The Play Therapy Training Institute, Inc.

Seminar #180

PLAY THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH ATTACHMENT DISRUPTION

Instructor: Risė VanFleet, Ph.D., RPT-S

Saturday January 22, 2005 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

This workshop focuses on children experiencing attachment disruptions and problems, often from abuse and trauma.  Play therapy and filial play therapy can be extremely useful in helping children work through their  abuse/trauma histories while fostering healthy attachments.  Because attachment problems are inextricably intertwined with the abuse/trauma that caused them, they respond best to treatments that work on the attachment and the abuse simultaneously, yet remain physically  and emotionally safe for the child.  Participants will learn a comprehensive treatment approach with play therapy and filial therapy as the centerpiece.  Lecture, demonstrations, case studies, and small group practice will help participants learn to apply evidence-based approaches to adoptive, foster, and biological families.  A familiarity with nondirective and directive play therapy as well as filial play therapy will aid in understanding of this workshop.

Course Objectives

1. Identify the myths surrounding the use of play therapy for this population
2. Describe why it's important to work the trauma and attachment aspects 
simultaneously.
3. Identify key play therapy and non-play therapy methods important in 
working with this population.
4. Decide when to use various directive, nondirective, and family play 
therapy methods.
5. Identify the unique role of Filial Therapy within a comprehensive 
treatment plan in creating a therapeutic community around the child.

INSTRUCTOR: Risė VanFleet, Ph.D., RPT-S, is a licensed psychologist and is the founder and Director of the Family Enhancement and Play Therapy Center, a clinic and training center located in Boiling Springs, PA.  She is Past President/Board Chair of the Association for Play Therapy and is the author of Filial Therapy: Strengthening Parent-Child Relationships through Play, A Parent’s Handbook for Filial Play Therapy, and coeditor of Casebook of Filial Therapy.