FAPT 2023 Annual Conference

Friday: TraumaPlay™: A Flexibility Sequential Play Therapy Model for Treating Traumatized Children

Foundational | Play Therapy Skills and Methods, Play Therapy Special Topics

Learn how to use this playful, components-based, evidence-informed treatment with traumatized children and teens. Paris will share her attachment grounded, flexibly sequential model, identifying specific treatment goals with corresponding interventions. She will differentiate between trauma treatment goals that are can be accomplished through non-directive methods and goals that are best served by integrating parents as partners, utilizing somatic grounding techniques, cognitive-behavioral play therapy interventions, expressive therapy techniques, dyadic work, and playful ways to complete trauma narrative work. Participants will leave with an expanded toolkit of interventions and a revived sense of excitement about the process. Come prepared to play!

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. List the core components of TraumaPlay®
2. Describe at least one play therapy intervention that can be used in pursuit of each treatment goal
3. Define the continuum of disclosure
4. List four play therapy interventions for soothing the physiology
5. Identify four extra-linguistic play therapy mediums for augmenting trauma narrative work
6. List the three roles play therapists work to embody in TraumaPlay

Saturday Morning: Big Behaviors in Small Containers

Intermediate | Play Therapy Skills and Methods, Play Therapy Special Topics

When it comes to working with children, sometimes the biggest behaviors come in the smallest containers. Sometimes these behaviors are externalizing (screaming, crying, hitting) and sometime these are internalizing (anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation). So often, the focus of treatment in these instances is on extinguishing the behavior without understanding what is driving it in the first place. Whether the end result involves a child shutting down or shouting out, it is critical that helping professionals be able to answer this key question: What is the need underlying the behavior? This workshop will offer more than a dozen practical, fun, and immediately useful play therapy interventions that engage the family in setting treatment goals, augmenting adaptive coping, enhancing the healthy attachment between parent and child while helping them shift paradigms around problematic child behaviors. Powerful exploration of the stress response system help clients increase anger management skills, expand emotional literacy, practice pro-social skills with family and friends, address their difficult thoughts, and increase coherence in their trauma narratives.

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. Evaluate disorders of dysregulation through the lens of bottom-up brain development
2. Extrapolate polyvagal theory to children and families through play therapy interventions.
3. Execute a play therapy intervention that can be used to target movement in each of seven separate areas of dysregulation

Incorporating Art Activities Into Play Therapy Services with Marla Berger, LMHC, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™

Intermediate |Play Therapy Skills and Methods

Have you found yourself staring at your art supplies wondering how they can help support and enhance your play therapy but just don’t know what to do? This workshop will introduce incorporating art activities into play therapy services for children, teens and adults. Learn from hands-on experientials ways to add art making into your services.

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify types of art supplies to incorporate into play therapy services
2. Incorporate at least three new art activities into play therapy services for children, teens and adults
3. Integrate art making into on-going play therapy services

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Defining Infant Mental Infant Within the Context of Play Therapy: An Introduction to Facilitating Parent-infant Attunement in Play Therapy with Janet Courtney, PhD, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™

Intermediate | Play Therapy Special Topics

The field of infant mental health is growing exponentially, and many play therapists are desiring to grow their expertise to work with infants and young children. Traditionally, play therapy literature and training has primarily focused on ages three years and up. This workshop will address the early years gap and offer ways to intervene with infants ages birth to 36 months. A “working definition” of what is meant by “Infant Play Therapy” will be discussed. Dr. Courtney will provide an overview of infant mental health from within a play therapy context to include a review of the prominent pioneers in the field as well as considering the cultural implications of working with infants. Additionally, the ethical and neurobiological and clinical implications of nurturing touch and its importance to human development and attachment with infants will be reviewed. Following the lead of the infant from a client-centered (aka, “baby-centered”) play therapy perspective, practitioners will learn and then role-play (using a baby-doll) with a partner three different parent-infant attunement facilitation interventions to enhance the attachment relationship.

