Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

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Emotion regulation problems, such as anger outbursts, are a big reason parents seek counseling for their children.

Parents aren’t sure what to do so they seek help from you.

Anger outbursts/tantrums can be frightening for parents as well as the child.

What’s a play therapist to do?

How can play therapy help children rein in those big, overwhelming feelings?

That’s what my guest and I will be talking about during this episode.

Dr. Fiona Zandt is a clinical psychologist in Australia specializing in the use of play to help children manage their strong emotions of anger.

In fact, she’s written an AWESOME new book - Creative Ways to Help Children Manage Anger.

If you’re looking for strategies to help children regulate their anger, then you don’t want to miss this episode!

Please note the Day and Time change this week.

Join me for this free weekly podcast, My guest, Dr. Fiona Zandt, and I will be discussing strategies to help children struggling with anger outbursts and their parents in play therapy.  We’ll discuss ideas for play therapy activities to use in 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

Send us a text

If you’re a child and adolescent therapist, it’s probably because you want to make a difference in the lives of children.

That’s what drives most of you to pursue your master’s degree in counseling and spend endless hours trying to learn how to help your clients heal.

Pretty much all of the child and adolescent therapists I’ve spoken with over the last 15 years when I’m providing play therapy consultation will tell you they do what they do because it’s a calling, a mission.  It’s not just a job.

So, is there a BEST way to provide play therapy that will guarantee your clients get the maximum benefit from working with you?

Is there one approach to play therapy that works better than the others?

Join me for this free weekly Podcast, I’m going to discuss how you can figure out what’s the best way to help your clients heal 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

What the heck does bibliotherapy mean?

It’s a really fancy term for using stories to help clients heal.

Most play therapists incorporate some version of bibliotherapy in the play therapy process.

To be honest, I’ve used bibliotherapy with adolescents and adults to help them heal.

I use it ALL the time in family play therapy sessions.

Are there ways to use bibliotherapy to get the most benefit for your clients?

That’s what my guest, Tammi Van Hollander, is going to share with us.

She’s written a new book about strategies for using bibliotherapy in play therapy.

My guest, Tammi Van Hollander, and I will discuss what bibliotherapy is and how you can use it in play therapy to help your clients heal.

Check out Tammi’s new book on Amazon, PESI website, or Tammi’s website:  The Bibliotherapy Toolbox: 100+ Creative and Playful Story-Based Interventions to Help Kids Create Safety, Overcome Challenges, and Build Resiliency

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

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE using sand tray therapy with my clients of all ages.  

I’m obsessed with it because I’ve witnessed the power of the sand tray therapy process to access deep healing for clients. 

I also know that getting started can be overwhelming because it can be expensive.  

So what’s a play therapist to do?

Join me for this free weekly Podcast, I’m sharing practical tips to build your sand tray miniature collection that will save you time and money.  

Yep!  I’m sharing my best strategies to build your miniature collection so you can provide an amazing healing experience for 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

Wondering how to find great sand to use for sand tray therapy with NO DUST?

One of the most challenging things about using sand tray therapy with children is sand that’s dusty. 

 Dusty? 

Can sand be dusty?  

YES! 

It’s the worst when the sand is dusty because there's a cloud of dust lingering over the sand tray when kids sift and play in the sand. It's hard to be fully present with your young client when you can't breathe and you're coughing and sneezing because of the dust from the sand.

Well, I've got the solution for you!

Jurassic Sand will be joining me on this week’s podcast episode, to discuss their amazing sand, caring for the sand, the different types of sand and the experience of the sand.

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 kind of sand tray miniatures do you need?

Are there miniatures that are better than others so your clients get what they need in your play therapy sessions?

These are frequent questions I’m asked by play therapists who want to learn how to use sand tray therapy in play therapy. 

They’re really good questions when you think about it because play therapists are very intentional when setting up their playroom.  

You want to make sure the toys in your playroom are therapeutic so your clients can access the therapeutic powers of play. 

Making sure you get the right sand tray miniatures can save you time and money by avoiding the wrong ones.  

Join me for this free weekly podcast, In this week’s episode, I’ll discuss the purpose of sand tray miniatures and what kind of miniatures you need for your sand tray miniature collection. 

I’ll also share some practical tips for building your sand tray miniature collection to avoid feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. 

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 heard of sand tray therapy?

How do you provide sand tray therapy?

What do you need to provide sand tray therapy with clients?

If you’re a play therapist then you’ve probably heard of sand tray therapy.

In play therapy,  there are specific types of toys and supplies needed in the playroom to provide play therapy.

The same is true when using sand tray therapy with clients. 

Sand tray therapy requires these three components when working with clients  - a sand tray, sand, and miniatures.

These are vital when providing sand tray therapy, but are there specific types of sand trays, sand, and miniatures that you need?

Join me for this free weekly Podcast,  I’ll discuss what you need to provide sand tray therapy and why you need them.  

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

One of the biggest struggles for play therapists is understanding and recognizing themes in play therapy.

Play therapists use themes in play therapy sessions to help them understand what’s going on with their clients and how they are progressing in play therapy.

Join me for this free podcast, I’ll share highlights from the study and how play therapists can use the information to help them understand themes in 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

How do you make sense of what’s going on in play therapy sessions and figure out if your clients are making progress?

This is a question that comes up A LOT in my play therapy trainings and play therapy consultation groups.

It’s a great question.

Underlying this question is the understanding that play therapy sessions are not traditional talk therapy sessions because children use play therapy sessions differently than talk therapy sessions.

What does that mean?

It means the fundamental difference between play therapy sessions is how children access the therapeutic powers of play for healing.

This requires the play therapist to recognize the play dynamics occurring in sessions and accurate assess what those play dynamics reveal about your clients.

Play therapists need to recognize three essential elements of play dynamics in play therapy sessions and make sense of their relevance to what your clients are working through.

Join me on this week's episode, I’ll discuss three aspects of play dynamics in play therapy and their importance for facilitating healing for children.

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

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 matter?

Case conceptualization is a fancy term that means you’ve identified the likely factors contributing to your clients’ problems.

Using cultural intelligence when formulating your case conceptualization significantly increases the likelihood of an accurate diagnosis and then creating an effective plan of action.

When you’re figuring out what’s going on with your clients, some critical questions to explore are …

🎯  How does culture affect therapeutic communication between you, your clients, and their parents?

🎯  How can cultural barriers affect play therapy effectiveness?

🎯  How can you build strong therapeutic alliances with parents that respect their culture?

Join me for this week's podcast episode, I’ll discuss some key considerations to ensure cultural intelligence when identifying what’s causing your clients’ problems and why it’s happening so you can facilitate healing in 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