Play Therapy With Abused Children

Through lectures, student practice sessions, instructor modeling, and guided reflection, this two-day training integrates a clinical framework describing the psychological impact of abuse while looking at a prescriptive approach combining directive and nondirective play therapy methods. Participants will develop competencies to address the complex needs of children and adolescents impacted by physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse as well as neglect.

 

In Day One, the instructor will support participants to learn: 

• Discuss Finkelhor and Browne’s Traumagenic model to guide play therapy interventions
• Examine parental participation in play therapy of children who have experienced abuse, involving the protective and non protective parent
• Identify ways of assessing and increasing children’s emotional safety when providing play therapy to children who have experienced abuse
• Discuss the intricacies of the child protection systems and ways in which play therapists can engage
• Identify a variety of play therapy approaches to help children heal from abuse

In Day Two, the instructor will support students to learn:

• Review a developmental and relational framework to recognize the impact of child sexual abuse and to inform play therapy interventions
• Discuss playful methods to educate children about healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse
• Examine play-based therapeutic approaches that support children affected by abuse, process their experience and move towards healing
• Identify a framework to identify developmentally normative versus concerning child sexualized behaviors
• Examine Problematic Sexual Behaviours and discuss play based considerations when working with victim reactive behaviours
• Identify ways in which play therapists are uniquely impacted by work with abused children and the importance of therapist self-care