Applying ESDM to Play Therapy Approaches including Children with Developmental Delays
Play therapy is instrumental in meeting the needs of children facing mental health issues by providing a safe place to explore difficult stressors and experiences through the medium of play. During this process, the relationship between child and therapist is fostered and nurtured. For young children, development across various skill areas can be uneven, and this can impact the skills and techniques needed for play therapy to be effective as well as the relationship development between child and therapist. This is particularly true of the child demonstrates atypical development or developmental delay. The Early Start Denver Model, (ESDM) is a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention model which uses play as a medium to fuse aspects of developmental psychology, applied behavior analysis and relationship-oriented approaches to autism intervention. It has been specifically designed for use with young children with autism ages 12 to 60 months of age. The teaching techniques of ESDM can be used to successfully support development of neurotypical and neurodiverse children and it can be implemented as part of individual or group intervention programs. By exploring the use of ESDM teaching techniques, play therapists can expand their skill set in optimizing developmentally appropriate play therapy intervention for a broader range of children.
This workshop will also include the application of strategies from ESDM and Help is in Your Hands to Filial Therapy and Child-Parent Relationship Therapy.
Learning Objectives: After successful completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Apply strategies involving management of material, structure of room and positioning of materials and therapist and presentation of motivating materials to maximize attention and opportunities for verbal and nonverbal communication bids to therapist
- Describe a 4 part joint activity routine structure for play session activities that allow a child to choose materials, facilitate a play theme, add variation for developmental teaching of skills, and transition the child’s attention to a new learning activity as attention wanders.
- Apply specific strategies for supporting the needs of children who demonstrate a range of developmental delays to support their engagement and communication during play therapy.
- Explain how a strategy from ESDM and Help is in Your Hands can be applied to Filial Therapy and Child Parent Relationship Therapy.
3 Contact CE | Intermediate | Play Therapy Seminal or Historically Significant Theories, Play Therapy Special Topics
About our presenter: Dr. Jennifer Epstein is President of South Shore Psychological Services, INC and a licensed psychologist with more than 25 years of experience working with children and families affected by neurodevelopmental disorders. She is a Certified Early Start Denver Model Trainer and trains others in ESDM implementation with young children with autism.
Locally, she leads a team of BCBA’s and RBT’s providing ESDM intervention. Dr. Epstein received her BA in Psychology from Rutgers University in 1989 and her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Wright State University in 1994. She completed a 2 year postdoctoral fellowship in Developmental Disabilities and Clinical Psychology at the JFK Center for Developmental Disabilities at the University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center, in 1996.
NEAPT Members $100; Guests $150
This training is approved by APT Approved Provider 02-123 for 3 CE hours. NEAPT maintains responsibility for the program. Registrants understand and agree that any photograph, 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 September 28, 2024. Cancellations are subject to a $20 processing fee. Substitutions (someone else attending) or transfer of registration to another training date may be requested. No refunds or partial refunds after September 28, 2024.
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