2-Day Live Virtual Event ~ Nov. 19 & 20
Engaging the Body in Play Therapy
with Movement, Rhythm, & Sensory Play
Children who have experienced complex developmental trauma often present with unusual behaviors- both in and out of the play therapy room. This workshop will help play therapists feel comfortable leaning into nervous system dysregulation, reframing misbehavior as opportunities to soothe the limbic system through “bottom up” body-based play therapy techniques involving movement, rhythm, and sensory play.
This innovative training will guide the attendees through the most current neuroscience research (including Bruce Perry, MD, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Stephen Porges, MD, Peter Levine, PhD, and Daniel Siegel, MD) and demonstrate how to put theory into practice. Examples of creative ways to use movement, rhythm and sensory play in play therapy to shift the child’s emotional state, maintain regulation, and renegotiate traumatic associations without overwhelming the client will be explained and demonstrated. Participants will learn a framework (based on the Alert Program and Zones of Regulation) to help children develop the capacity to monitor (notice) and modify (change) their state of regulation or dysregulation.
This training will include didactic and experiential learning; participants should dress comfortably and be prepared to move and play. Activities will allow the participants to experience ways to incorporate music and movement into the play therapy process with children. Attendees will leave this training with practical tools, strategies and applications that enhance the client’s capacity to connect with others, process trauma without becoming overwhelmed, and facilitate healing.
Intentionally engaging the body through movement, rhythm, and sensory play provides valuable practice coming back into a regulated state from a dysregulated state, deepens connection and attunement between therapist and client, models for the parent how to help their child through dysregulation, brings high level brain functions back online, and enhances learning. Movement, rhythm, and sensory play also provides clients another medium to express their inner experience while connected to a regulated, attuned therapist, allowing for integration and a renegotiation of implicitly held trauma. Attendees will be able to use movement, rhythm, and sensory play in play therapy in a purposeful way that leads to more enjoyment in their play therapy sessions and works toward therapist goals of improved regulation and ultimately trauma healing.
Important info!!! This will be the last time this training will be offered for Association for Play Therapy (APT) CEs. In 2021, this two-day training will be released in a new format and APT CEs will not be available.
FAQs
Do I have to be a play therapist? I work with kids but am not a play therapist.
No way!!! This training is for ANYONE who works with children in a therapeutic setting! You definitely do not need to be a play therapist to benefit from this training!
Is this training only about complex trauma?
No! Complex trauma is my area of expertise but this training will benefit any therapist who works with children with regulation difficulties OR with children who are highly kinestetic, physically active, and sensory seeking.
I need to leave early/arrive late/miss some part of the training. Is this OK?
This is a highly interactive, experiential training. Even though we will be meeting online, you’ll work closely with other participants and your presence matters!! Please make arrangements to attend the training in it’s entirety.
No partial CEs will be awarded. You must attend the entire training in order to receive CEs.
In this live, online training, attendance will be tracked. You will be required to keep your webcam whenever we are not taking a break.
I’m not in eastern time- how do I make this time-zone adjustment?
What will this training be like? I’ve never done a live, online training!
I have taught online a LOT! It has surprised me how we can still feel connected and have an excellent learning experience, even online, especially if we are conscientious about a few specific things.
Attendees will be required to have their webcams on the entire time and to be present at their devices. This will be monitored. Attendees will be asked to forego distractions, such as answering the telephone, in the same way you would in a live training. Microphones will be muted to reduce background noise but can easily be unmuted to ask questions.
Throughout our two days together, attendees will frequently break up into small groups, just like we would in person.
A list of materials to have available for experiential activities will be provided approximately one week before the training. Materials will be typical child/play therapy materials, including art supplies and paper, or common household items like cotton balls and straws.
Will I be able to easily implement the ideas I learn?
YES!!!! We will have plenty of time to allow for integration and application! We will practice together and you’ll develop a felt-sense for some of the different interventions, even online!
You will receive access to an electronic folder FULL of resources, including two flip-books that contain all the activities we learn. Past participants have stated that these resources added a lot of value to the workshop and supported their confidence in implementing the new ideas.
What type of tech requirements are there?
The webinars will be hosted on Zoom- you can download Zoom here and read about Zoom here.
You need high speed internet and should be able to login from your laptop, tablet, or even SmartPhone with the Zoom app.
You MUST use a webcam and a microphone. Most computers have built in webcams and microphones.
Not sure if yours does? See if the information in this article helps.
How will I access the training?
You will receive a link- on the morning of the training, you will just click on the link!!
I cannot attend live- can I receive the recording?
This two-day training will not be available by recording.
