Description:
OPD Points: 12
If you work with children, Play Therapy is a powerful, evidence-based approach that get results – especially if you work with ADHD, Autism, challenging behaviours, or trauma, this two-day intensive retreat with Anna Clarke, APPTA registered Play Therapist will transform your work.
You’ll learn effective, powerful, evidence-based play therapy interventions including guided imagery, expressive arts, sand tray play and more…
Anna will personally coach you with role-plays, practice sessions, and skills building. She will also share her experience on what play toys and gadgets are most useful and where to get them without blowing your budget.
Whether you’ve been practicing play therapy for years, or you’re looking to get started, this retreat will fill your clinical toolbox with fresh interventions and give you the confidence you need to use play in even your most challenging sessions.
At this immersive 2 day Play Therapy Retreat, you’ll discover how to:
- work with a neurodivergent friendly focus for ADHD and Autism
- effortlessly create safety and trust with young clients
- strengthen parent-child relationships
- understand the most intense behaviours and recognize what young clients are really saying
- apply developmentally appropriate techniques to help children resolve their core emotional struggles
- improve overall self-esteem and confidence – giving the child tools to control their challenging behaviours
- help to heal the family system
…So, that no matter your clinical background, you’ll finish the program feeling confident and prepared to apply these gentle and very effective interventions with your young clients right away.
Register today for this hands on event to explore the power of play therapy where you will learn to use new tools, techniques and skills and how to incorporate these strategies into your work with young clients and their families!
This experiential retreat at the stunning Quarantine Station Hotel, at North Head, Sydney, has a limited capacity and is only available to few clinicians. Our retreats fill up quickly, so register now to secure your spot and transform your therapy work with children.
Day 1 – 8th May, 2025
- Understanding Therapy Works
- Get grounded in the ‘what’ and ‘why’ (theories) of play therapy
- See how play therapy accelerate and enhances therapeutic outcomes with young clients
- Dive into the ethics of play therapy for safety and confidence
- Know the important legal stuff for this work in Australia
- Become certain about appropriate boundaries in your play therapy practice
- Building a Strong Therapeutic Alliance with Young Clients
- Learn new rapport-building activities that engage children
- Unpack the most useful skills for creating a strong foundation for therapeutic play
- How to skillfully engage when a young client won’t engage
- Adapting Your Practice to the Needs of Young Clients
- The key differences between working with young clients and adults
- Setting realistic goals for each developmental stage
- How to choose developmentally appropriate interventions for each child’s needs
- Effective, child-centred communication strategies that foster trust and understanding
- Considerations for adapting Play Therapy to Telehealth
- The key differences between working with young clients and adults
- The 4 Essential Play Therapy Skills
- Empathic connection for emotional regulation
- Mirroring for age-appropriate communication
- Limit setting to ensure safety
- Pacing and how to start and end play therapy sessions
- Key Emotional Expression Skills for Young Clients
- How to build emotional literacy with play therapy
- How to help young clients name and express their emotions in developmentally appropriate ways
- Setting Boundaries and Limits
- Techniques for setting clear boundaries and limits within play therapy sessions
- Hands-on exercises in limit-setting
Day 2 – 9th May, 2025
- Choosing the Right Interventions for Each Client
- Differentiate between directive and non-directive play approaches
- Case studies: When to use directive play and non-directive play in your practice
- Neurodivergent- and trauma-informed adaptations to play therapy
- Working with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
- The role of Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCES)
- The critical protective factors for supporting young clients’ wellbeing
- Healing Attachment Wounds through Play Therapy
- Interventions to promote healthy attachment behaviours between children and parents
- Using play to decrease shame
- Working with Parents and Caregivers
- Common challenges for working with parents and caregivers
- Explaining expected benefits for children and key therapeutic principles to families and caregivers
- How to engage parents and caregivers inside and outside the therapy room
- Using Play Therapy for Each Developmental Stage
- Practice techniques for identifying therapeutic themes
- How to ensure therapeutic goals are aligned with the child’s developmental needs
Tucked away inside a stunning national park, the historic Quarantine Station hotel offers spectacular views of Sydney Harbor, delicious food, a private swimming beach, and luxurious accommodations. Spend two days immersed in a secluded refuge at this boutique hotel.
