2026 Summer Play Therapy Conference
Presented by the NW Center for Play Therapy Studies
最新麻豆视频: Portland Center
Registration to open up soon
Best Practices for Parent Consultations in Play Therapy: Developing Confidence and Preparing for Effective Meetings
Monday, June 1, 2026
Presented by Ahou Vaziri Line, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S
Play therapists often state that involving parents is one of the most challenging aspects of their work (Ray, 2011). Through this workshop, attendees will review best practices for parent consultations in play therapy, review preparation activities to prepare for effective intakes and subsequent parent consultations, and complete activities to develop their confidence with parent meetings, address implicit biases, and collaborate with parents effectively.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Discuss relevant research related to parent consultations
- Discuss why it is difficult to work with parents in play therapy
- Outline best practices for play therapy parent consultations according to research.
- Utilize proposed documentation model for preparing for play therapy parent consultations
- Evaluate implicit biases and personal characteristics that may make working with parents difficult in play therapy and will develop empathy for parents and caregivers
- Collaborate with parents in setting and clarifying effective play therapy goals with their theoretical orientation and cultural sensitivity in mind
Dr. Ahou Vaziri Lineis the co-founder of Thread Counseling Group in Dallas, an author, a speaker, and former graduate professor at The University of North Texas. Ahou is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, Certified School Counselor, and Registered Play Therapist- Supervisor.
Ahou has authored several peer reviewed research articles and book chapters educating counselors on working with parents and in the multicultural implications of play therapy. Ahou has been invited to present at many local, state, national, and international conferences in various topics including teacher and parent support and considerations in play therapy.
Additionally, Ahou serves on the board for the Texas Association for Play Therapy and authors a parenting blog series on Psychology Today. Most recently, Ahou has published a textbook with Routledge titled Working with Parents in Play Therapy: A Resource Guide for Play Therapists.
Color Outside the Lines: Expressive Arts in Play Therapy with Tweens & Teens
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Presented by Clair Mellenthin, PhD, LCSW, RPT-S
Enhance your play therapy practice by learning how to blend expressive arts and play therapy! By doing so, an atmosphere of safety, nonjudgement, compassion, and freedom is created in the playroom to express one’s self and give words to the unspeakable. Expressive Arts have long been heralded in psychotherapy for their healing powers, making this a perfect companion to play therapy.
We will be learning how to use Expressive Arts with tweens and teens to address attachment issues, trauma, self-esteem, and empathy development. You will leave this workshop with a toolbox of play therapy interventions, hands on experiential training in expressive arts, and a powerful understanding of the complimentary powers of healing play therapy and expressive arts bring to your clinical work!
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe at least two theoretical foundations supporting the integration of expressive arts and play therapy with tweens and teens
- Identify and explain two evidence-based play therapy interventions appropriate for addressing attachment disruption and trauma
- Demonstrate two expressive arts techniques that can be ethically and developmentally adapted for use with adolescents in clinical settings
- Analyze how a blended expressive arts and play therapy approach supports trauma processing, emotional regulation, and self-esteem development.
- Apply one integrative intervention strategy to a clinical case vignette involving attachment-related concerns
- Evaluate ethical and cultural considerations when incorporating expressive arts modalities into play therapy practice
Dr. Clair Mellenthinis an internationally recognized speaker, award-winning author, and a distinguished Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. She is the visionary behind Attachment Centered Play Therapy, a transformative approach that enhances the therapeutic attachment repair experience for children, teens, and their families.
With a rich career dedicated to play therapy, Clair shares her expertise both nationally and internationally, captivating audiences with her insights into professional play therapy and family therapy. As the Past President of the Utah Association for Play Therapy, she has played a pivotal role in advancing the field. Dr. Mellenthin is the author of several influential books, including Attachment Centered Play Therapy, Play Therapy: Engaging & Powerful Techniques for the Treatment of Childhood Disorders, and co-editor of Trauma Impacts: Individual and Collective Repercussions of Trauma.
