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TNAPT Fall Conference 2026- nonmember rate
November 13-14, 2026
9am-4pm
Cost includes lunch each day**
Henry Horton State Park, Chapel Hill, TN
Special Guest- Liana Lowenstein, MSW
Day 1
I Don’t Wanna Talk About It: Creative Play Therapy Interventions For Hard to Engage Children, Teens, and Families
Working with difficult to engage children can be frustrating and challenging, even for seasoned play therapists. The challenge of working with younger clients in therapy can be further compounded by their fear of entering therapy, their lack of control over the decision to attend therapy, their feeling of being scapegoated for family problems, their lack of motivation for treatment, and their developmental capacity which can make it difficult for them to respond to traditional talk-therapy.
The first step in working with hard to engage children is understanding the reasons underlying their reluctance to open-up. The second step involves engaging children in the therapeutic process.
The presenter will outline various factors that underlie therapeutic reluctance. Interventions will be presented to engage children in play therapy and to maximize potential for change. Emphasis will be on play therapy techniques including games, art, and stories.
The techniques will be applied to specific clinical examples to illustrate how they can build rapport, facilitate open communication, and help the child work through treatment goals.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the factors underlying therapeutic resistance.
Implement creative play therapy interventions to establish rapport-building with children of all ages.
Describe creative play therapy interventions to facilitate goal setting.
Utilize innovative strategies to engage resistant, hard to serve parents.
Implement play therapy techniques with clients who are reluctant to verbally articulate their thoughts and feelings.
Utilize activities to engage families in play therapy sessions.
Day 2
Creative Play Therapy Interventions for Bereavement and Divorce
When children enter play therapy because they have experienced a significant loss, they are at a very vulnerable time in their lives. They are often anxious about the therapeutic process and reluctant to talk directly about painful feelings. Activities that are creative and play-based can engage children and help them to express their thoughts and feelings. This workshop will present a brief theoretical overview followed by a variety of play therapy interventions to treat children and teens coping with bereavement and divorce. A range of innovative activities will be outlined, including therapeutic games, art, and stories.
Learning Objectives:
Define grief, traumatic grief, and disenfranchised grief.
Articulate the continuum of parent-child relationships after separation and divorce.
Implement creative play therapy assessment interventions
Describe strategies to maintain neutrality when working with high-conflict divorce cases.
Apply at least 5 new interventions in sessions with children and families coping with bereavement and divorce.
Describe the unique areas to address when working with children impacted by suicide, murder, and substance-related death.
12 CEs, Play therapy credit is only awarded to mental health professionals
Sponsored by TNAPT
APT approved provider 23-687
November 13-14, 2026
9am-4pm
Cost includes lunch each day**
Henry Horton State Park, Chapel Hill, TN
Special Guest- Liana Lowenstein, MSW
Day 1
I Don’t Wanna Talk About It: Creative Play Therapy Interventions For Hard to Engage Children, Teens, and Families
Working with difficult to engage children can be frustrating and challenging, even for seasoned play therapists. The challenge of working with younger clients in therapy can be further compounded by their fear of entering therapy, their lack of control over the decision to attend therapy, their feeling of being scapegoated for family problems, their lack of motivation for treatment, and their developmental capacity which can make it difficult for them to respond to traditional talk-therapy.
The first step in working with hard to engage children is understanding the reasons underlying their reluctance to open-up. The second step involves engaging children in the therapeutic process.
The presenter will outline various factors that underlie therapeutic reluctance. Interventions will be presented to engage children in play therapy and to maximize potential for change. Emphasis will be on play therapy techniques including games, art, and stories.
The techniques will be applied to specific clinical examples to illustrate how they can build rapport, facilitate open communication, and help the child work through treatment goals.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the factors underlying therapeutic resistance.
Implement creative play therapy interventions to establish rapport-building with children of all ages.
Describe creative play therapy interventions to facilitate goal setting.
Utilize innovative strategies to engage resistant, hard to serve parents.
Implement play therapy techniques with clients who are reluctant to verbally articulate their thoughts and feelings.
Utilize activities to engage families in play therapy sessions.
Day 2
Creative Play Therapy Interventions for Bereavement and Divorce
When children enter play therapy because they have experienced a significant loss, they are at a very vulnerable time in their lives. They are often anxious about the therapeutic process and reluctant to talk directly about painful feelings. Activities that are creative and play-based can engage children and help them to express their thoughts and feelings. This workshop will present a brief theoretical overview followed by a variety of play therapy interventions to treat children and teens coping with bereavement and divorce. A range of innovative activities will be outlined, including therapeutic games, art, and stories.
Learning Objectives:
Define grief, traumatic grief, and disenfranchised grief.
Articulate the continuum of parent-child relationships after separation and divorce.
Implement creative play therapy assessment interventions
Describe strategies to maintain neutrality when working with high-conflict divorce cases.
Apply at least 5 new interventions in sessions with children and families coping with bereavement and divorce.
Describe the unique areas to address when working with children impacted by suicide, murder, and substance-related death.
12 CEs, Play therapy credit is only awarded to mental health professionals
Sponsored by TNAPT
APT approved provider 23-687