Please Don't Leave Me: Supporting Separation Anxiety with CCPT

"Please Don’t Leave Me!" Supporting Separation Anxiety through Child-Centered Play Therapy

Each school year, play therapists observe a predictable rise in separation anxiety symptoms, both developmentally typical and clinically significant. This training provides an in-depth clinical exploration of how separation anxiety presents in children and how it is expressed both inside and outside of the playroom.

Grounded in Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT), this training will help therapists understand separation anxiety as a developmental expression of a child’s uncertainty in their own internal sense of safety and capability. Participants will learn to recognize the underlying needs these children are communicating, identify thematic play expressions of anxiety, and respond with developmentally attuned, child-centered reflections.

Additionally, this course will offer practical tools to support collaboration with caregivers and educators. Therapists will learn how to communicate clinical insights in accessible ways and coach adults in play-based techniques that reinforce therapeutic progress in the home and school environments.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

1. Differentiate between developmentally normative separation anxiety and clinically significant symptoms, and describe how each may manifest in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic settings.
2. Explain how core skills of Child-Centered Play Therapy promote a greater sense of capability and internal trust in children presenting with separation anxiety.
3. Generate a list of authentic CCPT responses—including returning responsibility statements, esteem-building language, and deeper empathic reflections—to support therapeutic progress.
4. Identify and teach at least three play therapy techniques that can be shared with caregivers and school personnel to support continuity of care for children experiencing separation anxiety.

This training meets the standards for APT "LIVE WORKSHOP" and participants will be credited (3) Non-contact CEUs following the completion of an 80% passing rate quiz and feedback survey

Cancellation Policy: All training purchases are final. Integrated Play Connections does not provide a 100% refund. However, if canceled at least 72 hours before the event, you may receive 50% of the non-refundable amount in the form of a discount to put towards a future Integrated Play training.

Integrated Play Connections Therapy Center, PLLC is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 24-746 Integrated Play Connections Therapy Center, PLLC. maintains responsibility for the program.

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Michelle Walker, LCSW, RPT-S holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania (2011) and a Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health from the University of Southern California (2014). She is a Registered Play Therapy Supervisor awarded by the Association for Play Therapy. Her clinical work is rooted in humanistic theory, with a focus on early childhood and elementary-aged children (ages 0–12). She specializes in Child-Centered Play Therapy and Child-Parent Relationship Therapy, providing developmentally appropriate interventions that honor each child’s innate capacity for growth and healing. She believes that, within a safe and supportive therapeutic environment and through a genuine therapeutic relationship, children are naturally inclined toward positive self-direction. Her approach supports increased self-concept, emotional awareness, regulation, and expressive emotional vocabulary. As Co-Owner of Integrated Play Connections Therapy Center, Michelle provides supervision and training for those working towards their Registered Play Therapy credential.