The 28th Annual Indiana Association for Play Therapy Conference

Dr. Eric J. Green Ph.D., LPC-S, RPT-​​S

June 15 & 16 2023 

Greenwood, IN

Dr.  Eric J. Green is a part-time faculty member in the psychology program  at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is the author of six recent books in play therapy as a treatment modality with children including, “The Handbook of Jungian Play Therapy.” He has been featured on CNN as an expert speaking on children’s mental health.
Dr. Green is the recipient of  multiple state and national awards in the counseling and psychology professions for his research and advocacy with traumatized children, including “School Counselor Educator of the Year” (2015) from the Indiana School  Counselor Association. Dr. Green was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD (2005-2016). He maintains a full-time, private practice in child and family psychotherapy in Lafayette, Louisiana.

 

This training is co-sponsored by the Indiana Association for Play Therapy and The Institute for Continuing Education. The program offers 13.00 contact hours, with full attendance required to be eligible for Counseling/ MFT/ Social Work CEUS through the NBCC and the Indiana Professional Licensing Board. APT Provider 98-040.

Conference Workshop Overview: 

Day 1: Jungian Play Therapy with Children and Families: Psyche at Play

This one-day workshop covers Jungian play therapy, an integrative model, which honors symbols and the healing nature of the analytic relationship.  A practical overview of the theory/techniques will be illustrated, as well as active participation in mandalas and fairytales. 

After the workshop, participants will be able to: 

  1. recall one central premise of guiding children toward an undefended heart through the analytic process of play. 
  2. identify two characteristics of play therapists needed to conduct therapy with children and families from a Jungian perspective. 
  3. articulate one aspect of the research-base supporting play therapy interventions with children from an analytical perspective. 
  4. identify the steps to facilitate two Jungian play therapy interventions: (1) mandalas and (2) fairy tales. 
  5. define ‘amplification’ within the Jungian play therapy process with families
  6. define ‘transference’ within the Jungian play therapy process with children.

Day 2: Sandplay with Complexity Traumatized Teens: Numinous Landscapes of Transformative Healing

This one-day workshop will provide an overview of sandplay therapy with complexly traumatized teens, as originated by Dora Kalff. Sandplay is the therapeutic use of sand, water, and miniatures that accesses a child’s unconscious material through the creation of sand pictures at regular intervals over time. Through this analytic play process, children’s psychological development is observable and guided by an unconscious totality toward the integration of opposites that lead to transformation. The workshop will address ‘individuation’ that naturally occurs when teens engage in the multi-sensory sandplay process with a trained therapist. The presenter will provide illustrated clinical applications of sandplay with traumatized teens and their families. Finally, participants will have opportunities to voluntarily engage in symbol activities. 

After the workshop, participants will be able to:

  1. Articulate the basic premise behind the healing power of sandplay therapy with Complexly traumatized teens.
  2. Discuss the potentially beneficial incorporation of relaxation and externalization of difficult feelings through sandplay with complexly traumatized teens
  3. Compare and contrast Margaret Lowenfeld’s “World Technique” and ‘Sand Tray’ with Dora Kalff’s ‘Sandplay’
  4. Describe Dora Kalff’s concept of the “free and protected space” in sandplay
  5. Identify appropriate therapist-led verbalizations during the process of adolescents creating sand pictures in the consulting room. 
  6. List three benefits of including parents in the sandplay process with adolescents through consultation.

Ethics training is during Lunch on June 15th

 Ethics Presenter: Heather  Maritano, LCSW, RPT-S
Ethics Training (1 CE):
Core   Values, a Compass for  Navigating Ethical Challenges
 This one-hour session will explore  the ethical dilemma underlying all  ethics: “How can static code  respond to clinical and cultural  variation”.
Examples will be given of conflicts between licensure laws and codes of ethics, as well as discuss the myriad ethical challenges given on-going changes in clinical practices both culturally and relationally.  A set of core values, principles, and behaviors will be offered as a way of navigating.
Heather Maritano, founder of Inner Resources Counseling & Training, has been supporting the growth and healing of clients, colleagues, and community for over 25 years through therapy, education, mentoring, and advocacy.  She creates soothing spaces, relationships, and experiences that invite exploration and discernment through steady presence. Heather has clinical specialties in play, sandtray, & expressive arts therapies.  She has traveled and trained throughout the world.She maintains a sense of awe, regularly practices her belief in the healing powers of play, and is particularly fond of dancing.

Recap of the 2022 Conference

The 2022 Indiana Play Therapy conference was held at Valle Vista Conference Center In Greenwood Indiana on June16 and 17. Kara Holt, Ph.D, LPC, RPT-S, CCPT-S, CPRT-S presented information on strategies and tools for effective parent consultations within the play therapy process and use of Humanistic Play Therapy to heal relational trauma and attachment. The conference also provided Ethics training by Davi Stein-Kiley, LCSW, LMFT, LCAC, RPT-S with a focus on ethical considerations in providing family play therapy with children and family members.

Not only was a lot of information consumed by those who attended but there was also time to network and re-establish friendships. The Self Esteem Shop provided plenty of play therapy books and tools to use in any Play Therapist office.

Our annual meeting was held and new bylaws were approved. We celebrated those members who recently received their RPT and presented the 2022-2023 board members.

Here are some photos of the 2022 Conference.