Puppets and Play Therapy

Children naturally bond with puppets, sharing information and looking to puppets as helpers. Using homemade and commercial puppets, this session will identify ways to incorporate puppets into assessment and play therapy. Learn basic skills of puppetry and ways to create puppets as both representations of self and reminders of skills through a Play Therapy lens.

Using slides, discussions, demonstrations and props, participants will gain a greater understanding of the use of puppets in Play Therapy, from building rapport to assessments to therapy, puppet play will be discussed. Choosing puppets for a counseling play therapy room and for specific treatment plan goals will be discussed. Both commercial and homemade puppets will be discussed and shown. Puppet Play Therapy can be used in a variety of settings, with a variety of populations and a plethora of issues. Drewes & Schaefer, report "...puppet play has become an important therapeutic tool...for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes" (in text cited in Schaefer, 2017, p. 27). Knell, 2018 contends that adding "puppets into assessments leads to a more developmentally sensitive approach, which likely will lead to more reliable clinical information" (p. 60). Puppets are found all over the world and in most counseling offices; their use can create a safe space for clients to explore themselves and their world during Play Therapy.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course participants are able to:

1. recognize the therapeutic rationale and fundamental concepts for the use of puppets in Play Therapy for a variety of issues.
2. describe specific puppet types, categories and recommendations, including DEI considerations, for Play Therapy.
3. employ 1 specific puppet assessment in Play Therapy.
4. practice at least 1 puppet intervention to used during Play Therapy
5. rehearse making 1 type of puppet to use during Play Therapy.

All Levels | Play Therapy Skills and Methods

Location: Larchmont United Methodist Church,1101 Jamestown Crescent, Norfolk VA 23508

Enter through the door on Monroe Place.

2 APT Contact CE. This training is approved by APT Approved Provider 01-109 for 2 CE hours. VAPT maintains responsibility for the program.

About our presenter: Holly Tracy owns a private practice in Norfolk, VA where she provides counseling, supervision, consultation and trainings. As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor she blends her Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ credential with those of Trauma Treatment Specialist and Bereavement Counseling to provide individual, couples and family services to children as young as 4 through seniors. Over the past three decades She has worked with crisis, inpatient, in-home, formal research and has volunteered with The American Red Cross and as a Board of Counseling member and Chair of the Regulatory Committee. She has presented on Play Therapy, Ethics, Family Therapy and Couples’ work.

HANDOUTS: Handouts (if available) and confirmation will be sent a few days prior to the training.

CANCELLATION POLICY: No refunds.

PHOTO RELEASE: By registering for this training, you are giving permission for VAPT to use any photographs that are taken during the event containing your likeness for as long as VAPT deems appropriate and desirable. Photographs may be used on the VAPT website, social media pages, and/or newsletter for any purpose. By completing the registration, you are also consenting to waive any rights to the photographs indefinitely. If you do not wish to have your photo used, it is your responsibility to notify VAPT of your request to be omitted.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

1101 Jamestown Crescent, 1101 Jamestown Crescent, Norfolk, United States