In addition to her books, she has contributed numerous chapters and articles to the field, further solidifying her reputation as a leading voice in the fields of play therapy, attachment, and trauma work. As sought-after media expert, Clair frequently appears on local and national television and radio, sharing her knowledge on children and family issues. Her passion for helping others shines through every aspect of her work.
What Direction Should I Take? Decision-Making in Play Therapy Using the Play Therapy Dimensions Model Diagram: Deepen your Case Conceptualization Skills!
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Presented by Lorri Yasenik Ph.D., RPT-S, CPT-S
The Play Therapy Dimensions Model has no borders. It invites play therapists trained from a variety of theoretical perspectives to gather at the same table. Imagine what is laid before you – dozens of play therapy approaches, an endless variety of uniquely presenting children, a multitude of parent styles each intersecting with complex systems. What, Where, When Why and How do you engage with all the moving parts when conceptualizing the play therapy process?
Play Therapists and Play Therapy Supervisors will examine how the Play Therapy Dimensions Model® diagram can assist in deepening conceptualization skills when planning and engaging with child clients and families. Join in and examine the continuum of entry points to play therapy and consider how you begin impacts the Therapeutic Powers of Play. When might you begin more directively, even when you are primarily trained to follow the child’s lead? What does lead follow lead look like? Can you identify where a variety of PT theories are situated on the PTDM Diagram? Use the PTDM Diagram to track interventions and notice how the decision- making model can assist you to assist others.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe the two dimensions and each of the four quadrants that make up the Play Therapy Dimensions Model
- Explain Pre-imaginative Play Skills and why it is anchored at the bottom of the PTDM Diagram
- Apply the Play Therapy Dimensions Model diagram to a clinical session by tracking therapist activity with a child client
- Create a case conceptualization approach to a case using the PTDM
- List the PTDM tools designed for Play Therapy tracking and reflecting
- Describe “Use of Self” and how play therapists can track their use of self on the PTDM diagram
Dr. Lorri Yasenik is the Director of the Rocky Mountain Play Therapy Institute (RMPTI) in Canmore, Alberta Canada and the Co-director of the International Centre for Children and Family Law (ICCFL) in Australia. Lorri is a Registered and Certified Supervisor of Child Psychotherapy and Play Therapy and delivers approved play therapy training programs nationally and internationally in the areas of child and play therapy, play therapy supervision and child inclusive practice in the family law sectors.
Lorri is the co-author of the books Play Therapy Dimensions Model: A Decision-Making Guide for Integrative Play Therapists, Play Therapy Dimensions Model: New Insights for Integrative Play Therapists 3rd Edition, Turning Points in Play Therapy and the Emergence of Self: Applications of the Play Therapy Dimensions Model and Polyvagal Power in the Playroom: A Guide for Play Therapists.
Additionally, Lorri has co-authored over a dozen chapters and peer reviewed articles on the topics of play therapy, and children and family law. Lorri is an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
Into the Depths: Treating Children with Existential Anxiety using Jungian Sandplay and Play Therapy
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Presented by Lorraine Freedle, LCSW, PhD, CST-T
Children with existential anxiety have big questions about life, death, and purpose–leading to obsessive thinking and feelings of dread, isolation, and overwhelm. If left untreated, it worsens. Gifted children and those facing traumatic events, serious illness, or major life changes are particularly vulnerable to existential anxiety. Without answers, their parents also struggle.
