Developments in Play: Contributions to Play Therapy

Play therapy is a critical therapeutic method for healing and growth for children who have experienced traumas or are struggling with emotional difficulties. It relies on children’s ability to express and re-work problematic thoughts, feelings, and events through play scenarios. Children’s expression of thoughts, feelings, and events, however, depends upon their development in play, which includes capacities of mental representation and the use symbols to represent problematic events in their play.

Recently Galford-Koeppel (2023) described the importance of symbolic development to play therapy. In symbolic play, children have developed capacities for mental representation and can use symbols, whether using one object to stand for another, or using an imaginary object, to express past events. Consequently, an understanding of a child’s development in play is fundamental to the success of play therapy.

This workshop will focus on evaluating a child’s capacities for play. Research has demonstrated that play develops in early childhood, moving from the understanding of people and objects as entities, to how people and objects can be related to one another, to how people and objects can be symbolized, and attributed with agency in play.

A summary of our recent study of the play of 289 typically developing children, and 203 children developing with delays, at 10 age points from 8-months to 60-months will be presented. The children’s play will be described in terms of qualitatively different categories of play, from simple to more complex categories, and how the children’s play in these categories developed over the age period. Differences between the groups of children also will be presented. How these results were used to develop a play assessment system will be explained, illustrated with case studies. The implications of different categories of play and an overall assessment of play, again through case studies, will be discussed in terms of implications for play therapy.

Learning Objectives: After successful completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify children’s play activities in terms of descriptive categories, and their implications for play therapy
2. Evaluate a sample of a child’s play activities to determine what a child knows and is ready to learn, and to consider the connections to play therapy
3. Determine how a child’s level of play development can contribute to goals in play therapy

3 APT Live Webinar CE | Intermediate| Play Therapy Special Topics

This workshop meets APT's definition of "Live Webinar."

About our presenters: Karin Lifter, PhD, is Professor Emerita in the Department of Applied Psychology at Northeastern University. She earned her PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and pursued postdoctoral training in developmental disabilities at University of Massachusetts – Amherst. Her research centers on the play of young children with and without disabilities.

Denise Galford-Koeppel is a Certified LIGPlaymaker and play-ologist. She is a special educator, certified early intervention specialist, coach, licensed mental health counselor, and Registered Play Therapist™ passionate about applying the powers of play to make a difference for our future generations. Denise supports children, parents, and educators through the approaches of the Hanen® Program, the Pyramid Model, and Developmental Individual-Differences Relationship -Based Model® (DIR®) with specialization in working with young children (those under age 8 years).

NEAPT Members $50; Guests $60 | Limited to 50 participants

VIRTUAL: This will be a virtual meeting. Participants will be awarded LIVE WEBINAR CE upon successful completion of a post test. Participants must be visible throughout the presentation. This workshop meets APT's definition of "Live Webinar."

NEAPT is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to Play Therapy. APT Approved Provider 02-123. NEAPT maintains responsibility for the program. Registrants understand and agree that any photograph (screen shot), video or audio recording of themselves may be used to further promote NEAPT.

Cancellation Policy: All cancellations must be requested in writing and received no later than October 29, 2024. Cancellations are subject to a $15 processing fee. Substitutions (someone else attending) or transfer of registration to another training date may be requested. No refunds or partial refunds after October 29, 2024.

By registering for this training, you are giving NEAPT permission to add your email to our email list and you are giving permission for NEAPT to use any photographs or screenshots that are taken during the event containing your likeness for promotional purposes.