Description
Interactive day of case examples, videos and hands-on techniques
Rebuild trust in parent-child relationship
Clair Mellenthin – The Power of Play: Proven Strategies for Trauma and Attachment in Children & Adolescents
Create developmentally appropriate trauma narratives
Tools to decrease nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts
Play Therapy is a powerful tool for children who’ve experienced trauma. It is a safe space where they can feel in control, learn how to identify and manage distressing symptoms and give language to what they are feeling within their body and mind.
In this innovative workshop, we will explore how trauma impacts the brain, the resulting impact on the parent-child relationship, as well as how to effectively treat and resolve trauma symptoms utilizing attachment-centered play therapy techniques.
By giving children opportunities to work in a child-centered setting, you will observe and document how children:
Utilize gradual exposure
Regulate affect
Gain knowledge of their traumatic experiences
Manage their experiences that can feel overwhelming or frightening
This trauma-anchored model teaches you powerful play therapy interventions. It deepens metaphor work by amplifying the child’s ability to explore the material they externalize, and provides the child with a safe, predictable environment for processing interpersonal trauma. You will learn theory and techniques that values children’s pacing, respects defensive strategies, and seeks to help children build alternative skills to cope with difficult thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Handouts
Manual (1.12 MB) 44 Pages Available after Purchase Instructions for ASHA Credit – SELF STUDY ONLY – 01/26/17 (0.03 MB) Available after Purchase ASHA Participant Form – SELF STUDY ONLY – 01/26/17 (1.54 MB) Available after Purchase
Outline
Framework of Attachment Theory
Rethinking the Attachment Spectrum
4 Key concepts of Attachment Theory
Creating safety in parent-child relationship
The Brain–Behavior Relationship
Parts of the brain affected by trauma
Regulatory processing and Executive functioning
Impact on right brain and its behavioral consequence
Warning signs of trauma
Trauma impact on the parent-child relationship
Behavior and emotional challenges
Proven Play Therapy Techniques to Strengthen Parent-Child Attachment
Decrease whining, clinging, angry, avoidant behaviors in child clients
Improve family relationships and communication skills
Rebuild trust in the parent-child relationship
Promote whole-child and whole-brain healing
Play Therapy Techniques to Treat Trauma, Utilizing Attachment-Centered Therapy
Guided Imagery to teach distress tolerance
Lemon Squeezies – Full Body Relaxation to reconnect with the body, decrease trauma symptoms
My Many Colors of Me – Increase emotional intelligence and connect feelings to words instead of acting out behaviors
Inside/Outside Box – Increase self-esteem and self-acceptance
Telling My Story – Create age-appropriate trauma narratives
Maximize the role of parents and caretakers
Create hands-on tools to decrease trauma symptoms: flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares
Faculty
Clair Mellenthin, LCSW, RPT-S
Clair Mellenthin, LCSW, RPT-S, is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and is the past president of the Utah Association for Play Therapy. Throughout her career, she has focused on providing therapy to children, teens, and their families. Clair is the director of Child and Adolescent Services at Wasatch Family Therapy. She is a sought-after supervisor, training graduate students and interns in play therapy, and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California MSW program. Clair is the author of Play Therapy: Engaging & Powerful Techniques for the Treatment of Childhood Disorders (PESI, 2018) and My Many Colors of Me Workbook. (Self-Published, 2013). In addition to being an experienced play therapist and professor, she frequently presents professional play therapy and family therapy trainings and appears on local and national TV and radio as an expert on children and family issues.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Clair Mellenthin is the clinical director at Wasatch Family Therapy. She is the author of My Many Colors of Me Workbook; she maintains intellectual property rights and receives royalties. Ms. Mellenthin receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Clair Mellenthin is the president of the Utah Association for Play Therapy.
