Playful Practice Educational Series

Event Description

This free, live virtual training is part of CAPT’s Playful Practice Education Series and is exclusively available to current CAPT members.

Presented by Stephanie Heitkemper, PhD, LPC, RPT-S, FT, this 3-hour webinar explores how Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can be integrated to support grieving elementary-aged children. Participants will gain practical, play-based techniques and trauma-informed strategies to help children process loss, restore safety, and build resilience.

You’ll leave with:

• A deeper understanding of EMDR’s eight-phase protocol adapted for children
• Three practical, play-based grief interventions
• Guided worksheets and strategies for clinical and school-based settings

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Ticket Selection Information
his event is free for members only. Please choose the ticket that matches your continuing education needs:

• Free Ticket + APT 3 CEs – Includes event access and an APT certificate.
• Free Ticket + APT 3 CEs + 1.5 EMDR CEs – Includes event access, APT certificate, and EMDR certificate. This option is only available to participants who have completed Basic EMDR Training.

Note: If you have not completed Basic EMDR Training, please select the first ticket option (APT CEs only).

Not a member yet? Join at a4pt.org to access this free event and other member benefits.

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3-hour Webinar Training

Title: Nurturing Hope & Healing: Using Play-Based Strategies and EMDR for Supporting Grieving Elementary Students

Presenter: Stephanie Heitkemper

Degree, Credentials: Doctorate in Counseling & Psychological Students, PhD, LPC, RPT-S, FT

Theroetical Basis: Child Centered Play Therapy (CCPT), and Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Workshop Level: Intermediate

Area Focus: Play THerapy Skills and Methods, Theories, and Play Therapy Special Topics

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Presenter Biography

Stephanie Heitkemper, PhD, LPC, RPT-S, FT is the owner of Resilient Minds Counseling, a practice dedicated to supporting individuals, children, and families through transitions, including grief and trauma. Stephanie integrates a variety of therapeutic approaches, including play therapy (as a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor), creative expression, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) (EMDRIA Approved Consultant), and bibliotherapy in her counseling practice, program development, and presentations.

Stephanie is an active member of her community, serving on the board of directors for the HeartLight Center (since 2017), a Denver-based grief support and education center, and Camp JoJo (since 2020), a camp dedicated to supporting teens impacted by suicide. In her personal life, Stephanie prioritizes self-care through early morning coffee, CrossFit, and exploring Colorado with her husband and their beloved boxer, Frank.

Presentation Description

An estimated 1 in 11 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before age 18, underscoring the urgent need for developmentally attuned grief support. Children often communicate their inner worlds not through words, but through play, symbolic expression, and relational connection. Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) provides a responsive, developmentally respectful, and attachment-based approach that allows children to explore loss, restore safety, and make meaning in authentic ways. This presentation examines the integration of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with CCPT to support children navigating the complexities of grief. Participants will gain an understanding of EMDR’s eight-phase protocol and learn how to adapt it for children using developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed interventions. Attendees will leave with at least three practical, play-based techniques and guided worksheets to help children externalize emotions, process grief, and rebuild stability. By blending EMDR’s structured, evidence-based framework with the creativity and flexibility of play, this approach equips clinicians to help grieving children process emotions, strengthen resilience, and discover pathways toward healing and growth.

Objectives:

1. Identify the core principles of both Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) and EMDR, including an overview of EMDR’s eight-phase protocol and how each framework supports grieving children in developmentally and relationally sensitive ways.
2. Describe how grief may emerge through play themes, emotional expression, and behavioral patterns, and identify at least three play-based interventions that complement EMDR to facilitateemotional processing, regulation, and meaning making.
3. Apply trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate strategies that integrate CCPT and EMDR to foster continued bonds, build resilience, and support children navigating the complexities of loss in clinical and community settings.

Additional Information

• No audio or videotaping is permitted.
• You must be a member before 01/15/25 to receive member rate
• *APT offers an annual membership, renewable every 12 months, and honors a dual membership system, which ensures all individuals living within a chartered branch territory are members of both APT and their respective branches.
• Join APT and the Colorado branch (CAPT) by going to http://www.a4pt.org/?page=Membership
• To receive CE credit, attendees must complete CE materials, sign in/out daily, and complete an evaluation of sessions attended.

CAPT is a chartered branch of the Association for Play Therapy. The Colorado Association for Play Therapy is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer Continuing Education

Play therapy credit is only awarded to mental health professionals

APT Approved Provider 99-049

Conference Policies

Eligibility Policy Educational Learning Seriesis open to mental health professionals or full-time graduate students in a mental health field. Although not eligible to receive continuing education credit, allied professionals (pediatricians, nurses, etc.) are welcome to attend.

CAPT has the right to refuse or cancel ineligible registrations at any time and shall not be held accountable for any outside fees associated with this cancellation. If you have any specific questions regarding your eligibility status, please contact admin@coloradoapt.org.

Cancellation Policy

• Registration cancellations through eventbrite website.
• CAPT reserves the right to cancel this conference in the event of unforeseen circumstances. If such occurs, CAPT will attempt to notify registrants at least 10 calendar days prior to the conference and refund all registration, workshop, continuing education, and tour fees. In all instances, the liability of CAPT is limited to refunding such fees.

Disclaimers

• Registration and participation in CAPT workshops and other activities constitutes an agreement by the registrant to the use and distribution (both now and in the future) of the registrant or attendee’s image or voice in photographs, videos, electronic reproductions, and audiotapes of such events and activities by CAPT.
• The Educational Learning Seriesis is sponsored by CAPT for educational purposes only. The material presented is not intended to represent the only or best approaches to the topics being discussed and participants waive any claim they may have against CAPT for assurance on information presented.

Unacceptable Behavior

Professional conduct by attendees is expected while attending the CAPT conference and during sponsored events. Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to:

• Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form.
• Physical or verbal abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, CAPT staff member, service provider, or other conference guest. Examples include, but are not limited to, verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, or threatening or stalking any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, APT staff member, service provider, or other conference guest.
• Disruption of presentations during sessions, in the exhibit hall, or at other events organized by APT at the meeting venue, or other APTcontracted facilities. •
• Presentations, postings, and messages should not contain promotional materials, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. CAPT reserves the right to remove such messages and potentially ban sources of those solicitations.
• CAPT has zero-tolerance for any form of discrimination or harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment by participants or our staff at our meetings. If you experience harassment or hear of any incidents of unacceptable behavior, CAPT asks that you inform CAPT Board members, at president@coloradoapt.org so that we may take the appropriate action. CAPT reserves the right to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the conference without warning or refund, in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior, and CAPT reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future conference.