ways to express themselves in ways other than through "talk therapy". Play and Expressive  Therapy groups are a perfect way to allow them to communicate difficult thoughts and feelings through various artistic mediums. Play and Expressive Therapies assists in solving problems, increasing self-esteem, building social skills, and behavior management. Playback Theatre is an original form of improvisational theater in which group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot. The storyteller has the option to fix and re-direct the scene, and also to offer a change in the way he/she acted and responded during the experience. After watching it again from the distancing point of view of a storyteller, director and observer, the teller has the option to enter the scene to experience the new approach and response. Will include an introduction session for professionals (Day 1) and a combined Professionals and (Day 2). Experiential Playback Theatre - redirect, reconstruct and replay life stories, enabling participants to tell personal life stories, and to portray roles at the others stories.
Objectives:

1. Demonstrate use of the 'Group Container', using warm ups, play and other creative techniques
2. Discuss method of using the 'Psychodramatic Double'
3. Describe the use of Experiential Playback Theatre
4. Demonstrate use of  the 'Psychodramatic Double" technique with the children

Garry Landreth, LPC, RPT-S    12 CEUs (Special Presentation)
This workshop will focus on the perceptual world of the child, the dynamic elements of the relationship that facilitate the play therapy process, structuring the relationship in the playroom, "reading" themes in children's play, the four healing messages needed by a child who is hurting, helping children develop self-control and self-responsibility, the ACT model of therapeutic limit setting, the language of facilitating change in children, guidelines for selecting appropriate toys and materials and a conceptual model of the process of change in play therapy. Workshop activities will center on spontaneous demonstrations by Dr. Landreth dealing with specific problems in the play therapy experience, critique of videotapes of Dr. Landreth's play therapy sessions and the art expressions of Ryan, a child who was dying. Handouts will be provided.

Objectives:

1. Identify four healing messages needed by children
2. Identify the three steps in therapeutic limit setting
3. Identify three characteristics of reflective responding in play therapy
4. Identify the basic toys needed in play therapy

 

Cathi Spooner, LCSW, RPT-S   6 CEUs
This workshop is designed to allow participants to apply play techniques to families. Several models of family therapy will be presented with corresponding play interventions designed to implement the model. Family assessment will also be addressed through several activities. Participants will role-play these techniques within a family setting. Ways to process the experience will be discussed.
Objectives:

1. Demonstrate engagement methods to set the stage for family play therapy
2. Describe play therapy family tasks specific to the family and the goals of the session
3. Discuss play both for assessment and clinical intervention within the family

Demonstrate filial play instructions within the family

 

Esther Hess, PhD, RPT-S     (Special Presentation) 12 CEUs 
This exciting seminar will provide attendees with conceptual, practical and interactive opportunities to understand the assessment and treatment of children impacted by developmental and/or regulatory disorders such as autism, Asperger's Disorder and Selective Mutism through the use of the developmental/relational model known as DIRlFloor Time. Dr. Hess will share a structured framework that helps a child learn to attend and stay regulated, relate to others, initiate and respond to all forms of communication. You will be introduced to the challenge of identifying a child's developmental age (versus the chronological age), any underlying neurological processing differences that could be impeding development and how to use your relationship as a play clinician to pull the child into a shared reciprocal experience. Attendees will also learn the benefits of addressing the needs of a child through the lens of a multidisciplinary team that can include parents and family members, mental health, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and educational support. Video demonstrations, role-playing opportunities and a live child-clinician demonstration will accent the learning experience of this two-day presentation
. Objectives:

1. Identify principal indications of developmental and/or regulatory disorders.
2. Specify the DIR/Floor Time Model of play therapy techniques used to support children with special needs.
3. State the indicators of social-emotional challenges in the play of children impacted by developmental and/or regulatory concerns.
4. Describe the DIRlFloor Time Model of play techniques to facilitate emotional regulation and expression in children impacted by developmental and/or regulatory disorders.

 

Sonia Hinds, PMH, CNS-BC/Cathi Spooner, LCSW, RPT-S    6 CEUs
This workshop will review diagnostic criteria for ADHD, traditional forms of treatment to include psychostimulants and psychotropic medications, as well as demonstrate how play therapy may be used to address the special needs of these children.

