In this episode, Kylie explores the delicate balance of communicating updates to parents and carers while maintaining the confidentiality and trust central to Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT). She discusses why this process can feel challenging, even for experienced practitioners, and offers frameworks and communication strategies that protect the child’s privacy while keeping parents informed. Kylie highlights the importance of grounding feedback in themes and stages of play, using accessible language and empathy to connect with families. Ultimately, she reminds us that ethical, reflective, and relationship-based communication is at the heart of meaningful parent consultations. 🌿

In this episode, Kylie outlines how to structure ongoing parent/carer consultations in three parts: reviewing progress, sharing playroom insights, and planning next steps. Every 4–6 weeks, she meets with parents to reflect on their child’s growth, revisit goals, and adjust support where needed. Kylie emphasizes communicating themes and stages of play in parent-friendly language while protecting the child’s confidentiality, using examples like power and control or learned helplessness. She also shares practical, realistic strategies for parents to strengthen connection and co-regulation at home — always returning to the core principles of empathy, collaboration, and attachment in Child-Centred Play Therapy. 🌿

The episode dives into the essentials of conducting initial parent consultations in Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT) — from building authentic rapport and exploring formative history, to gathering insights on school, health, and family systems. Kylie offers practical guidance for beginning therapists, emphasizing that connection and caregiver involvement are key to positive outcomes. Part Two will continue next week with ongoing parent consultations and deeper strategies for supporting families in the therapeutic journey. 💛

In this episode, Kylie explores how trust, empathy, and authentic connection with parents and caregivers are essential for children’s therapeutic progress, especially amid today’s complex family challenges. She also reminds play therapists to offer themselves the same compassion they give to clients, honouring boundaries, collaboration, and self-reflection in their work. 🌿

In this episode, Kylie Ellison takes us through one of the foundational frameworks of Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT), the stages of the therapeutic process, exploratory, aggressive, regressive, and mastery.

She unpacks what each stage looks like in the playroom, how to recognise progress, and why growth in CCPT is rarely linear. Kylie shares insights for therapists on staying grounded, trusting the process, and communicating progress to parents while protecting confidentiality.

A thoughtful, practical guide to understanding how children move through their therapeutic journey — and how we can meet them with empathy at every stage. 💛

In this episode of the Play Therapy Circle podcast, Kylie Ellison introduces the concept of limit setting in child-centered play therapy (CCPT), focusing on the ACT model (Acknowledge feelings, Communicate the limit, Target alternatives). She reflects on her own challenges learning this skill, reassures beginning play therapists that it becomes easier with practice, and emphasizes that limits build safety, structure, and trust in the playroom. Ultimately, Kylie highlights how consistent and empathetic limit setting not only protects therapists, children, and resources but also fosters emotional regulation, self-responsibility, and respectful relationships.

This episode explores the foundational CCPT skill of reflecting feelings, building on last week’s focus on tracking. The discussion highlights how reflecting feelings validates children’s emotions, deepens the therapeutic alliance, and supports emotional literacy and self-regulation. Practical strategies are shared for tone, timing, and language, along with common pitfalls and the importance of authenticity. Therapists are encouraged to practice, embrace mistakes, and trust the process as children lead their healing journey.

Kylie introduces the core CCPT skills of tracking and reflecting content, framing tracking as the foundational way therapists show they’re following a child’s play (e.g., starting statements with “You/You are…”). She explains how brief, non-judgmental tracking supports co-regulation, invites permissiveness, and keeps the child in the lead, while reflecting content offers short summaries of what the child has done. Kylie cautions against the “question trap,” over-praise, and over-tracking; encourages pausing to observe nonverbal feedback; and highlights culturally sensitive and neurodiversity-affirming language. The episode closes with practical tips: practice tracking in everyday life, keep statements short and concrete, observe before speaking, and remember the goal is the child’s process, not the therapist's “answers.”

Kylie Ellison explores how play serves as a powerful avenue for children to express emotions they cannot yet verbalise, highlighting the importance of meeting children where they are developmentally. She emphasises the therapist’s role in creating a safe, authentic, and supportive space while observing themes and symbolic play without rushing to interpret. The episode encourages practitioners to trust themselves, the process, and the child, using play as both communication and healing.

Kylie Ellison explores how to set up a therapeutic playroom from a child-centered play therapy (CCPT) perspective, highlighting the importance of intentional toy selection, clear layout, and safety. She emphasizes that quality over quantity matters, and that therapists should choose resources they feel congruent and comfortable with. Beyond the physical setup, Kylie reminds listeners that the therapist’s presence—through empathy, consistency, and unconditional positive regard—is central to creating a safe and healing space.