Expired Climbing the Family Tree: Integrating Family into Play Therapy (12 CEUs)

BC Play Therapy Association holds workshops throughout the year to help advance the education of Play Therapy Practitioners and related professions. These usually revolve around a specialized speaker teaching a subject of importance to the advancement of play therapy as a therapeutic practice.

Presented by Mary Anne Paré, MA, RCC, CPT-S

About the Presenter

Mary Anne Pare is a child and family therapist presently working in private practice. She began her career as a child care counsellor in the 1970’s, working in residential settings with children aged six to twelve. Mary Anne was a group home parent for youth with Richmond Association for Children’s Services and a shift supervisor at the Maples’ Adolescent Treatment Centre in Burnaby, B.C.

It was while working with children who were separated from their families, both temporarily and permanently, that Mary Anne recognized the necessity of understanding family systems in order to work effectively with children and youth. Further training included Pacific Coast Family Therapy Training Institute and a Masters in Family Counselling from the Department of Education at the University of British Columbia.

Following this shift in career focus, Mary Anne worked for seven years at the PACE Program in Vancouver, which is a therapeutic and educational centre for young children and their families. Her roles included day program teacher, play therapist, family therapist, parent group facilitator and staff supervisor. This position included weekly play therapy and family therapy supervision. Mary Anne also established a part time private practice, working with children, youth, couples and families. Recognizing the value of both play therapy and family therapy, Mary Anne developed an integrated model of playing and talking with parents and young children together, which has been a special focus in her practice, as well as in training and supervision.

Mary Anne has provided supervision for individuals, dyads and groups of play therapists working in agencies and in private practice. She has presented workshops both in Canada and in the US on aspects of both play therapy and family therapy, as well as the integration of play and family therapy. As she approaches retirement, Mary Anne is especially interested in supporting therapists and counsellors to develop skills in both the theory and practice of working with children and families.

About the Workshop

Whenever a child is referred for play therapy, there is likely a family that is struggling with issues related to this referral. We enter the child’s life for a limited time and provide support but it is the caregivers that will be there in the long run. How do we respect family relationships and help deepen adults’ understanding of the child’s experience? How do we respond in a therapeutic way to address the larger systemic issues that are impacting the child? And how do we empower parents to be the best they can be in their roles? As practitioners, the better our grasp of the systemic issues, the more effective and long lasting our responses will be to the problems that the child presents.

This two day workshop offers participants an in depth view of the child’s experience through the lens of family. As well, we will be looking closely at how families work. Using experiential exercise, small group activities and video tape of case material, the goal will be for participants to leave feeling more confident and positive about integrating family into play therapy.

Learning Objectives

-to introduce principles of family systems theory to familiarize participants in the concepts of multigenerational family dynamics

-to explore the rationale and practice of including family issues and members in the therapy of children, including when this approach is counter-indicated

-to provide examples, using video and case presentations, of the role of the therapist, as well as techniques for including parents in play therapy

-to increase the level of comfort and competence of participants in addressing family-related issues that are present in children’s lives

Who Should Attend

Play therapists, family therapists, psychologists, social workers, school counsellors, and other mental health professionals working with children, adolescents and families will benefit from this training. The workshop is designed for mental health professionals who already have basic play therapy training.

Click here for a manual registration form.