Play Therapy Community Inspiration, Information, & Connection For Child Therapists Around The World | Adhd, Autism Spectrum

Katie May is the “Group Guru”.   She works exclusively with teenagers in a teen support center in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.     Groups energize Katie. She says that groups can’ save th’e world.     In groups, people feel less alone in their struggles and they start to heal in ways that individual therapy can’t provide.    Her groups are focused on the ideas of connection.   She told us about a group that she runs that looks at being nonjudgmental for teens.  She talked about using rocks to illustrate the judgements that they have for themselves.  She has them decorate the rocks to describe the judgements and toss them away as a concrete expression of getting rid of their judgements.  The teens put the rocks in a bag, weigh them and then toss them away into the water. This helps with processing of letting go of the judgements.     Sometimes her groups do a “compliment circle” to express and receive kindness from others. Her pre and post assessment of their state of happiness improves after the kindness circle o

Build Love Maps Knowing each other’s world is so vital to the health of a relationship.  It’s important to make exploration of each other’s world an ongoing effort.  This can help strengthen the relationship and help each person in the relationship to feel felt and cared about. Share Fondness and Admiration Fondness and admiration is noticing what’s going right and what’s good rather than putting a focus on the negative.  If couples are in “Negative Sentiment Override” as Gottman calls them.   Turn Towards Turning towards your partner, both literally and figuratively is important as it sends a message that “you matter”, “I care”, “you’re important to me”.  Gottman uses the metaphor of a RELATIONSHIP BANK ACCOUNT to illustrate the need for 5 times as many positives to every one negative in a relationship.  Turning towards and accepting “bids for connection”, such as holding hands, inviting on an outing, snuggling, etc. is important to build the relationship bank account up so that when there are negatives, it

Double Mirror Doodle Using a large piece of paper and 2 crayons, have the student doodle a mirror image design. This helps with grounding, focus, and clarity through bilateral integration of both hemispheres of the brain.  Materials Large Paper  2 crayons What Happened Next Using a large piece of paper and something to write with, have the student sequentially tell the story of what happened from beginning to the end.  This narrative supports "top-down" processing of the event.  Materials Large Paper Pen, Pencil, or Crayons Tumbling Blocks Conversation Prompts Using a Jenga (or generic version) game, the child and the counselor will pull a block and respond to the prompt on the block.  This can be used for a variety of topics to include coping skills, social situations, icebreaker, friendship skills, etc.  Pick-Up Straws Using straws, students will pick up a straw and respond to a prompt coordinated with the color-coded prompts on a list of prompts in variety of areas. Material

Dr. Taylor is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida.   She’s also the Center for Play Therapy Training and Research Director, as well as the Play Therapy Certificate coordinator.     She earned her graduate degrees from the University of North Texas.    She learned from many of the leaders in the Play Therapy world.     Dr. Taylor is trained in Adlerian Play Therapy developed in the early 1990’s by Terry Kottman, Ph.D., Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, NCC, LMHC     Adlerian’s belief is that people’s behavior is purposeful and goal-directed.  Their early childhood experiences influence their behavior, as well as how they view themselves, others and their world.    4 Phases of Adlerian Play Therapy (1) Relationship Building – This phase of the therapy is non-directive and supports safety in the play room.  By creating a shared power, the client can really feel like a significant person in their world.  This phase supports building trust within the child.  (2) Investigating the Lifest

Dr. Stacy Van Horn is currently a full-time faculty member and School Counseling Coordinator at the University of Central Florida in the Counselor Education and School Psychology Program within the Department of Child, Family and Community Sciences. She teaches graduate students at both the masters and doctoral level primarily in the areas of career development, counseling with children and adolescents, ethical and legal issues in professional school counseling, and coordination of comprehensive, developmental school counseling programs. She also supervises practicum students in the Community Counseling and Research Clinic (CCRC) on campus and school counseling interns throughout Central Florida schools.   Prior to her position as a Counselor Educator, Dr. Van Horn worked as a professional school counselor for over nine years in Orange County Public Schools working with diverse students, teachers, and families in Central Florida.  Dr. Van Horn has experience in creating and coordinating comprehensive, develop

