2-Day Play Therapy Intensive Training
Oaklander Model Interventions to Help Children and Adolescents Heal, Grow and Thrive
- Speaker:
- Karen Fried, PsyD, MFT
- Duration:
- Two Full Days
- Product Code:
- LWC151008
- Brochure Code:
- PWZ96580
- Media Type:
- Live Webinar - Also available: Digital Seminar
Description
- An entire toolbox of creative and fun interventions with art, clay, drawing, picture cards, miniatures, embodied play and more!
Kids don’t sit still and “process.” They play.
And inside that play is where their feelings, stories, defenses, strengths, and unmet needs live.
You need tools to access that world and help them work through big emotions, build their sense of self and heal through playful exploration and expression.
That’s exactly what The Oaklander Model of play therapy gives you.
And now, in 2 days of intensive online training you can start using this Gestalt-based approach and an entire toolbox of play therapy interventions, activities, and exercises right away.
You’ll join Dr. Karen Fried, a leading expert in play therapy and long-time mentee of play therapy pioneer Violet Oaklander.
She’s trained therapists all over the world how to use these evidence-based techniques.
Whether you’re treating kids with anger issues, grief, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or the after effects of difficult life experiences …
… Dr. Fried will teach you effective play techniques using art, movement, sand, clay, metaphor, drawing, picture cards and embodied play that help kids:
- Express hard to reach emotions
- Access parts of themselves they can’t put into words
- Explore struggles through creative, sensory rich experiences
- Reconnect with their strengths, choices, and inner resources
PLUS you’ll get opportunities to practice some of these techniques – just have your paper, pens, markers, glue, clay and miniatures by your side as you watch!
And here’s the best part – what you’ll learn is instantly useable so you can start right away.
Therapists like you are raving about how training with Dr. Fried has changed their practice.
Don’t let it pass you by.
Register now!
Credit
Speaker
Karen Fried, PsyD, MFT Related seminars and products
Karen Fried, PsyD, MFT, is a psychotherapist and one of today’s leading trainers in the Oaklander Model of Gestalt Play Therapy. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and educational therapist based in California, where she maintains a thriving practice working with children, adolescents, families, and adults. A founding member and past president of the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation, Dr. Fried plays a central role in preserving, advancing, and teaching the seminal work of her longtime mentor, Violet Oaklander, PhD – pioneer of Gestalt play therapy.
A sought-after international trainer, Dr. Fried has taught the Oaklander Model to therapists across the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and more. She is known for her engaging, experiential teaching style and her ability to translate Gestalt theory into highly practical interventions that clinicians can use immediately. Since 2020, she has trained global audiences through large scale virtual programs, including monthly international consultation calls attended by practitioners from more than 30 countries.
Dr. Fried is also a prolific creator of innovative digital play therapy tools, including online Sandtray platforms, virtual projective cards, online puppets, dollhouse environments, and expressive drawing tools – resources now used worldwide by clinicians practicing tele play therapy.
She is the co-author of several influential books, including Healing Through Play Using the Oaklander Model (Parts I & II), Windows to Our Practice, and Playful Parenting: Building Secure Attachment & Resilience, as well as numerous articles that help clinicians integrate expressive media with Gestalt-based emotional work.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Karen Fried is the Co-director of The K & M Center, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Karen Fried is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
Additional Info
Access Period for Live WebcastYou will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.
Webcast Schedule
Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.
Questions?
Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info
Objectives
- Define how play therapy creates a space where children can externalize emotions, test new relational patterns, and process experiences.
- Examine how a Gestalt approach with children and adolescents can improve emotional self-expression, conflict resolution, self-esteem and communication skills.
- Analyze the research supporting the effectiveness of Gestalt Play Therapy.
- Identify the parts of the Oaklander Model therapeutic process and the application of play therapy.
- Determine how multiple media can be used by therapists to help children to develop a strong sense of self.
- Identify the importance of the “I/Thou relationship” in the play therapy process.
- Examine how the Oaklander Model addresses developmental concepts that impact play therapy.
- Use drawing, clay, and other media as projective tools to help children gain awareness of their deeper emotions.
- Use Gestalt play therapy techniques to work with anxiety, impulsivity, and depression in children and adolescents.
- Utilize play therapy to address emotions in the therapeutic process, in particular the use of anger and aggressive energy.
- Analyze the scope of the existing research supporting sandplay therapy.
- Apply the principles of the Oaklander Model using play therapy to the sand tray.
Outline
Introduction to the Oaklander Model of Gestalt Paly Therapy with Children, Adolescents and Families
Introduction to the Oaklander Model
- Core principles and how children adapt to get their needs met
- Developmental factors
- How children take in messages and form faulty belief systems
- Reframing to help children build self-compassion and acceptance
- Research, risks and limitations
Simple Ways to Help Kids Connect to Their Senses, Their Bodies, and Their Selves
- Assess what brings children to therapy
- Build awareness of the 5 senses (taste, hearing, sight, smell, touch)
- Connect and notice through the body, breath, and voice
- Elements of strengthening the self: mastery, making choices, and power/control
A Six Step Projective Process to Help Kids Explore, Express & Reflect
- Invite (Warm it up): Bid for play and assess the child’s readiness
- Prompt (Imagine it): Begin with an imaginative, sensory-based prompt
- Resource (Make it): Form the scene through expressive media
- Join (Be it): Ask the child to speak and move as the projection (“I am the …”)
- Process (Does it fit?): Ask for the child’s reflection and how the projection applies to their real life
- Follow (What’s next?): Determine takeaways and real-world applications
Projective Techniques in Action: Drawing, Clay and Creative Activities to Explore and Process Emotions
- “Safe Place” drawing exercise to explore safe places, unsafe places, and “safe enough”
- “Something from Nothing” clay exercise for sensory grounding
- “Childhood” Drawing Exercise: to explore and process emotions from past experiences
Day 2
The Therapeutic Process
The Therapeutic Process and the I/Thou Relationship
- From establishing the relationship to termination and family work
- Define the I/Thou Relationship: “I’m a person and you’re a person” rather than “expert and client”
- Help the child identify, exaggerate, and reframe negative introjects for integration
- Confront difficult behaviors by finding what is underneath and experimenting with projective play exercises
Tools to Help Kids Talk About Feelings, Sadness, Grief, and More:
Projective Cards, Body Mapping, and Sensory Visualization
- Understand and talk about feelings and body states
- Projective Cards: Use cards to represent and explain complex emotions
- Body Mapping: Draw where different emotions live and what they look like
- Experience grief and sadness through sensory visualization
Exercises for Anger and Aggressive Energy:
Scribbling, Squashing Paper, and Exaggerated Play to Release Big Emotions
- Differentiating between anger and aggressive energy
- Aggressive energy: Safe container and the spirit of exaggerated play
- The Nemesis Script: A structured dialogue for working with and expressing strong emotion
- Create an “Anger Actions” List: Brainstorm safe expressions like punching a pillow, tearing magazines, or squashing paper
- Scribble Drawings: Scribble with full-body motion, find an image within the scribble, and tell its story
Gestalt Play Therapy and the Sand Tray
- Making sense, metaphorical, acting out, dialoguing, and owning
- Effective prompts
- Use miniatures (animals, fantasy, boundaries, etc.)
- Adapting sand tray therapy for telehealth and apps
Target Audience
- Social Workers
- Counselors
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychologists
- Registered Psychotherapists
- Mental Health Clinicians
- School Counselors
- Speech-Language Pathologists
- Other Helping Professionals who Work with Children
Reviews
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