Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence – Details, episodes & analysis

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I discovered neuroscience and attachment theory as a play therapist about 15 years ago and was immediately a fan because I recognized how attachment theory and neuroscience relate to play therapy.

Understanding behaviors, and especially trauma, from this lens was a game-changer for me.

It made so much sense, especially for someone with foundational training in family systems theory.  

(You don’t even want to know how much I nerded out when I learned about family systems theory in graduate school!  😂)

More importantly, understanding neuroscience & attachment theory provided a way to use evidence-based practice for trauma with play therapy for trauma.

Over the last couple of decades, using a neuroscience and attachment lens to address trauma has become a time-tested strategy to ensure clients overcome the devastating impact of trauma.

How can you use a neuroscience and attachment lens in play therapy while also grounding your play therapy approach in a theoretical model?

How does play therapy help with trauma?

How do you determine which approach to play therapy is best for your clients who have experienced trauma?

In this podcast episode, I’ll share some things to consider when deciding what play therapy model to use with traumatized clients.

I’ll show you how Prescriptive Play Therapy can ensure your neuroscience and attachment-informed approach to trauma can ground your play therapy treatment in a theoretical model.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Have you ever wondered which approach works best with children who are traumatized?

Or maybe you’ve wondered what techniques are used in trauma therapy?

Working with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma requires child and adolescent mental health professionals to understand a variety of factors impacting treatment decision making, especially if you’re wondering 👇

How can play therapy help children with trauma?

To answer this question, you need to consider a variety of factors that influence your ability to identify the extent of the problems your clients are experiencing.  

Here are just a few things you can consider for your case conceptualization process:

💥 impact of the traumatic experience on your young client

💥age of the child and age when the traumatic experience occurred

💥ability for the child’s environment to support their healing

All of these factors will be influenced by how you conceptualize the problem based on your theoretical model and how your theoretical model facilitates access to the therapeutic powers of play.

Play therapy is grounded in a theoretical model and your theoretical model dictates how to apply that model within the context of a therapeutic relationship to facilitate healing for your traumatized clients.

But - it’s not just about learning a play therapy theory model and applying it.

It’s also important to ensure you walk through the case conceptualization process so you’re clear how your play therapy treatment approach can help your young clients heal and how to integrate parents in the healing process.

In this week’s  episode, I’ll discuss three questions you need to answer when you’re figuring out how to strategically help your traumatized clients using play therapy.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

If you’re a play therapist, especially new to play therapy, I’m going to share a secret with you.

You may not believe me when I tell you this.

If you feel like a fraud using play therapy …

If you feel overwhelmed and struggling with thoughts that you suck using play therapy and that your clients are probably suffering because of your incompetence …

This is likely a lie your brain is telling you. 🤯

It’s called Imposter Syndrome.

Every play therapist I’ve ever worked with to learn play therapy feels this way.

Yep!  You’re not the only one who feels like an imposter.  

I promise!

And, the likelihood that you actually suck using play therapy is pretty slim.

I know - I can hear you thinking that I’m wrong because you’re pretty sure you’re a terrible play therapist.

If this is you, then 👇

Join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll share tips for gaining confidence using play therapy so you can make a difference in the lives of your clients.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Have you ever felt like you’re lost and not sure what to do when you’re providing play therapy?

Maybe you’ve secretly thought that you aren’t cut out to be a play therapist because you’re terrible at it.

At some point in your learning journey to help your clients heal using play therapy, you’ve probably felt lost, overwhelmed, and frustrated.

Typically, you’re imposter syndrome kicks it and can leave you feeling like you aren’t helping your clients and you worry that you may actually be making things worse.

Or - you feel lost and overwhelmed thinking that you need to convince parents that play therapy is actually working 👇

And this only adds more stress because your imposter syndrome is in high gear which makes you feel even more lost and confused about what to do and how to show parents that you know what you’re doing.

You are not alone.  Anyone who has ever gone before you to learn how to help children heal using play therapy has experienced all of these emotions.

Heck! Even experienced play therapists feel overwhelmed sometimes.

If this is you, then join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll discuss how to recognize when you are lost using play therapy and some tips for what to do to get back on track.

We’ve all been there and you are not alone so join me for this week’s episode and I’ll see you there!

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

What’s the point of learning to recognize themes in play therapy sessions?

Does it really matter?

Play therapists often talk about what play themes occurred in their clients’ play therapy sessions.

Are play themes even real or are we just making them up to justify that play therapy is actually working?

