Play Therapy Training

This experiential workshop will provide a framework for using play therapy with anxious children and teens. Many play therapy techniques will be demonstrated.

Objectives:

After the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, Separation Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Specific Phobias.

2. Explain how avoidance increases anxiety and interferes with treatment.

3. Develop a treatment plan for a child with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

4. Implement 5 play-based assessments for anxiety

5. Describe 3 play-based techniques to help children rate and track their anxiety.

6. Demonstrate 4 play therapy interventions to help children improve their emotional literacy.

7. Describe 3 play therapy techniques that can help children develop increased body awareness and the ability to relax their bodies.

8. Describe 3 play therapy techniques that can help children with cognitive restructuring.

9. State 3 ways parents can participate in the treatment.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder is frequently misdiagnosed and often treatments are not consistent with the evidence – which shows that Exposure and Response Prevention (E/RP) is most effective. Since this treatment asks children to face their fears, it is critical to engage the child and his/her family. Play Therapists are uniquely qualified to help make the treatment tolerable.

You will learn Play therapy techniques to help the child make sense of his/her OCD. We will demonstrate how to create exposures to have the most impact using play therapy. Case examples will help you avoid a common mistake – reinforcing the OCD. We will discuss the benefits of including the parents as part of the treatment team.

Working with children with OCD using Play therapy is enjoyable and extremely rewarding. Come join us to learn a more effective approach!

Objectives:

After the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define Obsessive and Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and identify 3 subtypes.

2. Understand assessment tools for OCD in children including the C-YBOCS.

3. Discuss the importance of play therapy techniques for building rapport and increasing motivation during the treatment of OCD.

4. Practice 2 play therapy techniques that help children externalize OCD.

5. Demonstrate at least 6 play therapy techniques for exposure and response prevention treatment (ERP).

6. State 3 ways parents can participate in treatment and increase successful outcomes.

In this experiential workshop, we will demonstrate at least 10 Family Play Therapy techniques. Participants will have the opportunity to learn by doing. We will discuss key decision points in working with families in Play Therapy. Come prepared to play!

Parents often bring their children to Play Therapy to help them cope with their divorce. The therapist can be challenged to determine how best to meet the needs of the child in the context of parental conflict.

Join us to learn effective strategies to help structure your Play Therapy treatment to meet the needs of the child while also responding to the frequent reactivity of their parents.

Objectives:

After the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Discuss the impact of divorce – including mediating factors – on children at various stages.

2. Discuss the importance of understanding the emotional experience of parents.

3. Identify the primary tasks of parents that frequently need to be reinforced during parent sessions.

4. List 3 types of divorce and relationship to child treatment.

5. State 3 ways to minimize risk to the play therapist.

6. Demonstrate 3 play therapy techniques for providing psychoeducation about divorce.

7. Demonstrate 3 play therapy techniques to help children manage feelings resulting from divorce.

8. Demonstrate 3 play therapy techniques to help improve communication in the family.

Join us for an experiential workshop and expand your expertise in working with grieving children. We will review grief from a child’s perspective and engage in useful play therapy activities. Conducting a relevant and complete assessment with parents will also be covered, as well as cultural considerations.

Objectives:

After the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Name 3 types of grief.

2. Discuss 2 differences in the ways children and adults grieve.

3. Identify 2 common needs of grieving children in each developmental stage.

4. List 4 important questions to ask parents about their child’s experience in the assessment phase of treatment.

5. Identify at least 5 elements to incorporate into the treatment plan.

6. Demonstrate at least 6 Play Therapy techniques to help children cope with loss.