*Please bring a baby doll to the training to participate in the experiential activities. If you do not have a baby doll, then a puppet or stuffed animal with arms and legs can be used.

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. Articulate a working definition of “Infant Play Therapy” and its relevance to the therapeutic powers of play.
2. Describe the still-face experiment and state one reason why this experiment is critical to understanding relational parent-infant dynamics within play therapy sessions.
3. Describe 3 ways that the current neuroscience informs our understanding of infant mental health.
4. Describe three (3) ways to facilitate attunement within parent-infant relation

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Delight In Me with Paris Goodyer-Brown, MSSW, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™

Intermediate | Play Therapy Skills and Methods

This workshop is aimed at helping families recapture the joy stolen by neglect, trauma, anxiety or a lack of connectedness between a caregiver and child. Core attachment principles will be translated into practical play-based strategies for helping caregivers become more connected co-regulators, stronger storykeepers, and safer bosses. Specific play therapy interventions aimed at helping caregivers and children delight in each other will be experienced. Come prepared to play!

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. List six core caregiving strategies (the SOOTHE strategies) that help caregivers co-regulate their children more effectively.
2. Articulate five play therapy games that give children experiences of receiving nurture from their caregivers.
3. Describe three play therapy interventions that help parents manage their negative activation

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Child Sexual Abuse: Empirically Supported Interventions with Tasha A. Jackson, LCSW & Lindsey Townsend, LCSW

Foundational | Play Therapy Special Topics

Identifying the common principles and components shared by empirically supported treatment and using this research to create a treatment plan using play therapy interventions to increase therapeutic value.

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. Recall at least 3 principles for treatment of children with experience of sexual abuse supported by research.
2. Identify 2 treatment models that are empirically supported and commonly used with child who have experienced sexual abuse
3. Identify at least 5 play therapy interventions can be used within these models

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Treating Pediatric OCD~ Play Therapy & ERP with Tara Motzenbecker, LMHC, NCSP, Registered Play Therapist™

Intermediate | Play Therapy Skills and Methods, Play Therapy Special Topics

Research shows us that Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most effective treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. ERP involves the client and their parents having to face their fears and engage in very difficult tasks. Play therapy is the perfect compliment to integrate in order to engage and motivate the child and their family members. This training will explore how to use play therapy techniques to help the child make sense of their OCD as well as how to use play therapy to create exposures and rewards. Participants will also be able to share case examples and brainstorm with the group for play therapy exposure ideas.

After the session, participants will be able to:

1. Define OCD and understand how to integrate the most effective treatment method (ERP) into play therapy sessions.
2. Identify the importance of using play therapy techniques for engaging the child and family in the treatment of OCD.
3. List several play therapy techniques for use in Exposure and Response Prevention.

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Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. each day with the sessions beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m. Lunch is on your own with many options at the conference site and within walking distance.

APT has a room block at the Rosen Plaza. Reservations can be made directly with the HOTEL by calling 1-800-627-8258 or 407-996-9700. Please request the GROUP rate for FLORIDA ASSOCIATION FOR PLAY THERAPY. until reservations due date, Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Cancellation Policy:

$50 is non-refundable. Written cancellations received 30 days or more prior to the start of the conference will receive a full refund of the balance minus $50. Cancellations less than 30 days prior to the start of the conference will forfeit the total cost of registration.

In the very unlikely event that the workshop must be cancelled or postponed by the organizers, the Florida Association for Play Therapy will provide a full refund of the registration fees.

Registering for this event implies your agreement to the following COVID-19 policy.

6 hours of continuing education are available each day.

The Florida Association for Play Therapy (FAPT) is an approved provider for the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 02-115. Play therapy credit will not be awarded to non-mental health professionals. FAPT is approved by the Florida Department of Health under FL Statute 491 to offer continuing education for Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors. Provider Number BAP-50-10520 expires 03/31/2025. FAPT is approved by the Florida Department of Health under FL Statute 490 to offer continuing education for Psychologists. Provider Number BAP-50-10520 expires 05/31/2024.