We know that play therapy has become the “go-to” treatment approach for children and several play therapy models are considered evidence-based.

But what about play themes?  We talk about them, but has anyone researched them and their role in play therapy sessions?

YES!!

A group of researchers examined behavior and play themes using a case study approach with qualitative and quantitative measures.  

While there are definitely limitations with this research approach, the benefit of gaining a closer look at what happens in play therapy sessions provides important information for play therapists and the field of play therapy.

Join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll discuss play themes and understanding play behavior in play therapy.  

Then I’ll discuss the study and its implications for your play therapy work with children.

Citation for the study discussed:

Snow, M. S., Hudspeth, E. F., Gore, B., and Seale, H. A. (2007). A comparison of behaviors and play themes over a six-week period: Two case studies in play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 16(2), 147-159. doi.10.1037/1555-6824.16.2.147

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Do children who’ve experienced trauma prior to developing language have the capacity to remember what happened to them?

Does the traumatic experience go away on its own?

I’ve often heard people, including child serving professionals, dismiss the possibility of the negative impact of neglect and early trauma on infants and young children.

Especially the trauma caused by invasive medical procedures on infants and children even though the procedures are necessary.

I find it perplexing that professionals in the mental health community and social services community would dismiss the impact of early traumatic experiences on children.

That’s usually when I go back to what research tells us about trauma.

Research tells us, especially the groundbreaking work of Bessel Van der Kolk,  that traumatic experiences are stored somatically in the body.

How can mental health professionals help these young children to overcome the negative impact of preverbal trauma?

Yep, you guessed it - Play Therapy!

Spiel, Lombardi, and DeRubeis-Byrne (2019) provide a case study using psychoanalytic play therapy to facilitate healing for a three-year old client.

It’s a fascinating case study with excerpts from sessions and a discussion of the clinical insights gained using psychoanalytic play therapy.

Interested in learning how play therapy can facilitate healing for young children who experienced pre-verbal trauma?

Join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll provide an overview of the case study and discuss how play therapists can help traumatized young children to heal.

If you’re interested in reading the study, here’s the citation:

Spiel, S., Lombardi, K., and DeRebeis-Byrne, L. (2019). Treating traumatized children: Somatic memories and play therapy. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 18(1), 1-12. doi.10.1080/15289168.2019.1566974

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Using play therapy effectively requires child and adolescent therapists to know how to use a theoretical play therapy model to access the therapeutic powers of play.

When choosing play therapy to facilitate healing, it’s important to consider what your clients need and how you will use play therapy to accomplish that goal.

Want some ideas?

Join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll share tips for activities to use focused on facilitating attachment and connection.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Play therapists often talk about the therapeutic powers of play.

But what exactly does that mean and why are they so important in play therapy?

How do you explain play therapy to others? 

Actually, knowing the answer to these questions are core competencies for play therapists because 👇

The therapeutic powers of play are what set play therapy apart from all the other expressive arts therapies.

Understanding how to help your young clients access the therapeutic powers of play is the difference between using games and activities in therapy sessions versus using play therapy.

Join me for this free weekly podcast, I’ll discuss the therapeutic powers of play and why they are the foundation of play therapy.  

You’ll get tips for explaining play therapy to parents and other professionals so you sound legit.  🤩

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

Writing play therapy documentation is hands down the least favorite task for play therapists, myself included.

It’s overwhelming, confusing, and exhausting.  It can feel never ending and burn you out.

It’s often avoided altogether, which is never good.  

Avoiding it just creates more stress because you feel like you’re always behind or worse you get in trouble because it’s not done.

What if I told you that there are strategies that can help reduce the confusion and overwhelm?

I know, I can hear you thinking - No Way!  What’s the catch?

Join me for this free weekly Podcast, I’ll discuss three 🔑things to keep in mind that will help you streamline your documentation process in a way that makes the “documentation gods” happy, which in turn makes your life easier.  

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Send us a text

If you’re a play therapist and you have struggled to write progress notes that make sense without draining your brain, then you are definitely not alone. 

Maybe you feel confused and overwhelmed about writing play therapy notes because you have no idea what to write that makes sense and doesn’t sound like you just played for an hour with your client.  😂

These are the struggles of many play therapists.

Writing play therapy progress notes can be exhausting, confusing, and frustrating.

If that’s you, then I have good news for you!

Join me for this free weekly podcast I’ll discuss tips for writing play therapy progress notes so they look professional and accurately document your play therapy sessions.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills