PLAY THERAPY TRAININGS

Presenters: Samantha Long, PhD, LPC, RPT, NCC Michelle Walker, LCSW, RPT-S Hollie Park - Empowered Co-Parenting

Date: Friday, October 24, 2025

Virtual Via ZOOM

Time: 9:30AM-2:00PM EST (30 minute break built-in)

Cost: Regular Rate $100, Student Rate $45 (with valid student ID- Emailed to connect@integratedplayconnections.com)

High-conflict co-parenting cases bring unique challenges into the play therapy room, where children use play to work through emotional distress, from loyalty binds to ongoing cycles of parental litigation, blame, and manipulation. Yet, there are limited training resources to support play therapists in this complex work. This in-depth, multidisciplinary play therapy training will help play therapists deepen their understanding of what high-conflict co-parenting actually looks like, how it differs from typical post-separation struggles, and how it profoundly impacts a child’s daily life, sense of self, and therapeutic process.

Integrated Play Connections Therapy Center brings in a high-conflict co-parenting expert to answer the questions that go beyond the playroom. Participants will learn how to recognize high-conflict dynamics such as parental alienation, gatekeeping, and counter-parenting, and how these patterns may show up in children’s play behaviors and themes. This training will also address the play therapist’s role, the limits of the legal system, documentation best practices, and other ethical considerations unique to working with children navigating high-conflict family systems, all while preserving the integrity of the play therapy process.

Through a child-centered play therapy approach, therapists will gain confidence in remaining neutral while validating the child’s experience, helping children build resilience and trust their inner wisdom, and supporting parents with realistic expectations, boundaries, and communication tools, all to reduce the child’s exposure to adult conflict so they can reclaim safety through their play. Therapists will leave this play therapy training with renewed confidence and practical tools to support children living within high-conflict family systems.

Objectives:

1. Identify the unique characteristics and patterns of high-conflict co-parenting dynamics including parental alienation, gatekeeping, and counter-parenting  and how they differ from typical post-divorce parenting struggles commonly seen in play therapy referrals.

2. Develop practical strategies for supporting parents in high-conflict co-parenting situations, including setting realistic expectations, establishing healthy boundaries, and using communication tools that protect the child’s play therapy progress and reduce their exposure to conflict.

3. Apply ethical considerations and documentation best practices when working with high-conflict families in play therapy, including appropriate boundaries, legal system limitations, and the importance of preserving the integrity of the therapeutic relationship.

4. Describe how high-conflict co-parenting can manifest in children’s play behaviors and themes, and how to respond in a way that maintains neutrality, validates the child’s experience, and helps children build resilience and self-trust.