Schedule at a Glance

Friday, April 28th:

8:00-9:00 AM – Registration/Check-in

9:00-10:30 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

10:30-10:45 – BREAK

10:45- 12:15 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

12:15-1:30 – LUNCH on your own

1:30-3:00 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

3:00-3:15 – BREAK

3:15-4:45 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

4:45-5:00 – Exhibit Tables Remain Open

Saturday, April 29th:

8:00-9:00 AM – Registration/Check-in

9:00-10:30 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

10:30-10:45 – BREAK

10:45- 12:15 – Paris Goodyear-Brown

12:15-1:30 – LUNCH on your own

1:30-3:00 – BREAKOUT Sessions - Preselected**

3:00-3:15 – BREAK

3:15-4:45 – BREAKOUT Sessions - Preselected**

4:45-5:00 – Exhibit Tables Remain Open

About our presenters...

Paris Goodyear-Brown, MSSW, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ - is the creator of the TraumaPlay™ model, the founder and Clinical Director of Nurture House, and the Executive Director of the TraumaPlay® Institute. She is an internationally renowned speaker, a prolific author and a master clinician. While she has spent the past 25 years specializing in treating trauma (sexual abuse, physical abuse, maltreatment and neglect) and attachment disturbances, as well as anxiety disorders. She often provides help for angry, dysregulated and depressed children and teens. She is an Adjunct Instructor of Psychiatric Mental Health at Vanderbilt University, guest lecturer for several universities in middle Tennessee, and
travels around the world helping clinicians, parents, and teachers better serve children from hard places. She particularly enjoys integrating trauma-informed approaches and is an EMDRIA Certified EMDR therapist. She also finds great joy in helping other clinicians create safe spaces for children and families. She is a child development expert and frequently provides parent consultation, dyadic assessment and parent coaching to help parents manage and resolve their children’s behavior problems. With trainings in Morocco, Russia, Ireland, Italy, Australia, Sweden, Istanbul, South Africa, Nepal, Turkey, Malaysia, China and South Korea, as well as frequent domestic presentations, she is best known for developing clinically sound, played-based interventions that integrate the neurobiology of trauma, the neurobiology of play, and the power of one to heal the other. She has received the APT award for Play Therapy Promotion and Education, serves on the board of the Tennessee Association for Play Therapy, and served as the Executive Director of the Lipscomb Play Therapy and Expressive Arts Center. She provides play therapy and licensure supervision and consults with various school districts, agencies, and mental health organizations to help develop play therapy programs and create more developmentally sensitive programming. Some of her most recent books includes Big Behaviors in Small Containers, Parents as Partners in Child Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide, Trauma and Play Therapy, Tackling Touchy Subjects, Play Therapy with Traumatized Children: A Prescriptive Approach and The Worry Wars: An Anxiety Workbook for Kids and their Helpful Adults. She delights in her husband, her three children, shifting paradigms, and holding hard stories for families in need.

Marla Berger, LMHC, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ - is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Registered Art Therapist, Registered Play Therapist - Suervisor™, EMDR Trained, PATH Int'l Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor, Qualified Supervisor, Natural Lifemanship Certification Student and an Eagala Advanced Certified Professional. In other words, she loves experiential therapies! Marla founded Berger Counseling Services in 2009 to provide art, play, sandtray and equine assisted psychotherapy services to children, teens and adults in Parkland & Coral Springs. She has presented locally and nationally on experiential services, trauma and bereavement.

