The New England Association for Play Therapy and the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy are pleased to offer two days of summer workshops!

Add Play to your work...

Thursday, June 9th and Friday, June 10th

Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center

1657 Worcester Road

Framingham, MA

To reserve your room call 508-879-7200

When reserving your room, ask for the New England Association for Play Therapy rate of $109 including buffet breakfast or $95 not including breakfast. 

June 9, 2011

Group Play Therapy 

 Presented by: Wendy Monahan, M.S., RPT-S 

Groups! Groups! Groups!

The Fear!  The Passion!  The Mess!

Play Therapy that will invigorate and inspire group work!

This play therapy workshop offers a look at family and group therapy.  This experiential and didactic workshop addresses the adventures and excitement of running small play-based counseling groups in both a school and clinic setting.  Participants will look at group structures, themes, guidelines and therapeutic activities that help children grow and keep them coming back for more.  Therapeutic factors of Play Therapy will be covered as well as how each activity embraces these factors.  Participants will learn about a wide range of treatment modalities and techniques for use with a variety of populations.  We will also talk about the nuts-and-bolts of communicating play therapy sessions to families, school personnel, insurance companies, and other practitioners.  Some play therapy materials will be provided as well as lots of practical and fun ideas for school, community and family settings across all developmental levels.  Come and learn to embrace the process and love groups!

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn the curative factors of play therapy and how they benefit group work.
2. Participants will learn and practice group play therapy techniques.
3. Participants will learn structures that support a healthy group process.
4. Participants will learn therapeutic techniques for processing in a group setting.

Biography - Wendy Monahan, M.S., School Counselor at Stowe Elementary School, and Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor (RPT - S).  Her 15 years of experience includes counseling children in the school setting individually and in small groups.  In October 2008, Wendy was the honored recipient of the James F. Cawley Award for "Outstanding School Counselor of the Year" by the Vermont School Counselor Association.  She has taught play therapy at the graduate level, provided numerous play therapy trainings, supervised practicing clinicians and was the President of the Vermont School Counselor Association.  Her specialty is adapting play therapy techniques to fit the unique challenges of school schedules, groupings and setting.  Please visit her website at www.playtherapyvt.org

June 10, 2011

Creative Family Play Therapy Techniques

Presented by: Liana Lowenstein, MSW, RSW, CPT-S

Children are often excluded from family therapy because many practitioners are at a loss of how to effectively engage them. The use of creative activities in family therapy such as games, art, puppets, and storytelling, facilitates the participation of all family members.  Play and expressive arts techniques, in particular, offer an advantage over traditional “talk therapy” because children are provided with a more developmentally appropriate means to communicate. Additionally, play and arts activities facilitate family relatedness.

Through this dynamic workshop, participants will learn a number of innovative techniques to engage, assess, and treat families. The advantages of using creative techniques with families will be outlined, and tips for overcoming challenges will be discussed. Videos and live demonstrations will be used to illustrate techniques.

Learning Objectives: Following the workshop, participants should be able to: 

1. List three benefits to using play, art and other expressive techniques in family therapy.
2. Describe three common challenges in family therapy and identify strategies to overcome these challenges.
3. Utilize many new and creative techniques in therapy sessions with families.

Biography - Liana Lowenstein, MSW, is an author, sought-after speaker and practitioner with over 20 years of specialized work with children, adolescents and their families.  She provides clinical supervision to mental health practitioners and consults to several mental health agencies.  She has a reputation as a dynamic workshop leader and has presented trainings across North America and abroad.  She is founder of Champion Press Publishing Company and has authored numerouse publications including the highly-acclaimed books Paper Dolls & Paper Airplanes: Therapeutic Exercises for Sexually Traumatized Children (with Crisci & Lay), Creative Interventions for Children of Divorce, and Creative Interventions for Bereaved Children.  She has edited the books Assessment and Treatment Activities for Children, Adolescents, and Families: Practitioners Share Their Most Effective Techniques (Volumes I & II) and Creative Family Therapy Techniques.  She has also edited an eBook called Favorite Therapeutic Activities for Children and Teens: Practitioners Share Their Most Effective Techniques, which is available for free on her web site www.lianalowenstein.com

Up to 12 CEU's pending for SW, MFT, LMHC (6 per day) more information to follow...