Supporting a child struggling with anxiety, fears and obsessive compulsions can be incredibly challenging as the desire to move the child out of their activation and in many cases, their rituals, can overshadow the deeper issues and stressors driving the behaviors. Without an understanding of what is really going on and how play therapy is able to support the integration of the underlying drivers of the child’s behaviors and emotional experiences, play therapists can inadvertently intensify the inner struggle that is often experienced in these children.



Drawing from Synergetic Play Therapy and interpersonal neurobiology, this workshop explores non-directive and directive play based interventions to support play therapists on a path to understand the wisdom in anxiety, fears and obsessive compulsions allowing them to better support their clients. This workshop also gives special attention to learning how to work with parents and caregivers along the journey, as well as how to translate the play to the therapy goals.​

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This training will also guide participants towards a deeper understanding of what it means to become a child’s external regulator during trauma play while practicing how to care for their own nervous system thereby decreasing compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.  The result is the transformation of trauma play into ways of connecting, healing, and mutual trust.  

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Objectives​

• Identify at least 3 OCD themes and examples of their obsessions/compulsions to better understand a child’s symptoms in a play therapy process.

• Discuss the importance of the play therapist's role as the child’s external regulator in working with anxiety, fears and obsessive compulsions during a play therapy session.

• Explore Synergetic Play Therapy’s concept of “The Set-Up/The Offering” with fears, anxiety, and OCD in the playroom.

• Name at least 3 ideas to help treat OCD in the play therapy process.

• Discuss what it means to become the external regulator for parents and caregivers

• Identify the 3 essential components of setting goals in the play therapy process and how to translate the child’s play to these goals

• Discuss the importance of working with the entire family system in play therapy when a child is struggling with anxiety, fears and obsessive compulsions.

• Examine the purpose and wisdom of anxiety and fears

• Learn how to turn anxiety and fears into a catalyst for action and growth