Janet Courtney, PhD, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ - is a Founder of FirstPlay Therapy® [an Infant Mental Health & Developmental Play Therapy model] and Founder and Editor of FirstPlay® Café: An e-magazine for parents (womb to six Years). She is a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, TEDx Speaker and presently Chair of the Association for Play Therapy Ethics and Practice Committee and past President of the Florida Association for Play Therapy and former Chair of the Viola Brody Award Committee. Awarded Third Place overall in the Best Practices Showcase for FirstPlay Therapy at the First 1000 Days Infant Mental Health Summit (Sept, 2018) along with the Children’s Healing Institute. She is author and editor of Infant Play Therapy: Foundations, Programs, Models and Practice,” and “Healing Child and Family Trauma through Expressive and Play Therapies: Art, Nature, Storytelling, Body & Mindfulness,”and “Touch in Child Counseling and Play Therapy: An Ethical and Clinical Guide.” New York, NY: Routledge, and her research into practitioner experiences of training in touch and Developmental Play Therapy is published in the American Journal of Art Therapy and the International Journal of Play Therapy. She is a contributing author for the chapter, “Touching Autism through Developmental Play Therapy” in the book, “Play-based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders;” and has a chapter in the book, Environmental Expressive Therapies (2017), titled: “The Art of Utilizing the Metaphorical Elements of Nature as ‘Co-Therapist’ in Ecopsychology Play Therapy.” She is also published in the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture. She offers a certification in FirstPlay Therapy® (including FirstPlay® Infant Massage Storytelling) and provides training to professionals in the Ethical and Clinical Competencies of Touch, FirstPlay® Therapy, Ericksonian-based StoryPlay®, Expressive Therapies, and Ecopsychology Play Therapy. She has been invited to speak nationally and internationally including Bali, Indonesia, the Cayman Islands, England, Ireland, Morocco, Russia and the Ukraine. She is a provider through the Florida state boards of Mental Health and Massage Therapy, and an approved provider through the Association for Play Therapy. She specializes in Infant Mental Health and Infant Play Therapy, Attachment, and Trauma related issues. Dr. Courtney’s new form of Kinesthetic Storytelling® can be found in her children’s book, The Magic Rainbow. Website: www.FirstPlayTherapy.com and www.FirstPlaycafe.com

Tasha A. Jackson, LCSW - is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience in treating children and families with a history of trauma, currently serving as a program supervisor for the Gulf Coast Children's Advocacy Center Trauma Therapy Treatment Team in Panama City, Florida. While she specializes in treating children with trauma (sexual abuse, physical abuse, maltreatment and neglect) and attachment disturbances, she also oversees the treatment for adult survivors of child sexual abuse and recent sexual assaults. Tasha is certified in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), TraumaPlay, Parent Child InteractionTherapy (PCIT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Tasha has dedicated herself to empowering and healing survivors of child abuse and sexual violence. She has testified in court as an expert witness multiple times on the topic of delayed disclosures of child sexual abuse and the impact of trauma on children. Tasha graduated from Florida State University’s College of Social Work, earning both her Bachelor and Masters degrees. She understands the importance of the Social Work profession and has supervised multiple college interns from various national universities.

Tara Motzenbecker, LMHC, NCSP, Registered Play Therapist™ - is a Licensed School Psychologist, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, a Registered Play Therapist™, and a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern. Tara received her Master’s degree at the University of Rhode Island in School Psychology and a second Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at National Louis University. Tara has worked in a variety of public, private and charter schools in Rhode Island, Washington DC, Maryland and Florida in various roles including teacher and school psychologist for over 15 years.

Lindsey Townsend, LCSW - is a Licensed Clinical Social worker with over a decade of experience working with trauma. Lindsey began working at the Gulf Coast Children’s AdvocacyCenter (GCCAC) in 2013 as a therapist and was promoted in 2018 to Program Coordinator. In this capacity, she provided and oversaw countless hours of therapy to children who experienced sexual abuse, their non-offending caregiver, as well as their siblings. Lindsey is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). In 2019, Lindsey was also one of fourteen individuals selected by Paris Goodyear?Brown, founder of TraumaPlay, to attend the foundational training of the model. Lindsey has since become certified in TraumaPlay and working towards becoming an approved supervisor. Lindsey is dedicated to the mission of the GCCAC by continuing to grow professionally and providing evidence-based, trauma specific, specialized treatment to survivors of abuse.

Event Venue

Rosen Plaza Hotel, 9700 International Drive, Orlando, United States