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.

8 Non-Contact Continuing Education Hours (NON-Contact CEs/NON-Contact CEUs)

*This online workshop will NOT be recorded*

Play Therapy for Children in the Context of High Conflict Divorce: Promoting Meaningful Therapy and Avoiding Pitfalls

Presented by Dr. Sarina Kot, Ph.D., R.Psych., RPT-S

8 NON-Contact CEs/NON-Contact CEUs

Two-Day Online Workshop

Friday March 3rd 9am – 1:30pm

& Saturday March 4th 9am – 1:30pm

A Zoom link will be emailed to you the day before the event

Workshop Description:

Play therapists are often approached by parents to help children with adjustment to parents’ divorce. There are also cases that children may be in need of therapy for their own developmental, emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues.  In the context of high conflict divorce, one parent may seek play therapy for the child while the other parent may not be ready or may be reluctant.

In this workshop, Dr. Sarina Kot will share her knowledge and experience in providing play therapy to children in the context of high conflict divorce. She will use case examples to walk the participants through the process of receiving the referral, awareness of agreements, court orders, and the Family Law Act relevant to giving consent to play therapy for the child, intake with parents, informed consent, structure of the therapy sessions, providing feedback to the parents, and payment for the play therapy services. Participants will learn about the use of directive and non-directive play therapy approaches with the children to promote their adjustment to the changes in their families.

Dr. Kot will also discuss the potential pitfalls such as parents’ or lawyers’ request for court involvement, changes in one parent’s engagement in the child’s play therapy and the implication on ongoing consent for therapy, complaints from parents, non-payment for services, etc. Awareness of these pitfalls would help play therapists be more confident in structuring their service to reduce the impact of these problems. The value of self-care and ways to access support from professional colleagues and mentors will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

1. 1. Utilize a structured way to set up play therapy for children in the context of high conflict divorce: from receiving the referral, to awareness of separation agreements, court orders, and the Family Law Act relevant to parents giving consent to play therapy for the child, intake with parents, informed consent, structure of the therapy sessions, providing feedback to parents, and payment for the play therapy services.
   2. Identify children’s common reactions to parents’ high conflict during and post separation and divorce.
   3. Describe directive approaches in play therapy to support the child client’s coping in parents’ high conflict divorce.
   4. Utilize non-directive approaches in play therapy to establish therapeutic relationship, identify play themes, and facilitate healing and growth.
   5. Structure parent-child play to enlarge the effectiveness of play therapy on the child clients.
   6. Identify and take precautions to avoid or reduce the impact of common pitfalls in providing play therapy in the context of high conflict divorce.

WHO MAY BENEFIT FROM ATTENDING:

Play therapists, children’s counsellors, family therapists, family counsellors, 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.

About the Presenter:

Dr. Sarina Kot is a Registered Psychologist and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor who specializes in working with children and their families.

Dr. Kot has been in private practice for the last 12 years. She uses play therapy to provide an opportunity for children to express their needs, gain mastery over difficulties, and try new ways of coping. She works together with parents to help them understand their child’s perceptions and meet their child’s unique needs. In her private practice, she has worked with many children in the context of adjusting to their parents’ divorce.

In addition to private practice, Dr. Kot was affiliated with BC Children’s Hospital, where she worked for 25 years as a psychologist on the multi-disciplinary team assessing children referred for abuse and neglect concerns. For more information, please visit: https://drsarinakot.com/

Schedule for the Workshop:

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).

A certificate of completion will be provided based on attendance and successful completion of a post-test and student evaluation component.