1. Identify the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ADHD
2. Describe traditional forms of therapy to include the use of medications

Analyze different play therapy techniques for ADHD children at various developmental levels

 

Felicia Carroll, LMFT, RPT-S (Special Presentation) 18CEUs
This training is intended to develop the understanding and skills of the participants in Gestalt play therapy with children and adolescents. This approach, best known through the distinguished work of Violet Oaklander, Ph. D., RPT-S, is grounded in current research in child development as well as humanistic, existential principles of human relationships. Participants will learn about this approach to therapy through lecture, videos of therapy sessions, and experiential sessions. Each of the three days will address major theoretical and clinical issues in Gestalt therapy.

Day #1 will focus on the fundamentals of Gestalt play therapy and a review of the Oaklander Model which provides a structure for assessment and treatment planning. In the afternoon the nature of the therapeutic relationship will be explored.

Day #2 & #3 will be on the perspective of Gestalt therapy on the nature of the self and emotional regulation. Participants will use sand tray and clay in their practice work as well as other play therapy interventions. Self-integration will also be included, as well as findings from neuroscience and our most recent understanding about how children develop and grow.
This training will include discussions of trauma, shame, and peer abuse. All participants will be inspired to use this therapeutic approach in restoring the children in their lives to the experience of being fully alive in each moment
Objectives:

1. Discuss the Oaklander Model of Gestalt Play Therapy and the fundamental concepts upon which this model was developed.
2. Identify the use of the existential, I-Thou dialogic attitude in their relationships with children.
3. Describe the importance of relationship in physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual development of children.
4. Demonstrate use of the phenomenological approach to working with play therapy modalities such as pictures, sand tray, and clay.
5. Discuss expressive and relational affects and the importance of addressing these in the therapeutic process.

Describe the process that supports children growing toward a greater sense of self-acceptance and self worth.

 

Cathi Spooner, LCSW, RPT-S (Didactic) 
Dee Preston-Dillon, PhD (Clinical Supervision)

Introduction to Sandtray Play Therapy   
Part I will begin with the history, therapeutic value of sandtray, non-directive and directive approach as well as the practical concerns regarding how to set up the sandtray space. The use of videos and actual client sandtrays will provide more in-depth opportunities for learning. Participants will rehearse holding and constructing trays.

Part II will explore vital components of sandtray in greater depth as well as the significance of symbols and myths. Practitioner awareness of potential harmful projections and how to "hold" the sandtray process will be explored. Additional opportunities to experience the building and holding trays will be provided. You will not need to repeat Part I or Part II sessions if you have already taken an introductory sandtray class. Proof of prior attendance must be demonstrated.  12 CEUs

Sandtray with Children and Adolescents    
Practical aspects of using sandtray with children and adolescents will be explored. Participants will identify the various ways in which children utilize the sand to heal, developmental aspects of using sand with children, identifying resiliency indicators and how to use directive and non-directive approaches.  12 CEUs

Sandtray Therapy with Adults and Couples in Conflict
Sand is said to provide a direct connection to the unconscious and as such, it works for not just children, but adults as well. Sandtray for adults and couples can be complimentary to traditional therapeutic approaches. Using sand with couples can be a powerful tool to help couples reduce their defenses while exploring the difficulties in their relationship. The dynamics of relationships will be discussed and used as a guide when introducing adults and couples to sandtray therapy. The concepts of unmet emotional needs, unspoken expectations, conflict, connection and communication will be explored through experiential sandtray exercises. Directive and non-directive approaches will be explored and rehearsed. Miniatures suitable for adults in addition to those provided for children will be discussed as well.  6 CEUs

Sandtray with Clients Experiencing Grief and Loss
Sandtray can be a powerful healing experience, especially when focused around the concepts of grief and loss. Grief and loss issues for children, adolescents and adults will be discussed. Participants will learn through experiential exercises in the sand, how grief and loss manifests and can be transformed through the sandtray process.    6 CEUs

Sandtray with Families and Groups
Integrating the entire family or a group in the sandtray process can be very rewarding and even move the therapy process along much faster. Family and group therapy concepts will be explored and discussed to learn how to work with families and group in the sand while giving attention and depth needed for healing. Practical concepts to introduce the use of directive and non­directive strategies will be discussed. Participants will explore these treatment modalities through experiential exercises.   6 CEUs

*Sandtray Level I Certificate program includes 42 hours of didactic and experiential with Cathi Sponer.  Following completion of this portion, a certificate of completion will be awarded.  Sandtray Level II includes eight hours of clinical supervision which includes constructing your own trays, processing your work as well as being guided through clinical work with Dee Preston-Dillon, PhD.  Participants may begin Level II, Clinical Supervision while taking Level I simultaneously.