Pam Dyson, MA, LPC-S, RPT-S, is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, child development expert and parenting coach.  In addition to her private practice www.pamdyson.com  in Plano, Texas she provides consultation and supervision services and facilitates play therapy workshops at conferences throughout the US. She is the recipient of the Association for Play Therapy 2013 Key Award for Professional Education and Training and is currently serving a three-year term on the APT Board of Directors. Pam is the founder and director of the DFW Center for Play Therapy Training. www.dfwplaytherapy.com      In this episode, Pam shares with us how she put together her office space.     After a few times of moving her office, she has tweaked her set up until she created it just like she wants it.   Pam selected her toys and materials strategically, based on influence from Garry Landreth’s work.  She referenced his book, Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship .   She has toys

In this episode Billie Jo covers the following:   Description of what Infant Mental Health is and what professional support in this area involves. A discussion on the impact that ages 0-3 has on a child’s development – emotional, physical, cognitive, etc. Clarification of who could benefit from Infant Toddler Mental Health Support Tips for therapists working with children and families.   https://www.zerotothree.org/early-learning/infant-and-early-childhood-mental-health   https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounselors/   https://www.facebook.com/counselinginbrevard/   www.counselinginbrevard.com   www.playtherapycommunity.com   www.parentingintherain.com   www.jackieflynnconsulting.com   https://twitter.com/jackieflynnrpt  

Ellis Edmunds is a licensed psychologist in Oakland, CA.  He has a private practice working with teens and adults struggling with anxiety.  He is passionate about Mindfulness practices and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.  He also loves to play games of all kind and has created a therapeutic board game called The Mindful Bus that can be used with groups or in a one on one setting.  He believes games can provide a fun, safe, and interactive experience for therapeutic work to take place. In this episode Dr. Edmunds covers the following: -How he got the idea for the board game by working with teens and adults.  -The process of getting the game created: prototypes, testing it, art work.  -How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy inspired the idea for the game.  -How to get started on your own product or game.   http://www.boardgamesmaker.com http://drellisedmunds.com http://www.themindfulbus.com/ http://facebook.com/drellisedmunds   https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/p

In this episode Dr. Kat covers the following:   Understanding what Maternal Mental Health is and where to find trained professionals to help. Where to get training for professionals working with mothers in the mental health field. Understanding postpartum depression, anxiety, and much more. Reducing the shame of maternal mental health struggles through support, education, and sharing stories. Her podcast, Mom & Mind is a wonderful free resource for parents, professionals, and anyone that could use information and knowledge in this area.   Dr. Kat’s Amazing Podcast http://www.momandmind.com   Mom and Mind Facebook Page   https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/   https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounselors/   https://www.facebook.com/counselinginbrevard/   www.counselinginbrevard.com   www.playtherapycommunity.com   www.parentingintherain.com   www.jackieflynnconsulting.com   https://twitt

Expert Guest: Mercedes Samudio, LCSW Mercedes Samudio, LCSW is a parent coach, speaker, and author who helps parents and children communicate with each other, manage emotional trauma, navigate social media and technology together, and develop healthy parent-child relationships. Over the course of her career, she has worked with adoptive families, foster families, teen parents, parents navigating the child protective services system, and children living with mental illness. Mercedes started the #EndParentShaming movement as well as coined the term Shame-Proof Parenting – using both to bring awareness to ending parent shame. Mercedes is a leading parenting expert and has an amazing following on social media that allows her to reach the hearts of thousands of parents who feel heard and seen on their parenting journey. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, US News and Report, Woman’s Day, LA Parent Magazine, CBS LA, and Kids In The House. Mercedes seeks to empower parents to believe that they are already

