Workshop Description for Day 1 – Healing Medical Trauma in Play Therapy:

Medical trauma is a prevalent experience for many children who have undergone medical procedures or experienced chronic and acute conditions, yet is often not included in trauma discussions. Learn how to use play to help children integrate their medical experiences.

According to the National Child Trauma Stress Network, up to 80% of children who undergo medical procedures experience some form of traumatic stress, and 20-30% of parents and 15% of children experience chronic stress from medical procedures.  Without knowing what medical trauma is and how the symptoms manifest, we can inadvertently miss signs that the child has experienced a medical trauma or jump to conclusions regarding the child’s behaviors and play.  In this 6-hour workshop, you will explore medical trauma from the perspective of neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology while drawing from Gestalt, Synergetic, and Nature Based Play principles and theories.  Using creative play-based ways to support children and their family’s healing process, participants will learn how to create emotional and relational safety for trauma integration.  You will learn what it means to become a child’s external regulator to help integrate the activation in a child’s nervous system while safely allowing the child to access the stored trauma in their body from the trauma.  Participants will also explore the symptoms often associated with medical trauma as the symptoms can often be confused with sexual or sensory trauma.  Whether the child has experienced a single incident of trauma or is struggling with a chronic illness, participants will learn what it really takes to integrate their experiences.  As children are not the only ones affected by medical trauma, care for their caregivers will also be addressed, as well as an exploration of creative play-based ways to help the entire family system heal.  

As this is a special populations workshop, it is important that participants already have a solid foundation in play therapy skills and experience.   This workshop is thus geared towards an intermediate level.

This workshop helps participants gain a deeper understanding of the diverse impacts of childhood trauma, specifically medical trauma and its impact on the play therapy process.  As you learn about medical trauma, you will also be better able to create treatment goals, understand possible interventions and design a treatment process that is more congruent for the child and their family.

This presentation will primarily focus on the Therapeutic Powers of Play directly related to Fostering Emotional Wellness and Facilitating Communication as these are important focus areas in the healing of medical trauma.  These specific therapeutic powers will be addressed throughout the presentation • Catharsis • Abreaction • Counterconditioning fears • Stress inoculation • Stress management • Self expression • Direct teaching • Indirect teaching

Learning Objectives for Day 1:

• Explain some of the similarities and differences between the role of a play therapist and the role of a child life specialist in a medical setting.
• Describe the connection between a child’s nervous system activation and the symptoms displayed in and out of the play room
• List at least 4 creative play interventions to help children heal from medical trauma.
• Describe what it means to become a child’s external regulator in a play therapy session for trauma integration.
• List the 4 threats that need to be addressed for a child to feel safe in a play therapy session allowing for trauma integration.
• Describe common traumatic stress reactions related to Medical Interventions and Procedures.

Workshop Description for Day 2 – Playing Perfectly: A Play Therapist’s Guide for Working with OCD in Play Therapy:

From perfectionism to anxiety to self doubt, the world of a child struggling with OCD can be incredibly overwhelming. Come explore how to support these children in play therapy and discover how their need for perfection is in fact perfect.

Supporting a child struggling with obsessive compulsions and perfectionism can be incredibly challenging as the desire to move the child out of their rigidity and rituals can overshadow the deeper issues and stressors driving the behaviors.  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a complex disorder as the reasons behind the behaviors vary from managing anxiety to past traumas to focused energy inside of a child driving them towards their genius and that which is most meaningful.  Due to the complexity, therapists often mis-label, mis-understand and mis-guide these children in how to work with and understand their rituals and need for perfectionism.  Without an understanding of this disorder and how play therapy is able to support the integration of the underlying drivers of the behaviors, you can inadvertently intensify the inner struggle that is often experienced by these children as they attempt to stop, control, and even deny the urges in their bodies.   

Drawing from Gestalt, Cognitive Behavioral, and Synergetic Play Therapy theories, this workshop is filled with non-directive and directive play based interventions to help support you on a path to understanding the perfection in these children’s perfection, while teaching the child how to do the same.  You will take a deeper look at the regulatory function of the child’s behaviors that manage the internal conflicts and anxieties these children often carry.  Through discussion and experiential exercises, you will learn how to separate the underlying drivers from the wisdom of the rituals themselves.  With this knowledge, you will learn how to use themselves and many forms of play to help these children access an understanding of the greatest perfection that exists, the child just as they are.

Learning Objectives for Day 2:

• Identify at least 3 OCD themes and examples of their obsessions/compulsions to better understand a child’s symptoms in a play therapy process.
• Discuss the importance of the your role as the child’s external regulator in treating OCD during a play therapy session.
• Explore Synergetic Play Therapy’s concept of “The Set Up/The Offering” with OCD in the playroom.
• Explore how play therapy can help a child with OCD learn how to regulate through their anxiety.
• Name at least 3 ideas to help treat OCD in a play therapy process.
• Discuss the importance of working with the entire family system in play therapy when a child is struggling with OCD.

About the Presenter:

Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S, is an innovative and inspiring teacher and pioneer in play therapy. She founded and is the President of the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute and the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy®, a cutting-edge model of play therapy that bridges the gap between neuroscience and psychology. Lisa teaches and supervises all over the world, helping transform the lives of thousands of therapists and children. Lisa has an amazing podcast, a helpful blog, and authored a wonderful book called “Aggression in Play Therapy.” She also provides business and personal coaching. To learn more, visit: https://lisa-dion.com/

Who May Benefit from Attending:

Play therapists, children’s counsellors, family therapists, family counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, school counsellors, and other mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families will benefit from this training. A basic understanding of play therapy would be beneficial.

Important Information About the Venue:

Please see the below UBC COVID-19 protocols before deciding if you will be able to attend this event in person. UBC COVID-19 Campus Rules apply to all persons at UBC Robson Square. These protocols confirm expectations of all members of the campus community, including:

• Daily Health Self-Assessments – required of everyone prior to attending an event. The self-assessment tool can be found at https://bc.thrive.health/
• Stay home if you are sick: If you feel sick stay home, use the BC’s COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool for guidance. Follow the advice from Public Health.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the COVID-19 protocols at UBC, click here.

Schedule:

CANCELLATION POLICY:

1. To cancel your registration, please send us a cancellation notice via email at [email protected] no later than 2 weeks before the start of an event for a full refund less a $25.00 cancellation fee. No refund is issued if you cancel your registration within 2 weeks of the event.
2. Please note that all payments received and/or processed on workshop day will be processed at manual registration rates.
3. If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact us at info@bcplaytherapy.ca.

Should you have any questions about this workshop, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@bcplaytherapy.ca

APT Approved Provider 95-019 – BCPTA is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to provide continuing education specific to play therapy.
CAPT Approved Provider 09-103 – BCPTA is approved by the Canadian Association for Play Therapy to provide foundation training and continuing education training specific to child and play therapy. This training cannot be used for Foundation Play Therapy Training towards Certification with CAPT as a Certified Play Therapist (CPT).