Branch Trainings

If you take a course on child development, you will learn all of the stages of development and expected milestones including skills in social emotional learning. However, many children who enter play therapy arrive with developmental differences that impact the child’s ability to make progress in reducing interfering symptoms. The Developmental, Individual-differences Relationship-Based Model (DIR®) /Floortime provides a framework for understanding the key social emotional skills that are required for healthy development. Any child with any developmental presentation can benefit from support in developing skills to ‘climb the ladder’ to achieve a new stage of function in self-regulation and social interaction. By focusing on chains of attuned interaction, the play therapist and caregiver support the child in reaching higher order symbolic thinking and relating (Wieder & Greenspan, 2003). In this workshop, participants will learn application of principles of the DIR®/Floortime framework to play therapy through reflection, role play, and case discussion. Additionally, participants will learn about the importance of symbolic play in self-regulation.

One of the most foundational skills in Play Therapy is Reflecting Feelings, but recent data shows that it is the most underused skill among play therapists. In this workshop, you will receive a Reflecting Feelings crash course, that includes a deep dive into the skill (both theoretically and practically), tips for effective application with parents, articulation of the skill, why it is necessary, and strategies to make it more of a routine in your Play Therapy practice.

A trauma-focused play therapy approach for treating victims of childhood sexual abuse will be presented. Trauma-informed play therapy interventions founded on components of evidence-based treatments per the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and as contained in the Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) protocol will be explored. Clinical examples will be provided.