Lisa Dion has with her an extraordinary guest, Dr. Dee Ray to talk about an incredibly important topic for us as play therapists, Multiculturalism in Play Therapy (...  if you don’t already have Dee’s book, Multicultural Play Therapy, we hope you’ll go buy it by the end of this podcast. It’s a must-have for every therapist that works with kids!) 

Dee Ray, Ph.D., LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S is Regents Professor and Elaine Millikan Mathes Professor in Early Childhood Education in the Counseling Program and Co-Director of the Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas. She has published over 150 articles, chapters, and books in the field of play therapy. Dr. Ray is a founding board member and past president of the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling, as well as current board chair of the Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Ray also co-created and oversees the international certification program for Child-Centered Play Therapy and Child-Parent Relationship Therapy, as well as currently operates the counseling practice, EmpathyWell, in Highland Village, TX where she facilitates play therapy, training, and supervision.

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• What multicultural play therapy is and what it means to be  culturally-inclusive play therapist;
• What cultural humility is and how it is the cornerstone for cultural opportunity;
• Some of the barriers and fears that prevent us from connecting fully with ourselves and our child clients;
• What to do when a rupture occurs in our relationship with our client (...guaranteed to happen) and how to bring in cultural humility and cultural comfort to create cultural opportunity;
• How to develop a more multicultural orientation when working in the context of the family system or working with parents/caregivers; and
• What research says about a multicultural playroom and how to extend multiculturalism to your play therapy room.

Enjoy this incredibly important discussion that we hope you’ll then share with whomever you feel like could also benefit from learning more about multiculturalism in play therapy. Let’s all bring multiculturalism more into our playrooms! 

Podcast Resources: 

• Synergetic Play Therapy Institute
• Synergetic Play Therapy Learning Website
• FREE Resources to support you on your play therapy journey 
• Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity

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