Play Therapy Techniques in Early Childhood Settings: Supporting Social-emotional Learning & Self-regulation, by Christian Bellissimo

This webinar is sponsored by Second Step, an initiative of Committee for Children.

Research has established the negative impact of early adversity on a child's social and emotional development. Adults who work in early childhood settings are in a unique position to help children overcome early challenges by supporting their acquisition of essential emotional skills and self-regulation capacities through consistent, predictable, nurturing, and positive interactions.

In this webinar, by Play Therapist Christian Bellissimo, MSW, LCSW, RPT, LLC, you will learn how to support children’s development through their most natural means for expression: play. First, Christian will  provide examples of typical and symptomatic play expressions in the form of pictures and video from actual play therapy sessions to help you potentially identify children who may be in need of further assessment by a mental health professional. You will learn about essential play skills, derived from Non-Directive, or Child-Centered Play Therapy and how to engage young children in play and interact with them in ways that can strengthen the attachment relationship while supporting the acquisition of vital coping skills. The play skills, which can easily be applied during free play times with individuals or small groups of children, include:

• allowing the child to lead the play,

• naming the child's feelings,

• framing the child's behavior as a choice or decision,

• therapeutic limit setting,

• supporting developmentally appropriate independence and frustration tolerance through challenging tasks, and

• the use of specific praise.

In this session, you will:

1. Develop an understanding of the importance of play for young children in expressing their thoughts, feelings, and processing their experiences.

2. Develop a basic ability to discern between typical vs. symptomatic play.

3. Develop an understanding of how to engage children in play, and how to use basic play therapy-based skills to enhance the attachment relationship and support children’s acquisition of emotional coping skills.

All sessions are 1.5 hours long, and include a brief announcement from our sponsor. 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Eastern Time. To ensure you receive confirmation and reminder emails, add [email protected] to your contacts list. If you do not receive your email confirmation, check your Spam or Junk mail folders in your email system. Can’t participate in our webinars at the appointed time? Never fear! All of the webinars are recorded. To view the recording, simply register now and you will receive an email with a link to the recording when it is ready to be viewed. You can still download the certificate by watching the recording to the end when the certificate link is announced and displayed on the screen.

Only 1,000 people at one time can attend our webinars, but registration often tops 4,000. Only the first 1,000 people to click the link to attend the webinar will be able to get in. We start the webinars 30 minutes in advance of the start time. Arrive early to make sure you get in.

Please be advised that you will only be eligible for the great door prizes if you participate in the live session. You can earn .2 CEUs for each webinar. The cost is $15 paid to University of Oklahoma online when you apply. Learn more here: Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from University of Oklahoma See the schedule of upcoming webinars.