PLAYTALK® Weekly Certificate Program

All Locations

Our program is offered once a month on the weekend (Friday/Saturday) in all our location sites. Class instruction takes place on Friday from 4-10 pm (with a dinner break) and on Saturday from 8:30 am to 6 pm (with lunch break and smaller morning/afternoon breaks). Later starting time on Friday allows for school based counselors to join our program with minimum time away from their buildings and students.

Clinical Practicum/supervision in completed on your own and scheduled with your assigned supervisor as best meets your schedules. Supervision /practicum time with your supervision should be done 4 hours per month to keep up with the pace of the program. Your clients will be maintained at your current employment site, though our playroom (Kansas City only) is available for use if needed. Video taping of client sessions may be needed for supervision in Practicums.

The Attachment Play Therapy practicum will be an additional weekend commitment (if part of your program) and is scheduled for a Thu-Sat.. 8:30 to 5:30 early in your program (usually in the 2nd month).

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 reach your Registration as a Play Therapist. 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, only a 4-page synthesis paper at the end of first two modules and sandtray project after sandtray class. This means very little extra time outside your class. 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

Description forthcoming.

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 is available. It is optional to all students. Graduate credit enrollment may require minimal extra work outside the class content and syllabi will be provided to graduate credit enrolled students. Please see the Q &A under “Will I Be Able to Use This for Graduate Credit?” for further details.

• 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 is called Practicum in our program due to the graduate credits that can be earned through the University of Saint Mary-Overland Park. 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 in our program to meet the face to face client supervision requirements of APT. Our office is also available for use if needed to see clients.

The Attachment Play Therapy Practicum will be an additional weekend commitment (Thu-Sat) (if part of your program).

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 supervision practicum for only $75 per credit hour. One class earns 2 graduate credit hours and Supervisor class (for RPT-S credential) earns 3 graduate credit hours.

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

When students apply for graduate credit, a syllabi will be provided that provides additional information on content and additional outside work that may be required. For example, the Theories in PT class requires students to write a 4 page Theories synthesis paper in which they evaluate the theories presented and apply the one they recognize as their theory of practice for play therapy. As another example, Sandtrays in Play Therapy class requires each student to complete a sandtray with someone, video it and present it to instructor and supervisor (if applicable). All outside work provides timelines of 2 weeks to 30 days for completion of the work depending on the class.

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!