An Integrated Play Therapy Lens to Working Therapeutically with Children 2-12 years old.
Join us for a two-day combined theory and experiential workshop where you’ll learn some powerful key play therapy principles and skills that have a grounding in non directive person centred therapy.
You will personally explore the intelligence and wisdom inherent in both the body and mind, and the dynamic interplay of systems within the working relationship between the practitioner/therapist and child.
Over the two day workshop, we will delve into a blend of developmental and attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, mindfulness, systemic and presence-based practices for a rich learning experience. You will acquire basic theory and play therapy skills that can be immediately applied and tailored to various individual or group work settings.
This training is highly suitable for professionals working with children as well as those seeking to enrich their therapeutic practice through the integration of fundamental humanistic play therapy principles and skills.
History of Play Therapy
Play therapy has roots that date back to the early 20th century. The field emerged as psychologists and clinicians began to recognize the significance of attachment and social interactions for emotional wellbeing and the importance of using play as a medium for understanding and addressing the emotional and psychological needs of children.
Virginia Axline, a child psychologist, played a pivotal role in bringing non-directive play therapy to prominence with the release of her influential book “Dibs in Search of Self” in 1964. This work demonstrated how play could be a transformative force, promoting emotional expression and facilitating growth in children.
Since then, play therapy has continued to evolve, with various therapeutic modalities and approaches being developed. Today, it is recognized as a valuable and evidence-based intervention for children facing a range of emotional, behavioural, and developmental challenges.
Play Therapy is a therapeutic approach primarily designed for children to better understand and express themselves and resolve emotional and behavioural challenges through the lens of relationship and play. By utilising various toys, games, and creative activities, play therapy interventions can provide a safe and supportive environment where children can explore and process their feelings, experiences, and thoughts. Trained play therapists observe and interpret the child’s play to gain insights into their inner world, facilitating healing and personal growth. This approach recognizes the importance of play as a natural medium for children to process complex emotions, unintegrated trauma, develop coping mechanisms and navigate developmental issues.
Learning objectives
- Learn about play therapy theory and key principles from child centred play therapy and synergetic play therapy
- Understand the four essential categories of “powers of play” in play therapy
- Understand how the mechanics of attunement and the projective process when engaging in play
- Understand how children communicate their feelings, perceptions & needs through play, toys and art
- Learn basic key play therapy skills and techniques to apply to individual and group settings with children
- Explore the balance between following and leading and being and doing in play
- Understanding the importance of developmental stages and how to identify the child’s child’s emotional age
- Learn key principles of nervous system activation and regulation to apply to your work with children
- Learn practices to modulate intensity and sympathetic or dorsal dysregulation in children
Benefits
- This experiential two day workshop introduces the therapeutic powers of play; a play therapy lens that is informed by child development, attachment, interpersonal neurobiology and nervous system regulation and systemic perspectives.
- This workshop provides an introduction to key play therapy principles and skills to apply in various work settings that will inform observational and engagement work with children.
- This workshop has a learning style that is weighted towards experiential with opportunity to practice and integrate skills throughout the workshop through role plays, facilitator demonstrations, case studies and videos.
This workshop does not fully equip you to practice play therapy as a trained and qualified play therapist. You will require further robust clinical play therapy training and supervised play therapy practice that leads to accreditation and certification.
Helen is happy to recommend a number of accredited play therapy training providers upon request.
Who benefits
This training is for anyone in the helping and healing profession working with children and families, interested in building some knowledge and focused skills in child centered play therapy including family therapists, child and adult psychotherapists, counsellors, social workers, maternal child health nurses, allied health practitioners, family service practitioners, teachers and early years educators, medical practitioners, art therapists, students to established child and family centred professionals.
This training is suitable for both those working with children aged 2-12 years old and those wishing to enhance their clinical paediatric practice.
Full Payment Fee: $550 + gst
For payment plans and any other queries, please contact us via email: info@thefamilysystemshub.com
Certificate
On completion of this workshop, participants will receive a certificate recognising the contact hours of this course. Participants will also have the opportunity to seek out individual or group supervision with Helen to further consolidate their new learnings into their practice.
Investment
Full Payment Fee: $550 + gst
For payment plans and any other queries, please contact us via email: info@thefamilysystemshub.com
Workshop Guide
Testimonials
I learned so much its hard to pick one thing, but a couple of things would be the self and co-regulation exercises and also the ‘responding to questions’ from the child during play. Helen had a lovely energy, which when combined with her wonderful experiences and teaching style, made the two day workshop so enjoyable. This is the best PD that I have attended for a long time! (ME, Child Practitioner, Melbourne)
All the play demonstrations are wonderful. It is very useful to understand clearly of how to apply theory into practice, and we can practice to apply immediately. Helen is charming, kind, charismatic, passionate in child therapy, I can see the fire and excitement in her eyes when she presented the demonstration. She is knowledgable in child therapy and excellent presentation as well. I really felt safe in the space, and became comfortable, and enjoyed the training. (TS, Practitioner, Melbourne)
I especially loved the experiential components and demonstrations. getting to feel and see concepts in action helped me to integrate and understand the ‘why’ more fully. The knowledge feels far more integrated into my system and easier to put into practice. Loved the wealth of practice examples and so many different ways to apply each concept or ‘technique’. Loved the focus on phenomenological awareness and utilisation of our own embodied process and experience – so lacking in so many therapy courses. loved that you brought this so persistently. (EM, Practitioner, Melbourne)
“Letting go” of being in my head and trying to process what is going on rather a focus on the felt experience, the offering/set up and being attuned to what the child is feeling/needing, importance of co-regulation with addressing hyper/hyperarousal states and putting into practice the somatic strategies demonstrated. Understanding my role further in the school setting, where I fit and how I can work better with teachers who demand “quick fixes.” (JW, School Counsellor, Melbourne)
Helen was authentic, engaging, cared deeply and overall brilliant as a presenter and therapist (also supervisor). She “gave it everything” and was invested in ensuring that participants understood and provided lots of examples/case studies to consolidate and make it real which was important to me. She wasn’t afraid to provide constructive feedback and push us to sit outside our window of tolerance and to search “where that was coming from/intent” to learn and grow from. I jumped at the opportunity to be involved in this training and highly recommend it to others and will participate in more. (SE, Practitioner, Melbourne)
Systems at Play – An Integrated Play Therapy Lens to Working Therapeutically with Children
$605.00