My guest today is Dr. Jonathan Singer, Ph. D., LCSW, who is an expert in the area of suicide. He is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University in Chicago and the founder and host of The Social Work podcast. He co-authored the book, Suicide in Schools. This episode focuses on suicide assessments and interventions and is the first of a two-part series. Therapists can do much at various levels to assess risk. The most important action is to screen for suicide risk at each intake assessment, whether it’s suspected or not. Often, aggression and other behavioral disturbances can be evidence of suicide risk, so ASK the questions! What can parents do? Dr. Singer says that parents of any child at risk should talk to the school counselor about a referral. “Don’t start looking for someone when the need arises.” Therapists should also connect with school counselors and let them know who you are and what you do. Dr. Singer explains Attachment-Based Family Therapy, which is emotion-focused and addresses th

My guest today is Dr. Jonathan Singer, Ph. D., LCSW, who is an expert in the area of suicide. He is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University in Chicago and the founder and host of The Social Work podcast. He co-authored the book, Suicide in Schools. This episode focuses on suicide pacts and the social media component and is the second piece of a two-part series. The language we use around suicide is important. Instead of “suicide threat,” the less-threatening terminology is “suicide disclosure.” Dr. Singer shares how he helped in a suicide pact scenario years ago, before the onset of social media. His story would be very different in today’s world that’s overrun with social media platforms.  Peers can help and even intervene in a crisis situation. In today’s world saturated with social media, teens will often be the first to hear of suicide pacts. Their awareness is crucial, so they know how to help and what to do. Dr. Singer explains how to be a friend to someone who is at risk for suicide

Lucy Lauer, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with 26 years’ experience as a Registered Dietitian. She specializes in helping people navigate the rough waters of disordered eating to achieve a healthier life and relationship with food. She has experience with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Nocturnal Eating Disorder, and the range of dysfunctional eating patterns that cause distress but may not have a diagnostic label.   In 35 years of practice, Lucy has treated disordered eating from both a nutritional and psychological perspective. She has presented workshops at the local, state and national level on many aspects of disordered eating for psychologists and counselors, physicians, dietitians, parents and teachers. She established and facilitated the Space Coast Eating Disorders Professional Consortium from 2009-2011, and supervises Florida Tech Psychology students in a special practicum focused on Eating Disorder treatment.    She participates regularly in continuing education pr

Episode 53 – Sandtray Therapy and the Brain Expert Guest: Amy Flaherty, LPE-I, RPT is the Founder and Director of the Southern Sandtray Institute located in Jonesboro, AR. She has a hybrid program to credential therapists as a Registered Integrative Sandtray Therapist (RIST).  In addition to the formal credentialing program, Amy also offers online sandtray training through The Sandtray Suite. To find out more and grab your free Sandtray technique, simply go to www.sandtraysuite.com/ssi.  In this episode, Amy Flaherty LPE-I, RPT covers the following: What is Sandtray Therapy? She describes the relation between neuroscience and Sandtray therapy. She shares few examples of that she’s seen throughout her work. She shares her most used miniatures?  And, where are some common area she finds miniatures for her collection   https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounsel

Episode 52 – Supporting Grieving Children and Families at the Dougy Center   In this episode: Jana Cristofaro covers the following:   Describes the mission of The Dougy Center. Tells how it was created (Dougy's story). Describes who is eligible to receive services through your program and what is the process. Describes what services look and feel like at the Dougy Center. Provides tips that you have for therapists working with grieving children and their families. Let’s us know about and/or donate to the Dougy Center.   For her Free Download:  Tips for Supporting Grieving Children click on the following: https://playtherapycommunity.simplero.com/page/73863-free-download-tips-for-supporting-grieving-children https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounselors/ https://www.facebook.com/counselinginbrevard/ www.counselinginbrevard.com www.playtherapycommunity.com ww

