Trauma-Informed Practices in Play Therapy Charlotte Workshop 3.6.26
Presenter: April Duncan, DSW, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™
Session date: March 6th, 2026
Session time: 9:00 am-4:30 pm EST
Location: Dandelion Family Counseling, 4950 Fairview Road, Charlotte NC
APT CEs: 6.0 Contact Hours
Session Description:
Clients of all ages are experiencing a high level of stress of trauma. Adverse childhood events like bullying, medical trauma, disaster trauma and abuse disrupt childhood development but can be addressed in individual, family and group play therapy. Participants will engage in experiential play therapy activities that can be implemented in play therapy sessions to aid in self-regulation and healthy coping skills for children to address trauma stressors in healthier ways. Additionally, attendees will explore the application of the play therapy seminal theories to competently assess and treat the moods and behaviors of children displaying traumatic stress symptoms in and out of the playroom.
Learning objectives:
- List play themes signaling distress in the playroom.
- Use play therapy interventions to decrease traumatic stress in children.
- Explain the signs in the playroom that traumatic stress has decreased.
- Identify play therapy interventions to help children and adolescents create trauma
narratives. - Analyze play therapy seminal theories to address trauma in children and adolescents.
- Discuss play-based interventions for group play therapy with children and adolescents
who have experienced trauma.
Agenda:
9:00 am-10:30 am Lecture & experiential learning
10:30 am-10:45 am Break
10:45 am-12:00 pm Lecture & experiential learning
12:00 pm-1:00 pm Lunch break
1:00 pm-2:30 pm Lecture & experiential learning
2:30 pm-2:45 pm Break
2:45 pm-4:15 pm Lecture & experiential learning
4:15 pm-4:30 pm Q & A and wrap-up
