Games aren’t just fun – they’re powerful therapeutic tools!

This highly engaging workshop explores how to use games in play therapy as a medium for healing and growth in children, youth, and families in a way that is intentional and therapy goal-oriented.

Many children struggle to express themselves in traditional talk therapy, but through game-based play therapy, therapists can bypass resistance, build trust, and unlock emotional insight in a developmentally sensitive way.

In this practical and hands-on training, participants will:

• Explore the theoretical foundations of using games in play therapy.
• Discover criteria for selecting or adapting games to meet play therapy treatment goals.
• Learn how to use therapeutic responses and debriefing strategies to maximize clinical impact.
• Walk away with a ready-to-use toolbox of original therapeutic games to address a wide range of presenting issues in a play therapy session.

From games that build rapport and foster emotional expression to activities that target self-regulation, social skills, self-esteem, and family connection, this workshop offers a dynamic and creative approach to therapy.

Whether you're just starting out or are a seasoned play therapist, you'll gain a fresh toolbox of engaging, ready-to-use games to help children and families address a wide range of issues.

Program Information

Objectives

1. Determine five therapeutic benefits of using games in play therapy.
2. Appraise whether a game is appropriate for play therapy use with a client based on clinical, developmental, and cultural factors.
3. Examine the process of presenting play therapy games and debriefing with clients afterward.
4. Integrate “Points of Departure” while utilizing therapeutic game play in sessions with clients.
5. Identify five facilitative responses that can be used during therapeutic game play to enhance engagement, skill-building, and processing.
6. Choose five games for play therapy sessions with children, youth, and families.

Outline

Game Therapy: What it Is, Why it Works, and Who it’s For

• Working definition of game-based play therapy; scope
• When and why to use structured games in clinical practice
• Therapeutic benefits of using games in play therapy
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Getting Started with Games in Play Therapy: Considerations for Game Selection, Client Fit, and Therapeutic Setup

• Game types (board games, cards, imaginative)
• Adapting commercial games for therapeutic use in play therapy
• Age, developmental, cultural, neurodiversity considerations
• Game selection based on presenting problem, stage of play therapy, client goals

Clinical Skills: Game-Based Assessment, Skill-Building, and Processing

• How to present the game to your play therapy client
• Using gameplay therapeutically to explore relational dynamics, core beliefs, skills, and self-concept
• Recognizing therapeutic “points of departure” in play therapy sessions
• Techniques for steering game play toward meaningful insight and reflection
• Therapeutic responses that validate, reframe, or deepen a child’s experience
• Strategies for managing dysregulation, cheating, or competition during gameplay
• Transitioning from play to processing when the game has ended

Game-Based Play Therapy in Action: Case Studies and Activity Demonstrations

• Rapport building: Reduce anxiety, build positive therapeutic rapport
• Feelings expression: label, identify, and safely express a range of emotions, and explore emotional intensity, body cues, and triggers
• Focus and self-regulation: target attention, impulse control, emotional modulation, and active regulation
• Social skills: promote cooperation, communication, perspective-taking, conflict resolution, listening, and empathy
• Anxiety and fears: provide psychoeducation and strategies for managing anxiety
• Trauma and stress: Normalize common responses to trauma, address cognitive distortions
• Self-Esteem: identify strengths and build positive self-concept and resilience, as well as identity exploration
• Family interaction: attachment, communication, and problem-solving within families
• Termination: Affirm therapeutic progress and provide a positive ending to play therapy

Target Audience

• Licensed Clinical/Mental Health Counselors
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Play Therapists
• Child Therapists