Continuing Education Courses.

Play ‘N Learn Training, LLC provides APT Continuing Education (CEs) by approved APT provider #25-759 . The courses can be taken individually as stand alone courses. The course can also be taken sequentially. Courses start with the very foundations of play therapy and continue to build to intermediate and advanced skill levels.

Objectives

  • Review the historical aspects of play therapy
  • Describe the current theoretical approaches of play therapy
  • List Requirements for becoming a Registered Play Therapist
  • Identify the therapeutic powers of play
  • Describe basic tracking skills in play therapy
  • Demonstrate basic tracking skills in Play Therapy

Course 1. What is Play Therapy?

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program. This course will review the requirements for becoming a registered play therapist™, give a historical overview of play therapy theories and development, and introduce the principles for working with children in play therapy. The therapeutic powers of play will be explored as a foundational layer for all theoretical orientations.

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday, January 23, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, January 17, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, February 21, 2026

Objectives

  • Identify and categorize the selection of toys for play therapy
  • Discuss an understanding of the history of Child Centered Play Therapy
  • Analyze components of a play therapy play room 
  • Describe and demonstrate the basic skill of tracking in play therapy
  • Describe and demonstrate the basic skill of reflecting feelings in play therapy
  • Describe and demonstrate the basic skill of reflecting content in play therapy

Course 3. THERAPEUTIC limit setting in play therapy

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program. This course focuses on therapeutic limit setting across theories within a play therapy session. The main therapeutic limit setting model practiced will be the Child Centered ACT Model for setting limits. 

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday, March 27, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, March 21, 2026

Objectives

  • Discuss the purpose of constructing important components for case files
  • Review steps needed to begin intake paperwork when initially seeing a client
  • Develop a disclosure statement to share with parents at an initial intake session
  • Discuss the purpose of including parents in the therapeutic process
  • Identify how to include parents in the therapeutic process
  • Demonstrate how to include parents in the therapeutic process

Registration closes Saturday, June 20, 2026

Course 5. Themes in play therapy

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program. Children often have repetitive behaviors that may give insight to the Play Therapist as to difficulties the child is undergoing. This training will focus on understanding the importance of identifying  themes from repetitive behaviors or patterns of play along with ideas for documenting themes in progress notes. Participants will also discuss communicating themes to parents to inform them of the child’s progress and level of readiness for termination. 

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday, May 22, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, May 16, 2026

Objectives

  • Apply leading developmental theories to play therapy
  • Analyze discrepancies in development across cognitive, physical, and emotional characteristics of developmental stages from birth to age 12 as observed in the play room
  • Discuss parental expectations when there are developmental discrepancies in the play room and how to address those expectations in parent meetings
  • Identify and demonstrate ethical practices in play therapy across developmental stages in the play room
  • Discuss play therapy interventions for parents, teachers, and caregivers
  • Explain the impact of technology in play therapy across stages of development

Course 7. Play Therapy with Families

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program.  This course will discuss family systems theories and how to bring families into your play therapy room. Participants will take away several ideas to practice with families in their play therapy settings. 

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday July 24, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, July 18, 2026

Course 2. Basic Skills in play Therapy: Tracking, Reflecting Feelings, and reflecting Content

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program. This course will include a review of the historical development of Child Centered Play Therapy. Participants will identify and organize the toys used within the play therapy setting along with the play therapy room setup. The basic skills of tracking, reflecting feelings and reflecting content in play therapy will be discussed, applied and practiced.

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday, February 27, 2026

Course 4. Your Playtherapy playbook: The paperwork you need to support parents from intake to termination

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program. This course focuses on developing a play therapy playbook. The therapeutic alliance is created from the initial intake and is strengthened throughout the play therapy process. This course helps the beginning play therapist verbalize the importance of play therapy and the specialized skills play therapists offer from intake to termination.  

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

Objectives

  • Identify the purpose and importance of  themes in play therapy
  • Discuss common themes observed in play therapy 
  • Practice identifying themes in a play session 
  • Explain how to document themes in clinical progress notes
  • Utilize themes in parent sessions to communicate progress
  • Using the progress of the theme to determine level of readiness for termination

This is a beginning level continuing education course for licensed mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health program.  This course will go through the developmental stages from birth to age 12 focusing on the cognitive, physical, emotional and social characteristics of each year. Tips for parents and caregivers will also be discussed. Navigating ethical considerations between children and caregivers will be threaded throughout this course.

6 Contact CEs by approved APT Provider #25-759

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Friday, June 26, 2026

Objectives

  • Discuss knowledge of family and systemic theories in play therapy
  • Identify interventions for the various roles in the family system in play therapy
  • Practice integrating family play therapy activities into a play room 
  • Demonstrate essential skills in family play therapy
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how cultural and social identity can influence the family play therapy session 
  • Identify family patterns, themes and metaphors in play therapy

Objectives

  • Describe the purpose for therapeutic limit setting in play therapy using different theoretical approaches
  • Recite the components for child centered therapeutic limit setting during a play session
  • Discuss challenges with setting therapeutic limits in the play therapy session
  • Demonstrate therapeutic limit setting within a small group setting
  • Discuss how to apply the ultimate limit in play therapy sessions
  • Practice using ultimate limit setting within small groups
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Friday, April 24, 2026

Registration closes Saturday, April 18, 2026

Course 6. Developmentally Appropriate Play and Ethical Considerations