Enjoy the beautiful surroundings and amenities, including direct access to Sydney Harbor National Park and professionally guided tours of this fascinating historic site, included in your registration fees. Whether you’re relaxing among native wildflowers or exploring Manly’s hidden coves and beaches by kayak, you’re sure to enjoy every aspect of your stay here.
You’ll have plenty of time to hone your clinical skills, and you’ll also have time to unwind, rejuvenate, and connect with yourself and your community of colleagues… all at this remarkable place.
Key Learning Objectives / Outcomes:
BONUS!
Take your skills further with this complimentary bonus package. Register for the retreat today to lock in this special offer.
Bonus 1: Integrating IFS Skills and Synergetic Play Therapy
Includes 1.25 CPD Hours A $69 Value – Yours FREE Take your Play Therapy interventions further with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy.
In this focused workshop, you’ll discover how to skillfully apply practical, age-appropriate interventions for young clients from both Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Synergestic Play Therapy.
Find out how these two popular modalities complement each other in child and family therapy and finish the workshop with: Powerful techniques for establishing safety and rapport with young clients Developmentally appropriate tools to apply parts work successfully with young clients including sand play, toys, art and talk- based therapies Key skills for attuning to your own parts and ways of tracking and tending to parts that become activated both in and outside of sessions.
Bonus 2: Art Therapy for Children and Adolescents
Including art in existing assessment & treatment approaches Includes 6 CPD Hours A $249 Value – Yours FREE Discover how to use Art Therapy to help your clients process childhood life experiences, communicate ideas, fantasies, and beliefs in this comprehensive program.
Art Therapy is a practical, developmentally appropriate way to engage young clients in the process of play and explore emotional and behavioural issues as they arise. In this training, you’ll learn how Art Therapy interventions can also reveal impasses, blocks, and disturbances in thinking and feeling as difficult issues start to surface in the therapeutic process.
In this bonus program, you’ll discover how to:
- Tailor Art Therapy interventions to each young client’s specific needs and context
- Process symbolic messages with different age groups
- Enhance therapeutic skills in non-verbal assessment and intervention
- Apply alternative communication techniques when working with children and young people Understand ethical and legality issues regarding the art made in therapeutic settings
Assessment:
Presenter / Provider:
Anna Clarke
Presenter Qualifications:
Psychologist, APPTA Registered Play Therapist & EMDRAA Accredited Practitioner & Consultant
Anna Clarke is a Psychologist and Registered APPTA Play Therapist with a passion for supporting children and young people. With a background in Out of Home Care, they are passionate about the transformative powers of play in building healthier relationships and supporting emotion regulation. Anna holds a Master in Child Play Therapy and collaborates with parents, carers, schools, and stakeholders to provide collaborative care. They are passionate about early intervention, approaching behaviours through a trauma-informed and Neurodiversity-Affirming lens.
Anna actively advocates for Neurodiversity-Affirming approaches to therapy. Anna is also experienced working with survivors of sexual assault and family violence. They are currently part of the Witness Intermediary Pilot Scheme within the Tasmanian Department of Justice, where they conduct communication assessments during police interviews and court proceedings.
Anna is an EMDRAA Accredited Consultant and has undertaken advanced training in EMDR Therapy. Anna is an active member of the Australian EMDR Therapy community, contributing through collaborative research, facilitating a Neurodiversity-Affirming EMDR Peer Group, and providing support for therapists wishing to integrate Neurodiversity-Affirming practise into EMDR Therapy.
As Co-Director of Divergent Futures, they offer education, training, and consulting in Neurodiversity-Affirming practice. Anna is an experienced public speaker, addressing topics such as violent behaviours, trauma-informed care, managing power imbalances in therapy, and strengths-based treatment for eating disorders.
Outside of their professional pursuits, Anna enjoys hiking in the Tasmanian bush, reading, boxing, and art.
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Registration Instructions:
This week only! Save up to $200 with Early Registration Non Residential: Regular price: $849 – Early Registration is $749 Save ($418.95 with Early Registration) Residential: Regular price: $1,799 – Early Registration is $1,599 (Save $517.95 with Early Registration) CANCELATION POLICY: 100% cancel refund will be allowed up until 60 days in advance. 50% refund up until 45 days from the training day. Early Registration is about to close — act now to lock in your savings!
