How Play Informs My Work with Children, Marriages, and Families
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Play is a primary part of healthy engagement for children, couples, and families. Researcher Jaak Panksepp called play "social joy" and highlighted its fundamental importance in his ground breaking work in neuroscience. Play is also one of the first areas that change when problems begin to take root. Play therapy allows children to fully participate in therapy in developmentally appropriate ways but it also helps marriages and adults move past defensiveness, cognitive blocks, and dysfunctional reasoning. I have found that it's harder to censor the difficult truths and easier to accept the insights that emerge in play.
In marriage therapy, I find Gottman Method Interventions work wonderfully with a play mindset, allowing couples to gain insight and new direction in our sessions through interventions engaged with enough playfulness to allow the vulnerability to emerge. So often the hurts, struggles, and pain exceed our words. Those who have experienced trauma often find accessing and addressing trauma easier in play. Play helps us show and do what we struggle to sit and say. |
My Style of Supervision
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I am a developmentally-minded, strengths-focused systemic Supervisor who enjoys connecting Supervisees to helpful resources and tools. I work hard at staying informed on the latest developments in the field so I can direct you to helpful resources. I focus on helping you develop through the stages and competencies needed to become a successful therapist. I won’t expect you to know everything or do everything perfectly, but I will expect you to be honest about what you think isn’t going so well (on my end or yours) and to be willing to work on things you find challenging. I view mistakes as a critical part of learning and development, but I will do my best to help you avoid mistakes that have big consequences legally and ethically.
I am a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and am an AAMFT Approved Supervisor with experience supervising those in both agency and private practice settings. I am also a Registered Play Therapist, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Family Mediator. For more information about my credentials click the button below. |
Just like in my approach to therapy, I believe in the power of getting active in my approach to training. I engage my participants by getting active using the concepts and skills being taught during the training. I also extend learning through providing additional resources to learn more and continue to grow participants skills.
A Few of the Organizations Where I've Provided Training
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I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to teach a number of professional and continuing education programs in my community. Here are some of the organizations which have sponsored me.
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