  Episode 51: Introduction to Play Therapy Community Podcast and Host, Jackie Flynn EdS, LMHC, RPT Thank you so much for listening to the podcast! This episode was previously known as Parenting in the Rain Podcast. I created this community as a space for us (Child Therapists!) to connect with other and learn together.  If you’re anything like me, you like the idea of having tons of information at your fingertips so that you can provide the best therapy possible for your clients. I have a Private Practice in Central Florida, with a fully stocked Play Therapy Room and Expressive Arts Therapy Studio.  I love being a private practitioner and entrepreneur, taking risks, and daring to dream BIG! And, I LOVE Play Therapy!!!  Helping people through the healing Power of Play. In the beginning, I remember surfing the web for hours and hours trying to get ideas. Now, we don’t have to do it alone…we have this podcast and connection to each other where we can find out about all of the other wonderful play therapy related

Episode 50, When Your Child Makes a Mistake In This Episode:   Mistakes are part of our humanness.  They are bound to happen from time to time.  In fact, they need to happen for us to grow.  For our kids, allowing them to make mistakes can make all of the difference. As parents, it is helpful to allow our children’s mistakes to teach them about life.   It can be difficult, though.  Especially, if you are in a rush and you need to get out of the door for school (okay this can be tough!), you may be tempted to just tie their shoes yourself, or dress them yourself, or make the bed yourself so it’s not so messy, or stick with the food that they are comfortable with ... the list can go on and on talking about how we’re busy and we don’t want to cause a scene and how everyone benefits, if we choose leads you down a path of least resistance.  I know some of these because I’ve been there.  Parenting can be exhausting and feel defeating sometimes.  I’m not saying you need to never help your kid again.  But rather, gra

Episode 49:  The Art of Raising Honest Children with Integrity In This Episode:     Children learn way more by watching what we do, than by listening to what we say to do. This is why it is so important to live our lives with integrity and good character.  It was super important before we had children, but it’s more important now than ever as it could impact generations to come. There are quite a few definitions of integrity floating around, but I like this one the most.   Integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is watching.  It’s personal honesty. It’s a biggie to resist those temptations to tell little white lies or big hairy tall tales.   Don’t tell the person at the ticket booth that your child is really 9 instead of 12 to get a reduced price ticket.  Don’t sneak into hotel pools when you’re not a guest.  Don’t go past the “Do Not Enter” signs and all of the other of gazillion things that can be tempting to do.  It may save you a few bucks at the movie theater to sneak in Candy from the outside

Episode 48:  EMDR Therapy: Helping Children Move Past the Tough Stuff In This Episode:     Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, also known as EMDR, is an effective, research and evidence-based therapy that helps free people from painful memories, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and other disturbances from exposure to trauma or especially disturbing situations.  And, it works with children too.  In my experience, it often takes less time to notice changes because often children have less tough memories due to their young age, as compared with older clients. When exposed to traumatic events, our minds may not fully understand and process the magnitude of the situation due to the scenario at hand its overwhelming nature.  When I mention trauma, I want you to think of it as in “Big T trauma for the big stuff such as witness a crime, etc” and “Little t trauma such as being called a name by a peer, etc” This lack of processing of traumatic events thoroughly can show itself in a debilitating psychological/emot

As a Play Therapist, I love using art with my clients!  Art engages more of the brain in the healing process.  But what about home? Is it important to have our materials and home? They can get messy look a little bit cluttered, be expensive sometimes, and take some time to delve into.  Is it worth it? The answer is yes! Art helps children in so many ways.Art projects can definitely help with confidence. Especially, if children are struggling in other areas. When children make something that they feel good about, that makes him feel proud of themselves, they perceive themselves as competent and capable of performing work that is really good. This self-perception often generalizes into other areas of their life. On surface level, one might think what’s sure they can paint a tree on a canvas, but that doesn’t mean that they can rock at math. And, to some extent that is correct. But, if gives them the confidence to try things that are very difficult and helps them to feel capable, they may have the courage to do