I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching a pre-conference workshop at this year’s Florida Mental Health Counselors Association annual conference! The workshop is titled "Playful Healing: Trauma-Informed Play Therapy for Children and Adolescents", and it will take place from 9 AM to 5 PM. I’d love for you to join us for a day of engaging, hands-on learning!

Description:  Strengthen your child therapy practice with this immersive 8-hour training, integrating play therapy applications based in neuroscience. Transform your approach and gain tools you can apply immediately. This experiential training explores how attuned movement, sound, and nature can regulate a child's nervous system through the reciprocity of play. You'll experience these techniques firsthand, understanding their impact on sensory processing pathways and the neural pathways and brain regions involved. Learn how predictability and familiarity play crucial roles in sensory processing during play therapy. Gain insights into integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches to promote a child's sense of safety and support the integration of their experiences. Delve into the neuroscientific basis for using play therapy techniques that incorporate attuned movement, sound, and natural elements to enhance neural regulation. Through practical demonstrations and hands-on activities, you'll acquire strategies to incorporate these techniques into your sessions, supporting nervous system regulation in children. By the end of this training, you'll have a toolkit of approaches to foster safety, predictability, and nervous system regulation for children and adolescents. Designed for immediate application, this training equips you with methods to enhance your practice and benefit your young clients right away. Enrich your skills, bring a new dimension to your play therapy practice, and make a lasting impact on the children and adolescents you work with.

Earn up to 8 approved Direct Contact Continuing Education Hours for the Association for Play Therapy, APT. This event is sponsored by Jacqueline Flynn, APT Approved Provider #20-628.

CE Broker Tracking #: 20-1218164

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe how play therapy can utilize the reciprocity of play through attuned movement, sound, and nature to regulate a child's nervous system.

2. Identify the neural pathways and brain regions involved in sensory processing during play therapy, emphasizing the role of predictability and familiarity.

3. Discuss how play therapy integrates top-down and bottom-up approaches to promote a child's sense of safety and support integration.

4. Explain the neuroscientific basis for using play therapy techniques that incorporate attuned movement, sound, and nature to enhance neural regulation.

5. Demonstrate practical strategies for incorporating attuned movement, sound, and nature into play therapy sessions to support a child's nervous system regulation.

6. Apply the knowledge of interpersonal neurobiology to foster a sense of safety, predictability, and nervous system regulation in play therapy with children and adolescents.

7. Apply three sensory-based play therapy considerations to support children with specific sensory processing challenges.

8. Identify three ways to use attuned movement, sound, and nature to address the unique nervous system needs of each child in play therapy.

This event is sponsored by FMHCA, an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider. FMHCA NBCC Provider# 2058. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  FMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. This course is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, LMHC, LMFT, LCSW – FMHCA CE Broker #: 50-748

Here is the link to register: https://fmhca.wildapricot.org/event-5766343?emulatemode=1

You’re warmly invited to join us during lunch for "Resilient Practices: Nervous System-Informed Self-Care for Clinicians." This special session will give you practical, neuroscience-based tools to support your well-being as a clinician. It’s the perfect time to refresh and recharge while learning strategies to prevent burnout and thrive in your work. I’d love for you to grab your lunch and join us—you won’t want to miss this!

Resilient Practices: Nervous System-Informed Self-Care for Clinicians

This isn’t your typical self-care workshop! "Resilient Practices: Nervous System-Informed Self-Care for Clinicians"goes much deeper, using neuroscience to help you not only avoid burnout but also boost your productivity and satisfaction as a clinician. In this engaging 2-hour session, we’ll dive into how your autonomic nervous system works through the Polyvagal lens and the Window of Tolerance framework—both of which directly affect your well-being.

We’ll go beyond the usual self-care advice and really focus on understanding the behaviors that stem from your nervous system’s quest for safety. You’ll get practical, easy-to-apply tools that you can use in your clinical practice, including strategies like co-regulation, movement, play, mindfulness, nutrition, and nature exposure—all designed to support your nervous system and help prevent burnout.

Plus, you’ll discover how to create routines and cognitive strategies that offer stability and support. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with three personalized self-care practices that you can integrate into your daily life—practices that will not only help you feel more resilient but also keep you energized and thriving in your work.

This session is perfect for clinicians who want to go beyond surviving and truly thrive in their careers!

Discuss the regulation of the autonomic nervous system through the Polyvagal lens and the window of tolerance framework, recognizing personal or observed examples of their impact on clinician well-being.

1. Explain how the nervous system's pursuit of safety influences behaviors and contributes to burnout, identifying key points and understanding their application to clinical practice.

2. Demonstrate various customized practices for achieving safety, including co-regulation, movement, play, nutrition, meditation, mindfulness, nature exposure, and predictability, through guided examples provided.

3. Apply techniques for state change that can lead to trait change by identifying three specific self-care practices to incorporate into daily routines based on the strategies discussed.

Here is the link to register: https://fmhca.wildapricot.org/event-5766343?emulatemode=1