Through Play Therapy and Jungian Sandplay children can access psychocultural and archetypal resources in the depths of their psyche to address life’s big questions. Symptoms of anxiety and trauma are expressed and reprocessed emotionally and neurobiologically–leading to functional and transformative change. In this workshop, a pediatric neuropsychologist and sandplay teacher will assess strategies for treating children with existential anxiety using Jungian Sandplay and Play Therapy. Concepts and treatment approaches will be explored through didactic and experiential learning, and illustrated in two case studies: Seven-year-old “Carter” whose anxiety is situated in the context of the high conflict divorce of his parents and the intensities associated with giftedness; and ten-year-old “Lehua” of Native Hawaiian ancestry who confronts existential anxiety in the context of historical trauma and the country’s racial and political divides during the global pandemic.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Distinguish Jungian Sandplay Therapy (sandplay) from other play therapy methods that use sand and miniatures
- Describe four symptoms associated with existential anxiety, along with the essential features, vulnerabilities and psychosocial consequences of the condition
- Define archetype (Jung) and describe three ways to activate archetypal energy in sandplay and play therapy
- Define “asynchronous development” in gifted children and how it may affect their sense of self and belonging
- Assess how myth and cultural stories emerge during play therapy and sandplay to impact psychological well-being in children, particularly during times of crisis
- Distinguish symptom reduction from transformative change in the sandplay process
Dr. Lorraine Freedleis a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist and international sandplay teacher (STA/ISST) who lectures at the crossroads of depth psychology and neuroscience. On faculty with the Trauma Research Foundation and Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM, she has published in neuropsychology, sandplay and trauma.
The author of When a Goddess Erupts: Pele in the psyche of women and producer of Fire and Sand, an award-winning documentary film; Dr. Freedle recently earned a Lifetime Achievement Award (NASW Hawaiʻi Chapter) recognizing her community service and mentorship of the next generation of psychotherapists.
She serves as past-president of Sandplay Therapists of America (STA), president-elect of the International Society for Sandplay Therapy (ISST), and Research Editor of the Journal of Sandplay Therapy. She is co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of TeamBuilders Behavioral Health in Santa Fe, NM. Her private practice is Black Sand Neuropsychology in Hilo, HI.
Play Therapy Ethics in a Changing World
Friday, June 5, 2026
Presented by Jeff Ashby, PhD, RPT-S
Ongoing clinical practice often contributes to a kind of ethical “drift”. In addition, telehealth, electronic records, artificial intelligence, social media, and other technological changes have offered new ethical challenges for play therapists. Using case examples, discussion, and lecture, participants in this workshop will consider how ethical codes are best applied to the practical world of play therapy practice. Special emphasis will be placed on developing professionals’ understanding of decision-making processes used in arriving at ethical courses of action in the context of a changing world.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify assumptions and theories behind ethical decision-making models,
- Identify and explain a practical model for ethical decision-making
- Explain how ethical decision-making models can apply to issues of informed consent in play therapy
- Explain how ethical decision-making models can apply to issues of competence in play therapy
- Explain how ethical decision-making models can apply to issues of confidentiality in play therapy
- Explain how ethical decision-making models can apply to issues of dual relationships in play therapy
Dr. Jeff Ashbyis a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services at Georgia State University, a licensed psychologist, a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology, and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.
He is the former Chair of the Ethics Committee of the International Association of Play Therapy, a current Ethics Committee Member of the Georgia Psychological Association, and has taught ethics at the graduate level for a very long time.
He lives in Atlanta with his wife Lucy and aging dog Zoey, is a mediocre but enthusiastic guitar player, and is slowly gaining competence with basic woodworking tools.
Daily Schedule
- 8 a.m. - Check-in and Walk-in registration opens
- 8:30 a.m. - Conference starts
- Noon - 1 p.m. - Lunch
- 4 p.m. - Conference ends
Continuing Education
Six (6) contact hours of CE are offered for attending the full session.
Association for Play Therapy [APT] Approved Provider 03-134
National Board of Certified Counselors [NBCC] Approved Provider 4447
Cost
- General Public: $159
- Students: $109 - Verification of student status is required
Registration to open up soon
Refund/Cancellation Policy
Registration cancellation refund requests should be submitted to the NW Center for Play Therapy Studies (NWCPTS) in writing. The registration fee, minus a $25 administrative fee, will be refunded only if the request is emailed or postmarked one full week prior to the scheduled workshop/conference.
The NWCPTS reserves the right to cancel this conference in the event of unforeseen circumstances. If this occurs, the NWCPTS will attempt to notify registrants as soon as possible prior to the conference and refund all registration, workshop, and continuing education fees. Please note, the liability of the NWCPTS is limited to refunding such fees.