Faculty

Founder and Director of Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars LLC. Executive Director of Barstow Acres Children’s Center, a non-profit organization that provides children’s mental health services. Trained in Gestalt play therapy with Violet Oaklander (retired). Authored Chapter, Play Therapy with African American Children in text, Cultural Issues in Play Therapy by Eliana Gil, Ph.D., RPT-S and Athena Drew, Ph.D., RPT-S.

Arti Kumar-Jain, MA, M.ED, NCC is currently the Executive Director of Diya Holistic Life Care and Founding Director of Love & Light 4 Kidz LLC. She also serves as a consultant and presenter. She has over fifteen years of experience in the school setting as an elementary school educator, early childhood educator, tutor, and mental health provider. She received her Master’s degree in Elementary Education and in Community Counseling from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She has worked in private practice in Virginia Beach and also in Charleston, South Carolina. She has worked at the Medical University of South Carolina in mental health for their day treatment program. Arti has also been Co-Director for Barstow Acres Children’s Center Therapeutic Camp and provided presentations and training. She has provided international training in Jamaica as part of Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars LLC.

Xanthia Johnson is a Registered Play Therapist approved clinical supervisor and national presenter, writer, speaker, & consultant. Her clinical areas of specialization and interest include but are not limited to Women & women of color issues, Urban Play therapy, Expressive arts, Sandtray Therapy, Grief and loss, LGBTQIA Folk, TF-CBT, Broad Spectrum couples, and family work.

Virginia Rivera is a bilingual Child and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She has over 20 years of providing mental health therapy, primarily to the Spanish speaking population in the Northern Virginia area. She has experience with county-based community mental health, private practice setting, and families facing many challenges and in particular deportation and immigration concerns.

Dr. Joanne Vizzini is a graduate in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola Univ., MD, who supervised and taught clinical interns there for 14 yrs. She’s presented about puppets in national & international venues for 38 yrs. She loves ALL ages and is trained in psychodrama, spirituality, substance abuse, codependency, LD/ADHD, and EMDR. Publications include a chapter, “…Puppet Play Therapy for Adults,” (2018). Her YouTube channel features rap about body safety for parent and child. Dr. V’s private practice in Columbia, MD services adults, teens, and children.

Teri V. Krull has a 35-year private practice treating children and providing consultation to professionals and parents. A member of APT since 1985 and co-founder and first president of the Arizona APT, she served 6 years on the APT Board; chaired the APT board of directors (2000) and is currently a board member of the National APT Foundation. Teri is an international presenter in play therapy, parent coach and has produced 4 educational play therapy films for long distance learning. In 2010, she was honored with the Arizona District and State NASW Lifetime Achievement Award. Teri is licensed in both Arizona and Maryland. You can contact her at www.playtherapy.tv or terikrull@playtherapy.tv.

Liana Lowenstein is a Registered Clinical Social Worker, Certified Play Therapist-Supervisor, and Certified TF-CBT Therapist who has been working with children and their families since 1988. She presents training across North America and abroad. She provides clinical supervision to mental health practitioners, runs a play-therapy internship program, and consults to several mental health agencies. She has authored numerous books, including Paper Dolls and Paper Airplanes: Therapeutic Exercises for Sexually Traumatized Children; Creative Interventions for Bereaved Children; Creative Interventions for Children of Divorce; Cory Helps Kids Cope with Divorce; and Creative CBT Interventions for Children with Anxiety. She is a winner of the Monica Herbert award for outstanding contribution to play therapy in Canada.

Ali Hall (JD) is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and an independent consultant and trainer. Ali has designed and facilitated more than one thousand Motivational Interviewing workshops for health care practitioners, behavioral health clinicians, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminal/juvenile justice professionals, and provides training for trainers in evidence-based practices. Ali provides MI coding and skill development coaching and provides consultation to systems for effective MI implementation. Ali also serves as a reviewer for the National Registry for Evidence-Based Practices and Programs (NREPP).

Pamela is currently a full professor at Prince George Community College. She was the former Clinical Director for the Crisis Response System where she provided direct patient care, as well as clinical supervision for the mobile crisis dispatch team; urgent care clinic; Intensive Family in Home Team; and telephone triage for crisis intervention. Ms. Marcus is an Advanced Practice Nurse Psychotherapist in Private Practice in Upper Marlboro, Maryland where she provides psychotherapy to patients with a variety of diagnoses. She has authored many chapters in several Psychiatric Mental Health nursing textbooks.

Krista Verrastro, MA, RDT is a Registered Drama Therapist with over 10 years of experience as a psychotherapist. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from New York University. She is currently in private practice in the Baltimore, MD area. She has worked in a variety of settings, such as outpatient mental health clinics, schools, and nursing homes. She specializes in helping people who feel used, abused, neglected, and rejected transform from surviving to thriving. She presents nationally and internationally about drama therapy and mental health issues.

Dr. Kristie Doheny is the Executive Director and Founder of the Holistic Health Center for Personal Growth & Healing in Middle Village, NY. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Social Worker, and Registered Play Therapist with 10+ years of experience specializing in individual, couples, and family therapy. Among her areas of expertise are depression, anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD, domestic violence, ADHD, learning problems, adoption, and infertility.

Ms. Cheryl Hurst is a New York State Social Worker, Play Therapist Supervisor. She has Co-facilitated Abusive Partner Intervention groups for 13 years. Ms. Hurst is a dedicated play therapist who believes families only get stronger with opportunities to connect with each other through play. Cheryl has contributed to her field by training her fellow mental health providers, case planners and for 9 years, MSW candidates, in play therapy.

