An in-person professional workshop for mental health clinicians working with children and families across practice settings.
Thursday, February 20, 2026: 9 am - 4:30 pm
Juniper Tree Counseling, Roseburg, Oregon
6 APT contact CEs
Level: Beginner
Parents and caregivers are often described as essential partners in the play therapy process. Yet, clinicians frequently encounter uncertainty, tension, or ethical complexity when navigating caregiver involvement while remaining child-centered. This full-day training offers an in-depth exploration of how to thoughtfully engage parents and caregivers as meaningful agents of change without compromising a child-led, developmentally responsive, and relationally safe therapeutic stance.
Grounded in Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) principles, this training will explore a broad range of caregiver-inclusive play therapy modalities, including Filial Therapy, Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), Theraplay®, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Adlerian Play Therapy, attachment-based and mentalization-informed approaches, and integrative caregiver consultation models. Participants will examine the theoretical foundations, goals, and practical applications of each approach, with attention to when and why different models may be clinically indicated.
Special emphasis will be placed on navigating common “stuck points” in caregiver engagement, including parental anxiety, pressure for behavioral control, differing expectations between caregivers and therapists, high-conflict dynamics, foster and adoptive family considerations, and situations in which caregivers unintentionally undermine the therapeutic process. Through case examples, experiential reflection, and applied discussion, clinicians will develop skills for supporting caregivers as co-regulators and relational anchors while protecting the child’s voice, autonomy, and pace of healing.
This workshop is designed to support clinicians who primarily practice CCPT and may feel tension between child-led values and parent-focused interventions. Participants will leave with a clearer framework for engaging caregivers in ways that are ethical, trauma-responsive, culturally attuned, and aligned with the Therapeutic Powers of Play, while maintaining fidelity to the core principles of play therapy.
Parents as Partners in Play Therapy: Caregiver Engagement in Child-Led Play
By the completion of this six-hour workshop, participants will be able to:
- Compare and contrast at least four caregiver-inclusive play therapy modalities, including Child-Centered Play Therapy, Filial Therapy/CPRT, PCIT, and attachment-based approaches, and identify clinical indications for each.
- Explain how caregivers can function as primary agents of change within play therapy while maintaining a child-led therapeutic stance.
- Apply at least three strategies for engaging caregivers who present with anxiety, urgency for behavioral change, or resistance to play-based approaches.
- Demonstrate the ability to frame caregiver involvement in ways that support attachment, regulation, and felt safety without shifting therapeutic control away from the child.
- Identify and respond to at least three common ethical or relational challenges that arise in caregiver engagement, including high-conflict dynamics, foster/adoptive contexts, and caregiver-therapist misalignment.
- Develop a caregiver engagement plan that integrates play therapy principles into parent consultation, education, or coaching while remaining developmentally appropriate and trauma-responsive.