When Behavior Speaks: Play Therapy Interventions for Challenging Behaviors

OSSE in partnership with The Next Place Therapy Services are pleased to offer Play Therapy Interventions for Challenging Behaviors

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), in partnership with The Next Place Therapy Services are pleased to offer When Behavior Speaks: Play Therapy Interventions for Challenging Behaviors.

Challenging behaviors are often expressions of unmet needs, emotional dysregulation, trauma, or environmental stress. This 1-day experiential training helps clinicians interpret behavioral presentations through a play therapy framework and respond with developmentally attuned, evidence-informed interventions.

Participants will deepen their understanding of the emotional meaning behind aggression, defiance, withdrawal, impulsivity, and disruptive behaviors. The training integrates attachment theory, nervous system regulation, and trauma-informed care with both directive and non-directive play therapy techniques.

Through hands-on activities, structured case consultation, and intervention design, clinicians will leave with practical strategies they can immediately implement in their sessions.

During This Training, Participants Will:

• Understand how challenging behaviors communicate unmet needs through a play therapy lens.
• Identify emotional, relational, trauma-related, and neurobiological contributors to dysregulation.
• Experience regulation-based play interventions that support nervous system stabilization.
• Practice therapeutic limit-setting grounded in child-centered play therapy principles.
• Learn directive play therapy techniques for aggression, defiance, and impulsivity.

Registrants who are not eligible school-based providers will have their registrations canceled.