Date/Time
Children learn through play and rehearsal of their immediate surroundings. While this helps them learn, play can also help heal children who have been through difficult and traumatic events. Play allows children to engage in the rehearsal of their immediate surroundings, recall recent events, and transfer events from short-term to long-term memory. Specifically, child-centered play therapy (CCPT) provides children with the unique opportunity to access skills, powers, and resources in the support of a skilled clinician so that they can re-write their own story.
Clinicians equipped with the ability to follow their client’s lead, guided by CCPT principles, also need appropriate toys. Therefore, therapy playrooms should be stocked with superheroes, including superheroines, to encourage children’s expressions of their normal exterior shells, as well as their hidden inner strengths.
This workshop will lay the foundation for the selection, usage, and potential therapeutic interpretations of superheroes from a CCPT framework. Characters such as the Black Panther, Supergirl, Ironman, The Flash, Captain America, and Wonder Woman will be covered. Moreover, considerations for gender and culture will be explored.
Learning Objectives:
Consider at least two aspects of culture related to superheroes when working with young children who have experienced trauma.
Discuss one therapeutic strength for each presented superhero.
List at least four potential outcomes related to childhood trauma.
Identify at least three healing properties of child-centered play therapy when applying superhero play.
List at least five superhero toys or materials that are recommended for play therapy settings.
Compare similarities between superheroes and villains.
Audience: Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists, anyone interested in the topic.
Location: Virtual
Sponsored By: University of Maryland School of Social Work
Cost: $85.00-$105.00
For questions, email cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu