One Weekend a Month: Friday and Saturday for 10 months

Our intensive program meets once a month on Friday evening (4-10 pm) and Saturday (8:30-6:30) for 10 months. This schedule includes dinner provided on Friday evening and one hour of breaks/lunch on Saturday with some snacks and refreshments provided. This includes all 150 hours of instruction required by APT for those pursuing RPT/S credentials.

Play therapy supervision in our program is provided strictly with Registered Play Therapy Supervisors. Our certificate program students meet with supervisors at the convenience of your schedule in group and individual supervision formats and full program students receive 34 hours of play therapy supervision for the 335 play therapy hours needed to pursue RPT credentials with APT.

Your clients will be maintained at your current employment site, though our playroom is available for use if needed. Video taping of client sessions may be needed for supervision requirements.

We will design an individualized program that meets your needs, takes into account any training you have already completed, includes play therapy supervision if needed… whatever components you need to pursue your Registration as a Play Therapist. No need to repeat or pay for training and supervision already done.

Option 2: PLAYTALK® Distance Intensive Program

Wichita, St. Louis, Omaha, NW Arkansas

Our Distance program meets one weekend a month (Friday and Saturday) for 10 months.
Class instruction takes place each day from 4-10 pm (Friday) and 8:30-6:30 Saturday. Friday dinner is provided and Saturday students receive an hour of break/lunch time on their own. Snacks and refreshments are often provided on Saturdays.

Clinical play therapy supervision is scheduled with local RPT-Supervisors at the convenience of your schedule. Play therapy supervision may be done in group and individual formats. Your clients will be maintained at your current employment site. Video taping of client sessions may be needed for play therapy supervision.

We will design an individualized program that meets your needs, takes into account any training you have already completed, includes play therapy supervision if needed… whatever components you need to pursue your certificate in play therapy or pursue meeting some requirements for the RPT credential. No need to repeat or pay for training and supervision already done.

Our programs provide a short-term completion plan for busy professionals. And because we understand you have work, family and life to keep you busy, our program is simple with little work…no books to read, no projects to complete. One class, Sandtrays in Play Therapy, requires a sandtray project outside of class following the class and provides 30 days for its completion and review with play therapy supervisor or instructor. (Students taking graduate credit will have some additional work).

Our instruction format includes lecture, hands on experiential techniques/practice, video and live demonstration in class. We provide a fun, relaxed, but professional atmosphere to learn. Our instructors teach our classes, not you! No student presentations are required in our program. You will learn from the expertise and experience of our clinically experienced instructors and supervisors.

Our clinically experienced instructors teach the classes providing the wealth of experience and knowledge they have gained in the over 80 years combined experience they have. We limit our classes to 10 -15 students each so you can get the individualized attention you deserve. Our instructors include licensed professional counselors, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage & family therapists, registered play therapist supervisors, certified drug/alcohol counselors, and nationally certified counselors among others. Guest instructors may also be utilized in certain modules to enhance the learning experience.

Fundamentals of Play Therapy

This workshop will focus on covering a general and wide look at play therapy. This will be a very basic introduction and include looking at how play therapy developed as a field. Topics to be included: theories of play therapy, play therapy processes/stages, basic toys, symbolic meaning of toys, play therapy techniques, areas of application for play therapy. Themes in play therapy and therapeutic responses in play therapy will also be overviewed with case application. Some hands on techniques will be taught and video sessions will be shared. Come prepared to have fun and learn!

Theories of Play Therapy

This course covers the major theories of play therapy and teaches practical applicaton of each theory through teaching techniques and/or showing video sessions for theories. Emphasis of each participant determining their own play therapy approach is encouraged. Some of the theories covered include: Client-centered, Adlerian, Relationship PT, Developmental PT, Jungian PT, Release PT, Experiential PT, Filial PT.

Special Topics in Play Therapy I: Attachment and Parents

This course is designed to provide the student with practical introduction to special areas of treatment with play therapy including: working with parents, Neurosequential theory (Perry) with play therapy overview, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy(Dan Hughes) with play therapy, filial models overview and attachment treatment play therapy theory with overview of various attachment treatment approaches which utilize play therapy principles, history and development.

Special Topics in Play Therapy II: Adults and/or Autism

This training focuses on how to incorporate play therapy into use with adult clients. Topics to be covered: overcoming resistance with adults in play therapy treatment, how to introduce play therapy to adults and play therapy techniques to use. The second special topic will be the use of play therapy with clients in the autism spectrum. Issue of using play therapy, advocating for use of play therapy and play therapy techniques for use with autism will be taught.

Infant, Toddler and Neurosensory Play Therapy

This course will evaluate many factors that affect development with infants/toddlers and the play therapy to be used with this age group. Neurosensory development and play therapy planning will be overviewed and sensory based play therapy will be taught. Experiential learning with sensory based methods will be practiced.

Sandtrays in Play Therapy

We will start with beginning concepts, set up, supplies, themes and history of sandtray use. Also to be covered will be developmental issues, gender issues and treatment populations that affect the process and outcomes of sandtray work. Exploration of trauma and life events effects will also be explored. Participants will learn a variety of techniques in using sandtray work in play therapy, useful in any type of therapeutic setting. Also will discuss group sandtray methods/practices and family sandtray. Participants will create one or more individual sandtrays during the workshop and one group sandtray.

Family Play Therapy

This course will lay a foundation of how to incorporate family therapy intertwined with play therapy. Foundations of client centered play therapy will be overviewed as they apply to Filial Play Therapy models. Child Parent Relationship Play Therapy model will be taught. Directive Play Therapy techniques will be learned experientially by participants and case application examples used for teaching.

Assessment, Treatment Planning & Grief Work with Play Therapy

This class will start with foundational guidelines of using play therapy for assessment and key facets to effective assesment. It will also teach play therapy assessment techniques. Application will be made to treatment planning with play therapy by utilizing a case study, treatment planning guidelines and putting together a plan based on the case study. Grief assessment and treatment methods will also be taught.

Specialized Applications with Play Therapy

This class will take a look at two special types of play therapy populations: adolescents and groups. One day will be spent on each discussing special considerations for working with each population as well as learning a variety of play therapy techniques for use with both adolescents and different types of groups.

Play Therapy with Abuse & Trauma

In this class special issues for working with abuse and trauma victims will be overviewed. Play Therapy theory and approaches for working with trauma will be outlined and specific play therapy techniques to use with various types of trauma and abuse will be taught through video sessions, experiential learning methods.

Supervision Tract: Additional tuition class to become an RPT-Supervisor (24 hrs)

Crucial C’s Of Supervision: Critical, Creative, Clinical

Supervising Play Therapists

Meets the new supervision criteria for APT. This training covers the crucial C’s of supervision: critical, creative and clinical issues. Topics to be covered: legal and ethical issues related to supervision of play therapists, theories of supervision and their application; creative methods and techniques of supervision and clinical issues encountered in supervising play therapists. A very popular, yet thorough training for anyone who wants to supervise! This training not open to students.

• Graduate credit fees will be in addition to the full program tuition fees.
• Graduate credit hours will cost $75 per hour and there will be a one time $10 application fee to the University of Saint Mary.
• Graduate credit hours are optional for each student.

Clinical Play Therapy Supervision that meets APT requirements for pursuing the RPT credential is available. Client contact hours for supervision are done with your own clients at your own job and then cases reviewed with your play therapy supervisor. KC Play Therapy also provides video camera equipment for students in our program to video their sessions for review with the supervisor.

If you are unable to video your clients, we provide opportunities to network with community agencies in “practicum style” internships to meet to meet the face to face client supervision requirements. We have office space available for use if needed to see clients.

If you want or need graduate credit hours for your program, we have a cooperative agreement with University of St. Mary in Overland Park that earns you 1 credit hour per class or practicum for only $75 per credit hour.

A total of 13 hours for the regular program is available with an additional 3 hrs for Supervisor tract.

Graduate credit fees will be in addition to the full program tuition fees.

Graduate credit hours will cost $75 per hour and here will be a one time $10 application fee to the University of Saint Mary.

Graduate credit hours are optional for each student.

1FREE TRAININGS: Students enrolled in our full program (meaning all classes AND supervision) may attend any other KC Play therapy regular* training for FREE during the course of their enrollment…an added bonus. *(does not include special speakers or Theraplay® 4 day certification trainings)

2ASSISTANCE WITH APT APPLICATION: On graduation day we provide a 1.5 hour tutorial step by step and assist students in completing the APT application. By the end of this tutorial, most students have the application completed and ready to mail in!

3POST PROGRAM DISCOUNTED TRAINING RATES: Program graduates will receive continued discounted rates for continuing education regular workshops through KC Play Therapy after graduation. Additionally, KC Play (and sometimes partnered with other agencies) will offer special trainings that are open only to our alumni and students at special rates. For example, summer 2010 a special reduced rate EMDR Level one training was offered to KC Play students, alumni along with an area partner agency staff.

4SPECIAL ALUMNI FREE EVENTS:

Several times a year we provide alumni only events that allow our alumni to network, catch up and obtain a few hours of FREE CE training to maintain their RPT/S credentials.

5JOB CONNECTIONS: KC Play alumni are sought after by agencies, schools and private practitioners for job placement. Due to our excellent reputation, agencies and schools often contact us first to notify us of jobs and attempt to locate qualified alumni from our program. We send this information out to our alumni to expedite your job search.

6SOCIAL NETWORKING: KC Play Therapy maintains a Facebook page for program students and alumni only. You can keep in touch, ask play therapy questions, post important information…and all for our program attendees only!