Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

• 3 Common Mistakes Using Family Play Therapy (And What to Do Instead)

  Send us a text3 Hidden Mistakes Sabotaging Your Family Play Therapy Sessions“Let’s invite the parents in…”Sounds simple, right? But if you’ve ever had a family play therapy session dissolve into chaos—or worse, sit in painful silence—you know it’s anything but simple.Here’s the secret nobody tells you: those messy moments aren’t proof you failed. They’re actually your biggest opportunities for healing.In this week’s podcast, you’ll discover: ✨ Why treating family play therapy sessions like “individual therapy with an audience” quietly sabotages progress ✨ The real reason things get messy (hint: it’s deeper than parenting styles or planning) ✨ How to turn chaos into therapeutic breakthroughs with a clear, confidence-building play therapy frameworkStop white-knuckling your way through family sessions. Start leading them with clarity, purpose, and impact.Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work. I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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• Why Parent Updates Alone Can’t Fix Stalled Play Therapy Progress

  Send us a text🚨 The Big Miss in Traditional Play Therapy (And Why It’s Holding Back Progress)We talk a lot about helping kids heal using play therapy…But here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:Most traditional play therapy approaches treat the child like they exist in a vacuum.👀 Reality check:What kid do you know is paying their own rent, making their own dinner, and handling life without family dynamics shaping them every single day?Exactly. None.Families are the ecosystem kids live in. Every belief, every meltdown, every bedtime battle—it’s all influenced by the way their family dances together (or doesn’t).And yet… we often work with kids alone, peeking at the family system through the keyhole of second-hand parent reports.No wonder some problems keep coming back no matter how many play therapy tools we throw at them.If you’ve ever wondered – What am I missing? – when progress stalls, you need to be here.Join me for this free weekly podcast! Because it’s time to stop guessing about the family system and start seeing it for what it really is so your play therapy clients can thrive.Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work. I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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• Play Therapy with Parents | 5 Essential Tips for Family Play Therapy Sessions

  Send us a text🚨 5 Signs You Might Be Accidentally Sabotaging Your Play Therapy Progress (and What to Do Instead)If you’re a play therapist who’s tired of getting those frantic mid-week parent calls, texts, or emails saying “nothing is working”—even though you see real progress in the playroom—this week’s free livestream is for you.Here’s the hard truth: sometimes our best play therapy efforts fall flat outside our offices. Parents get frustrated.   Kids feel misunderstood. And you end up buried under play therapy session notes, parent updates with phone calls/texts/emails, and endless questions… while the transformation you know is possible never fully takes root at home or school.Leaving you feeling like you’re missing something but can’t quite figure it out.What’s a play therapist to do? In this podcast episode, we’ll unpack the 5 signs you may be sabotaging your client’s progress without even realizing it—like relying too much on parent reports, or missing the chance to see family dynamics play out in real-time. Then I’ll show you exactly what to do instead so you can stop guessing what’s happening outside the playroom and start watching your clients and their families heal right in front of you.Expect a fresh perspective, some “ouch” moments (in a good way), and practical steps to shift your sessions from just play to powerful, family-centered transformation.Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work. I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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• Is Individual Play Therapy Better Than Family Play Therapy?

  Send us a textThe norm in play therapy, and the mental health profession in general, is to meet with a child or teen every week for individual counseling sessions and meet with parents as an adjunct to treatment.This format has been around for decades and is the approach taught in most universities.  I’ve always been a believer that this isn’t the best way to help children heal.Don’t get me wrong – individual play therapy counseling is beneficial and I use it with my clients.  Individual counseling allows the ability to provide a space where children and teens can have your undivided attention and support.  Who doesn’t love that, right?!However, if play therapists only conceptualize the individual child then they miss out on influential dynamics impacting the child’s everyday life.I’m referring to conceptualizing the child within the context of their larger family system and the influence of generational family dynamics on children. (Can I hear an Amen! from my marriage & family therapy peeps?!)Family play therapy sessions allow play therapists to see in real time the relationship interaction patterns among children and their family members.  What’s the saying?   – No man is an island unto himself.We are all influenced by and influence our family members through the generations.So – which is best – individual play therapy or family play therapy?I’ll be discussing the benefits and drawbacks of individual play therapy and family play therapy.  Spoiler alert – I’m not an either-or kind of person generally speaking.  Grab your coffee, tea, or other beverage and join us for this week’s episode and share the information with your colleagues!  Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work. I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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• What to Do If Play Therapy Progress is Stalled

  Send us a textIf you’re a play therapist – either a newbie, got some experience under your belt, or full on seasoned play therapist – this is bound to happen more than once.To be honest I’ve had this happen so many times, I’ve lost count.You get frantic phone calls, emails, or texts between sessions telling you all the “bad” things your client is doing at home or school.You can hear the concern in their parents’ voices and you feel the pressure in your chest to fix it fast. You feel the weight of responsibility to fix this fast so parents and your clients get the relief they’re seeking.You wonder what’s going on and how you can make things better.You’ve got your favorite play therapy interventions, your best play therapy activities, and your clinical skills dialed in… so why isn’t your client making progress? 🤔The answer might be hiding in the family dynamics you’re not seeing. You gathered all the information at the intake appointment and parents describe what’s happening from their perspective, but you haven’t seen the dynamics in action.Getting a first hand glance at the dynamics in action can give you that missing piece to the puzzle. 🧩Learn how small shifts involving caregivers can make big breakthroughs happen.Join me for this weekly podcast! We’re going to break down the benefit of using family play therapy sessions to get the breakthroughs your clients and their parents are seeking.Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work. I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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