Christian is a graduate of Seton Hall University and Rutgers University with degrees in Psychology and Clinical Social Work. After more than 14 years of working with young children in a wide range of settings, including a public school system, a domestic violence agency, and private practice, Christian has learned the value of integrating the most influential adults into a child’s therapy as soon as possible.

An LSW (licensed social worker) in PA, an LMSW in MD, a CST-T (Certified Sandplay Therapist -Teacher through Sandplay Therapists of America), and a national and international presenter with over 44 years of experience in school, mental health agency, and private practice settings.

Amanda is a board-certified registered art therapist, licensed clinical professional counselor, licensed clinical professional art therapist, and certified as a Practitioner Member of Sandplay Therapists of America. In addition to eating disorders, she has used art therapy to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety, self-injurious behavior, and substance abuse. She holds a certificate in advanced trauma treatment.

Professor and Supervisor of Child Psychotherapy and Play therapy. Director of Integrative Counseling Services, PLLC, in central New York, where she conducts psychotherapy and supervises staff. Professor at the State University of NY at Oswego, where she teaches and develops comprehensive syllabi and coordinates the play therapy certificate and mental health counseling programs.

Athena is Director of Clinical Training at the American Psychological Association Accredited Doctoral Internship at Astor Services for Children and Families. She is a licensed psychologist, certified school psychologist, registered play therapist supervisor and has over 30 years clinical experience as a play therapist with children and adolescents in special education preschool, school districts, inpatient residential care, outpatient clinic, and foster care settings.

Dr. Rachel Altvater is a licensed psychologist in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, a registered play therapist–supervisor, and a certified clinical trauma professional. She is the owner of Creative Psychological Health Services, a psychologist at Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education, an affiliate faculty member at Loyola University Maryland, and the president of the Maryland/DC Association for Play Therapy. She is the recipient of the 2019 Emerging Leader Service Award from the Association for Play Therapy.

Dr. Jessica Stone is a Licensed Psychologist, RPT-S, and co-creator of the Virtual Sandtray App who works in a private practice setting in Colorado. She has been providing psychological services to children, teens, adults, families, and prospective parents since 1994. She has presented nationally and internationally and has been published in the fields of psychology and play therapy.

She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist, and Certified Trauma Specialist. She is a graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. Nikole has been working with children, adolescents, and their families for over 13 years. Nikole has published Innovative Healing Techniques for Children and Adolescents, geared toward clinicians working with youth.

Peggy Kolodny MA ATR-BC, LCPAT is a licensed Board Certified Art Psychotherapist with over 34 years trauma-focused clinical experience across the lifespan. Trained in Level 2 EMDR, she has just completed Level 2 IFS. She is adjunct faculty at the School of Social Work for the University of Maryland. She is the founder of Art Therapy Collective, a private practice in Maryland.

Dr. Bell is currently the Regional Psychologist for the Northeast Health Regional Authority (NERHA) in Jamaica. She is also in private practice as a clinical psychologist specializing in child, adolescence, and adult interventions. She employs a variety of therapeutic modalities including play therapy with children and adults. Dr. Bell received extensive professional and academic training in Jamaica and the United States of America (USA). She is currently a professor at Yorkville University and City University in Canada where she lectures in various psychology courses. She is the author of eight books, six therapeutic books for children and a book for teachers in understanding mental disorders in children.

Batsheva attended the University of Maryland School of Social Work and completed her MSW in 2014. She worked for Catholic Charities Villa Maria for two and half years working in an outpatient clinic and Baltimore public city and county schools doing individual, family, and group therapy, as well as providing interventions and support to the schools. When Beth completed her LCSW-C in 2017, she began working at Recovery Counseling Center where she currently works doing outpatient therapy. Beth is currently completing her RPT credentials with a goal of focusing primarily on working with children using play therapy.

Miriam Schecter is an LCSW, Certified Sandtray Therapist, Clinical Supervisor, and Educator. She has twenty years of experience treating children and adults with emotional, mental, and behavioral issues. She treats her clients in both school settings and her private practice. She has invested many years conducting training and workshops for Mental Health Professionals in Sandtray Therapy, Social Skills Training, and Intuitive Art. She has also provided ongoing clinical supervision to many of the students that have attended her training to ensure effective implementation of the new modalities. She has helped many of her clients with the following issues: Social Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Trauma and Abuse, and Mood Disorders.

Julia Knach is currently the Director of Mental Health Serivces at Baltimore Child Abuse Center (BCAC). She recently accepted this position in order to undertake the creation of a mental health program at the BCAC. Previously, Julia Knach was the Clinical Supervisor with Family and Children’s Services (FCS), supervising both Baltimore City and County. She was with FCS for 1.5 years. She works with all populations dealing with trauma and abuse. Prior to joining FCS, she worked at Hope Health Systems satellite office. Here she worked with families throughout Baltimore City that were dealing with both trauma and addictions. The families had been separated due to addiction and she provided both mental health and addictions counseling. Before Hope Health Systems, she worked at Harbel Prevention and Recovery as the adolescent team leader. She received her BA from Arcadia University in 2002, where she received her BA in Art’s for psychology. During her time in undergraduate, she spent a year in Australia studying abroad. She attended University of Baltimore and received her Master’s degree in Applied Psychology with a minor in Forensic. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and has spent most of her adult life in Maryland.