July 24, 2026

Hybrid - Beggs/Online

Play Therapy with Early Childhood Populations in Schools

This training will explore clinical theory, techniques and the application of both, utilizing Play Therapy with early childhood populations in a school-based setting.  Many mental health disorders begin in early childhood, and studies show that 72% of children ages 7 and younger have experienced at least one trauma incident.  Early therapeutic treatment assists children in learning to manage symptoms, gain skills, and provides support for social, emotional, and academic well-being.  Schools have increasingly become an access point for mental and behavioral health care, and well-trained therapists embedded in these schools have a profound impact on not only their clients, but the school culture as well.  This interactive training will explore different theories of child development, play therapy modalities, and specific techniques that are appropriate in an early childhood school environment.

https://www.dawsonplaytherapy.com/events

September 6-12, 2026

Disneyland - Play Therapy Disneybound Conference

Drowning in Empathy: Addressing Burnout

This beginner to advanced level training will engage those working in the Mental Health Field to examine their own wellness practices. Working as a caregiver utilizing play therapy in today's world has become increasingly more challenging. Therapists willingly engage in high stress encounters with clients and their guardians all while attempting to navigate the Post-Pandemic life of technological and administrative demands, financial concerns, a morass of politics, and a cornucopia of personal life situations.  Marked levels of professional caregivers report a high degree of compassion fatigue and/or burnout, with Play Therapists reporting a lower than expected percentage of perceived self-efficacy.  This presentation will help participants understand the connection between empathy levels and one’s own access to resiliency; giving participant’s permission to acknowledge challenges and engage in quantifiable change in self-care practices.

Don’t Be The Villain In Someone else’s Play Therapy Supervision Story

Supervision is a complex and powerful process of interacting with new therapists still learning ethical practices and healthy professional development.  Play Therapy Supervision engages therapists at many stages of development in playful and empirically driven Play Therapy modalities.   This interactive in-park training will enable and empower Supervisors to increase their own understanding and utilization of Supervision Theories and how to apply those theories to Supervision in and parallel to Playful Supervision.  Participants will explore their own accountability as Supervisors in order to increase effectiveness in both the Supervisor and the Supervisee.

Always the Sidekick, Never the Villain? Transforming Self-Esteem Through Play Therapy and Disney Sidekicks…..or henchmen if you prefer…

This experiential in-park training will focus on utilizing Disney sidekick characters to help children explore self-esteem development through metaphoric storytelling and guided play. Emphasizing the therapeutic powers of play, including fostering self-expression, mastery, and emotional resilience, participants will learn to support children in externalizing internal struggles and reframing their narratives. Through directive and nondirective play interventions, clinicians will learn skills to guide clients in identifying the "barriers to greatness" often mirrored in sidekick characters—such as unresolved trauma, socioeconomic challenges, self-doubt, or dependence. This training aims to empower therapists with tools to help children symbolically move from supporting roles to leading their own narratives. Participants will examine the role of trauma and environmental factors as invisible obstacles that hinder personal growth and explore strategies for helping children reclaim a sense of identity, strength, and agency.

You Don’t Need the Force to be a Play Therapy Ethics Master

This beginner to advanced level training will explore ethical considerations regularly faced by therapists in all environments.  Designed for mental health therapists utilizing play therapy and other expressive arts modalities, participants will delve into ethical dilemmas focused within power differentials and the importance of utilizing ethical skills like the essential nature of continued supervision and/or consultation, fidelity, respect for both clients and self,  and more.  Participants and Facilitators will utilize here and now experiences to engage interactively with each other and the important elements of ethics.

https://www.anewhopeacademy.org/playatdisneyland

October 2026

Tulsa, OK

Superheroes are Super (as in Extremely) Human:  Utilizing Pop Culture in Mental Health

This training will explore clinical applications and outcomes related to Pop Culture, Geek Therapy informed interventions, and Fandoms.  The collective narratives and character archetypes within fandoms can imbue therapeutic relationships with powerful identification from normalization, hope, and universalization. Utilizing interactive and experiential techniques, participants will explore theory and techniques to build enhanced therapeutic relationships, adaptability within sessions, and a new level of accessibility for challenging clients.

REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

May 2-8, 2027

Disneyland

The Force at Play

In the Spring of 2027, the Play Therapy: Disney Bound Conference invites you to journey toward the light and explore the forces that guide us toward healing, hope, and transformation. Through experiential workshops, creative interventions, and immersive learning, we’ll explore heroines rising against the odds, galaxies far, far away, wise guides, and the kind of magic that reminds us that light, joy, and hope still have the power to transform a story.

Join us for Ethics, Supervision, and more!

https://www.anewhopeacademy.org/disneyboundmay2027