Send us a text

Mental health professionals are human beings who bring all of themselves into the counseling process to walk alongside their clients in the healing process.

Humans are prone to biases and imperfection, including those in the mental health field.

Play therapy is no different.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons we tend to be a little neurotic about self-reflection and pondering why we do certain things. 😆

I’ve often said to my husband over the last thirty years in mental health that I’m tired of self-reflecting all the time and that I just want to be in a job where I can feel free to be a butthead –

Not really, (most of the time) because I feel waaaaay too guilty afterward wondering how much I hurt the person who was the recipient of my less than lovely behavior …

and then I spend the next couple of hours self-reflecting on why I behaved the way I did and then I’m emotionally exhausted 🤣 – just keepin’ it real.

Sound familiar? 😵‍💫

On a serious note, though, one of the reasons we’re trained to be self-reflective is so that we reduce the potential for harm to our clients by our own imperfections.

This includes self-reflection about our biases (and yes – we all have them)

What are biases in therapy and why is bias a problem?

How does bias show up in play therapy?

What can we do about our biases in play therapy?

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m discussing what is bias in play therapy and how it negatively impacts successful treatment outcomes if we aren’t willing to dive into shadow (a little Jungian metaphor there 🤓)

Recognizing and naming our biases ensures we can provide quality play therapy services to support children and their families in the healing process in a way that is meaningful for them.


#playtherapy #playtherapyworks #playtherapymatters #playtherapyplayroom #playtherapist #playtherapyaroundtheworld #playtherapyinternational #expressivearts #expressiveartstherapies #expressiveartstherapy #expressivearttherapy #sandtraytherapy #childtherapy #adolescenttherapy #childrensmentalhealth #adolescentmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealth #playtherapytraining #expressiveartstherapytraining #renewingheartstraining #renewingheartsconsulting

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 are the four basic play therapy skills every play therapist needs to master to competently provide play therapy that gets real results for your clients?

The Association for Play Therapy has identified several play therapy core competencies necessary for becoming a Registered Play Therapist ™

These core competencies identify what skills should be learned as a play therapist.

These skills set play therapists apart from simply pulling out games and art supplies to help your young clients “talk” about what’s bothering them.

These skills require play therapists to be grounded in a theoretical model that dictates how basic play therapy skills are implemented in play therapy sessions.

What are these basic play therapy skills?

Join me on this week’s podcast episode, I’ll discuss what these skills are and how they make a difference in the quality of play therapy services you provide to 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

What’s the Backbone of Great Play & Expressive Arts Therapy?

Any really great therapist will tell you that one the foundational elements of providing excellent psychotherapy to clients is …

… Clinical Case Conceptualization. Are you having flashbacks to graduate school and rolling your eyes at me as you read this?

Hang in there a minute. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE , LOVE clinical case conceptualization. It's like being a psychotherapy detective (yes, that's my guilty pleasure - watching detective shows). I love a good "who dunnit." As a psychotherapy super sleuth, you go on an investigation to figure out what is going on underneath those symptoms and how to help your clients get better.

Here’s why it’s the backbone… (full disclosure – I’m passionate about this because I see it go wrong so often) it’s the way in which you conceptualize what’s going on with your clients and then formulate a plan to help your clients overcome the problem they were seeking you to help them resolve.

The same is true for play therapy and expressive arts. How you conceptualize the presenting problem determines how you plan to help your client overcome it. So you need to be a good psychotherapy super sleuth!

Join me for this week's podcast episode, I’ll be discussing what is clinical case conceptualization, tips for getting it right, and what happens if you get it wrong so that you can provide excellent play therapy and expressive arts treatment 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