Send us a text The last several years of neuroscience research has shown mental health professionals how to better understand the role of autonomic nervous system and interpersonal neurobiology. It’s provided a wealth of information to understand the importance of creating a safe healing space for children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. Children cannot establish a connection with play therapists unless they first experience safety within the therapeutic relationship and in t...

Send us a text Have you ever had a client present to your office and you were kind of stumped about what to do? Me too. I’ve totally been there. The thing that helped me to make sure I was doing my best to help my client was having a good network of colleagues and mentors to share their knowledge and resources. That’s exactly why I’m soooooooooo excited about my guest this week - Leah Evans, LPC, RPT. Leah is part of our Play Therapy Academy community and regularly shares he...

Send us a text I’ve heard it said by mental health professionals and play therapists that case conceptualization doesn’t really matter when you’re working with clients. When I dig a little deeper about their reasons, the response that I get is that play therapy and counseling is intuitive and it’s about building a strong relationship with clients. When I challenge them a little, most of the time they are using case conceptualization to inform their decision making and don’t realize it. ...

Send us a text Boost Parental Involvement in Play Therapy with Attachment & Neuroscience Strategies If you’re a play therapist or child/adolescent therapist, then you know children exist within the context of a family and parental involvement in the treatment process is important. But do you view parents as the therapeutic agents of change for their child? As the therapeutic agent of change for their child, parents play a critical role in the play therapy change process for co-regulation ...

Send us a text As play therapists, we are often the ones who sit with stories of pain, loss, and struggle—walking alongside our clients during their toughest moments. But let’s face it: hearing these stories day after day can take its toll on even the most seasoned therapists. How do we keep our hearts open and our spirits strong while "holding hard things"? ✨ One of my favorite concepts is that of the "wounded healer." It acknowledges that we, too, have faced challenges and overcome our own ...

Send us a text Are you part of a play therapy community? Are you the only play therapist in your agency? One of the things I hear ALL the time from members of my Play Therapy Academy program is how much they LOVE our community of support and amazing play therapists. (I love it too!) When someone is having a rough week and feeling like a big failure or just super frustrated with a hard case, the group rallies around them to cheer them on and provide ideas and support. (This is my favorite p...

Send us a text How good are you at identifying the role of culture in the problems your clients are experiencing? Have you considered the resiliency factors of your clients’ culture and how that can influence better play therapy outcomes? Play therapists work with children and their families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Using cultural competence with case conceptualization is essential to make a difference for children in play therapy. What is case conceptualization and why does it ...

Send us a text What does clinical case conceptualization in play therapy mean and does it really matter? 🙄 Case conceptualization is your ability to ask all the necessary questions that get to the roots of the issue so you know what to focus on in play therapy to help your clients and their parents. Skipping the initial diagnostic session to gather all the important details of the problem is not necessarily the best way to help your clients get the best results in play therapy. If you find...

Send us a text What’s your least favorite part about providing play therapy services to your clients? Let me tune into my mind reading skills to read your mind 💭- documentation, right? Over the last 30 years in the child and adolescent mental health field, I’ve never met a therapist who says they love writing progress notes, treatment plans, and psychosocial assessments as much as or more than working with clients in sessions. What I have learned over the last 30+ years is ...

Send us a text Most therapists I talk with, including play therapists, want to get straight to helping their clients during the very first session so they skip the detailed information gathering needed for a thorough assessment. I get it. You want to make a difference and help your clients without wasting time. But is the information gathering process really a waste of time? No, it’s not. In fact, taking time during that first appointment to gather information from parents, a...

Send us a text What does it mean to be a play therapist and what skills are needed to provide play therapy? Understanding fundamental principles for play therapy ensures child and adolescent therapists recognize the difference between using games in therapy versus play therapy. There are specialized skills child and adolescent therapists need to develop to ethically and effectively provide play therapy. Play therapists learn the important functions of play needed in counseling to be compet...

Send us a textMental health professionals are human beings who bring all of themselves into the counseling process to walk alongside their clients in the healing process.Humans are prone to biases and imperfection, including those in the mental health field.Play therapy is no different.Maybe that’s one of the reasons we tend to be a little neurotic about self-reflection and pondering why we do certain things. 😆I’ve often said to my husband over the last thirty years in mental health tha...

Send us a textWhat are the four basic play therapy skills every play therapist needs to master to competently provide play therapy that gets real results for your clients?The Association for Play Therapy has identified several play therapy core competencies necessary for becoming a Registered Play Therapist ™These core competencies identify what skills should be learned as a play therapist.These skills set play therapists apart from simply pulling out games and art supplies to help your young...

Send us a textWhat’s the Backbone of Great Play & Expressive Arts Therapy?Any really great therapist will tell you that one the foundational elements of providing excellent psychotherapy to clients is …… Clinical Case Conceptualization. Are you having flashbacks to graduate school and rolling your eyes at me as you read this? Hang in there a minute. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE , LOVE clinical case conceptualization. It's like being a psychotherapy detective (yes, that's my ...

Send us a textWhat are the clinical tools in your play therapy and expressive arts toolbox and how do you use those tools effectively with your young clients?Engaging strong clinical decision-making skills when using an integrated approach in play therapy and expressive arts treatment is just as important as if you are applying one specific play therapy theoretical model. Why? Theory drives application so you need to understand the theoretical underpinnings of the intervention to ...

Send us a textDoes sand tray therapy in play therapy work? What’s the difference between sandplay therapy and sand tray therapy? Aren’t they the same thing?Words matter when thinking about what you do in play therapy and communicating to others what you’re doing.After all, can you clearly communicate to others if you don’t really understand the difference and feel confident that what you’re doing works?When I’m pondering these things and trying to get answers for myself so I can c...

Send us a textChildren feel grief deeply and their grieving process looks different depending on a variety of factors, including their age and developmental level.How can play therapists help children navigate their grief in a way that is unique to their developmental needs in treatment?Play therapy has become the “go-to” approach to help children heal.This includes using play therapy to help children cope with their grief.What are things play therapists can do to help bereaved children heal?...

Send us a textWhat’s the best way to make the biggest and most long-lasting impact using play therapy?After all, that’s the goal of play therapy - to make a lasting difference in the lives of children.The question we need to consider is - who is the therapeutic agent of change for the child?Play therapist or parents?You can make the case that both are therapeutic agents of change in their own way.Play therapists create a strong relationship with children to help them overcome the challenges t...

Send us a textUsually when I suggest play therapists use family play therapy sessions, their facial expression says it all.Anxious, surprised, overwhelmed, and sometimes amused or curious.It makes sense when you think about it because most play therapy training is focused on individual counseling sessions and very little training is focused on how to integrate parents and family members into the play therapy process for their clients.I think this is true for mental health treatment in general...

Send us a textIf you’re a play therapist or work with children and adolescents in the mental health field, then you know children do not exist in their own little vacuum.When you think about what’s going on with your clients from a systems and attachment lens, then you know parents and family have a big influence on children and their ability to thrive in life.We know from decades of attachment research that children with secure attachments are more resilient.But what do you do if you’re havi...