Play 2023 Darwin Conference
WHEN: Wednesday 21st to Friday 23rd June 2023
WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Esplanade, Darwin
We have released the final Conference Program
Please click the Blue Box to view or download
Play Therapy 2023 is a 3 day experience not to be missed.
The conference will attract approximately 150 -200 delegates, nationally and internationally.
Celebrating 13 years of Play Therapy Day.
This conference will continue to raise awareness about the benefits of Play Therapy by also bringing in so many wonderful professionals to also gain awareness about why this wonderful day is so important to the field.
Play Therapy Day being started in 2010 really supported the national and internationally Asia pacific countries with a day to get out and highlight the wonderful things that Play Therapists do for children, families and communities within Australia and internationally.
The presenters.
Our three Esteemed Presenters have been waiting for this conference to happen and are well prepared. Please see their bio’s below, you will be blown away by their amazing skills.
Conferencing in Darwin:
We honour and celebrate 13 years of national and international Play Therapy Day.Work, Rest and Play. Why not discover Darwin in its wonderful dry season where the temperature is typically like a lovely Spring day. Avoid the winter and potentially stay the week. With Kakadu on the door step and just a hop, skip and a jump to the jumping crocodiles, there are so many wonderful things to do in this wonderful location.
Delegate professional backgrounds will include but will not be limited to:
Play Therapists, Art Therapists Social Workers Occupational Therapists Mental Health Workers, Psychotherapists Counsellors Psychologists, Nurses, Early childhood and primary school teachers Education providers, Pediatric Health Workers, Researchers and academics individuals interested in child’s early childhood, wellbeing and welfare
Links:
Tickets
Mates Rates: up to 15/10/22 – $540
Very Early Bird: up to 15/12/22 – $550
Early Bird: up to 14/02/23 – $570
Full fee: from 15/04/23 – $620
– Member rates for APPTA/APTA offered
– 3 day tickets come with welcome drinks and conference dinner for one adult
Guest Speakers
Dr Rick Gaskill
Dr Brandy Schumann
Ms Yael Livneh
Bio
Dr. Gaskill is a RPTs working in mental health for 42 years and teaches at Wichita State University. He is a Child Trauma Academy Fellow. He has published and lectured extensively on the neurobiology of trauma and play therapy throughout the US, Canada, and Australia.
Workshop Information
The 6 core “R”s behind the how and why Play Therapy works across diverse environments.
This workshop will be ideal for a wide range of professionals who work with children and will give an enhanced understanding of not just the benefits of Play Therapy but the neuroscience behind it.
Relationships have been a therapeutic element observed and discussed in the play therapy literature for many years (Allen, 1942; Axline, 1947; Landreth, 2002; Moustakas, 1953; and Taft, 1933). In the late 1990’s, new scientific information began to inform us of the emotional, social, cognitive, and behavioral impact of trauma on the developing brain of children. This research continues to influence the way play therapists conceptualize and treat complex trauma. As play therapists gain understanding of the changes in functional capacity of traumatized children, expectations for children change and became more realistic. This improved understanding of altered functional capacity of the brain, in turn has paved the way for viable trauma informed and developmentally sensitive interventions. Interestingly, this same neural scientific research confirmed that relationships are a powerful “driver” of effective interventions. Research demonstrated that trauma informed treatment interventions rely heavily on relationally rich experiences between the child and significant adults. Without warm relationships even well-conceived, functionally appropriate interventions don’t work as well. In this vain, the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics described by Perry and Hambrick (2008) defined 6 core relational elements that promote positive neurodevelopmental experiences. They found employing relevant, repetitive, relational, rhythmic, rewarding, and respectful interventions greatly improved the effectiveness of play therapy interventions (Barfield, Dobson, Gaskill, & Perry, 2012; Gaskill & Perry, 2012, 2014, 2017; Hansen, 2011). This workshop codifies and operationalizes these concepts into workable techniques to maximize the healing potential in therapeutic experiences.
Brandy Schumann, Ph.D., LPC-S, RPT-S, NCC, CTMH, Certified CCPT-Supervisor, Certified CPRT-Supervisor
- Dr. Brandy Schumann is a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Certified Child Centered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Certified Child-Parent Relationship Therapy- Supervisor, and Clinical Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU).
- For decades she has provided play therapy in a variety of settings including private practice, agency, crisis, and schools. She has presented and served as an advisor for programs around the world international for the Play Therapy Infinity Association of Hong Kong, Australia’s Pacific Play Therapy Association, and a budding association in Istanbul.
- Brandy simultaneously succeeds and fails in the life she shares with her family, which includes three human children, three furry, four feathered, and two scaled ones.
Reaching Pre/Adolescents through Play Therapy
Think you are cool enough to work with pre/adolescents? If you’re still using the word cool than probably not–but, you can be. Join us for a experiential workshop where we will explore the world of today’s teens and their journey through play therapy, from the first session to termination.
Objectives:
· Workshop will increase attendees’ sensitivity to the world of the pre/adolescent.
· Attendees will learn why play therapy is a developmentally sensitive approach for pre/adolescent clients.
· Attendees will be able to identify at least three therapy characteristics unique to working with a pre/adolescent client in play therapy
· Attendees will identify multiple play therapy activities to use with pre/adolescents
The workshop presentations will be a mixture of lecture, experiential activity, group discussions, and video demonstration.
Bio
Yael Livneh, MA, is an Israeli expressive art therapist with over 20 years of practice in psychodrama and inter-modality approach. She owns a private clinic for children and adolescents. Yael is the developer of the WPT (Water Play Therapy) method, and in 2015 she published her book: “Rising On Water”. She presents her method in front of medical and educational staff in hospitals and at Tel Aviv University. She does workshops of WPT for therapists around the world and gives supervision. Yael worked with communities in Africa through international organizations. Yael is a staff member in the academic program for play-therapy in Oranim College.
Workshop Information: The Secret of Water
This innovative approach of art-expressive therapy utilizes water as a main medium with which clients can express their feelings and project their personal narratives in an accessible and non-threatening manner. The use of water, colour and symbolic items has been successfully applied with children who suffer from sensory processing disorders, communication problems (Ruth E.1952 / Verneer 1955), with adults that suffers from attachment deficits and social anxiety and trauma. However, there has been no clear procedure that accounts for WPT. I have developed a WPT protocol that has shown to be effective with clients who suffer from affect-modulation difficulties. In this workshop we will provide the rationale for WPT and describe the procedure step-by-step.
