Welcome
Join us for the 6th Annual Innovative Child Therapy Symposium, a free, weeklong event from June 2–6, 2025.Experience daily sessions from leading experts in child therapy, designed to inspire and equip you with practical tools.
How It Works and What We’ll Be Exploring
From June 2 to 6, you’ll receive a new set of sessions each morning around 8:00 AM Eastern.
You’ll have 24 hours to watch that day’s content whenever it works for you. No need to join live or rearrange your schedule.
Each day has a theme, color-coded with care to help guide your experience:
❤️ Monday – Play, Creative, and Expressive Therapies
🧡 Tuesday – Supporting Families in Child Therapy
💛 Wednesday – Attachment, Adoption, and Safe Connection
💚 Thursday – Support for the Therapist Behind the Work
💙 Friday – Brain, Body, and Behaviors
You’re welcome to join in as much or as little as you’d like. Whether you watch one session or all of them, this space is here to meet you where you are. You can follow your curiosity, revisit what resonates, and take it in at your own pace.
If you’d like more time or want to return to these sessions later on, the Therapist Extraordinaire Pass gives you lifetime access to everything, along with a beautiful bundle of bonus resources.
Who This Symposium Is For
This experience is designed for helping professionals who care deeply about children’s healing and growth, but curious and committed parents are also welcome.
You’ll feel right at home if you’re a...
✔️ Child, teen, or family therapist
✔️ Mental health counselor
✔️ Occupational or speech therapist
✔️ Educator, school counselor, or child advocate
✔️ Play therapist
✔️EMDR-trained clinician working with kids
✔️ Parent seeking insight into the therapy process and ways to support your child
If you show up for kids in any healing role — professional or personal — there’s something meaningful here for you.
Presenting Our Keynote:
Dr. David Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S™
A Lifetime of Love. A Legacy That Continues to Inspire.
A Living Legend in our Play Therapy Community®
In the Company of Rosie
Stories of Courage, Courtrooms, and the Continuing Impact of His Life’s Work
Join me in conversation with Dr. David Crenshaw, a longtime voice of wisdom in the field of child therapy. In this keynote, he shares stories that have shaped his path—like the moment Rosie, a trained facility dog, sat beside a child in court and quietly changed what safety could feel like in that space.
David’s work has always centered on presence. Not just being in the room, but offering the kind of steady kindness that lets a child know they’re not alone. He reminds us that healing doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes it comes through a soft look, a warm breath, a shared moment of stillness.
This conversation is a chance to hear from someone who has spent his life helping children feel safe enough to heal and to remember how much that still matters.💙
Monday’s Lineup
Terry Kottman
Stickers in Play Therapy: Tiny Tools with Big Symbolic Power
Bianca Kisselburg
Inner Healing, Outside
The Roots, Rhythms, and Repair of Old Wounds Through Nature-Based and Symbolic Play
Alzi Faubion
Setting Up a Play Therapy Space with Intention and Heart
Joyce Wilkerson
Play, Rhythm, and Regulation: Therapeutic Tools for Nervous System Support in Therapy
Roz Heiko
How Sand Therapy Transcends Words for Deep Healing
Sabra Starnes
Beyond the Book: Continuing the Story with Sandtray and Bibliotherapy with Sabra Starnes
Loni Fagel
Expressive vs. Creative Therapies: Know the Difference, Deepen Your Impact
Dr KatySue Tillman
The Integrity of Play Therapy in a Digital World
Jenn Sims
Play Therapy: What It Is, Why It Helps, and When a Child Needs It
Tuesday’s Lineup
Heather Denbrough
Creating Connection: Using Sandtray to Support Parent-Child Relationships
Waldo Winborn
Walking the Path Together: Parent-Child Sand Therapy for Trauma Integration
Dr. Kristin Wallace
Parental Alienation: What Therapists Need to Know, What Helps, and How to Stay Professionally Protected
Liana Lowenstein
Supporting Grieving Children After Traumatic Deaths
Paris Goodyear-Brown
Holding Hard Stories and Telling the Truth to the Children
Dana Wyss
After the Loss: Supporting Grieving Kids Through Art
Theresa Fraser
Supporting Adoptive Families with Care: What Helps, What Hurts, and What Matters Most
Wednesday’s Lineup
Dr. Clair Mellenthin
Attachment Repair in the Playroom: 3 Simple Interventions That Rebuild Connection
Dr Robert Grant
Follow Me: Why Child-Led Therapy Matters for Neurodivergent Kids
Andrea Greer
Not What's Wrong, But What’s Strong: A Compassionate Approach to Child Therapy
Robyn Gobbel
Why Did They Just Do That?! Making Sense of Lying, Stealing, and Other Big Behaviors
Traci Pirri
Is This Dissociation? A Conversation About What to Notice, What to Do, and What Comes Next
Dr. Lisa Shadburn
Thursday’s Lineup
Lisa Dion
Where Entrepreneurial Therapists Feel Stuck: A Conversation About Money, Worth, and Growth
Ann Meehan
A Simpler, More Practical Way to Approach Play Therapy Documentation
Claudia Ocampo
Doing More with Less: Creative and Sustainable Child Therapy on a Budget
Jocelyn Fitzgerald
AI for Good: Therapeutic Support, Child Safety, and the Ethics We Can't Ignore
Alisha and Catherine Denham
Held, Shaped, and Offered: The HArtwork of Creating Sandtray Miniatures
Deb McManus
The Power of AND
Small Language Shifts That Make a Big Difference in Child Therapy
Stacy Schaffer
3 Things the Children in Therapy Taught Me (That No One Else Could)
Janine Halloran
3 Practical Coping Skills for Every Child Therapist’s Toolbox
Friday Lineup
Lindsey Biel
Sensory Challenges in the Playroom: What Every Child Therapist Needs to Know
Rachel Altvater
What You Can’t See: How Trauma Shapes Perspective in the Kids We Support
Katie K. May
Not Resistant, Not Attention-Seeking: What Teen Behavior Is Actually Trying to Say
Danielle Maizel
Forced Resilience: What a Crab With a Garbage Square Teaches Us About Survival
Cary Hamilton
ADHD and play therapy.
Joye Newman
Why Movement Matters for Every Child
Darlene Brace
Playful Yoga Moves to Help Kids Feel Regulated, Strong, and Connected
Karen Fried
Executive Functioning: What It Is, When Support Is Needed, and How Child Therapists Can Help
Jackie Flynn
Why Play Therapy: How the Brain Heals Through Play, Who It Helps, What It Supports, and Where It Belongs
Want Lifetime Access and Bonus Content?
When you purchase during the event or before it ends, you’ll receive lifetime access for just $147. After the event, the price increases to $297.
The Therapist Extraordinaire Pass gives you access to all 37 expert presentations, along with downloadable materials, creative tools, and special bonus resources.
You’ll also get 3 meaningful bonuses each day of the symposium. That’s 15 gifts waiting for you—card decks for nervous system regulation, therapeutic visuals, books, course coupons, and more.
One of those bonuses is a 6-month pass to my course on Play Therapy and EMDR. It’s simple, clear, and packed with practical tools you can use right away.
This is your chance to keep the wisdom close. Return to it whenever you need to. Let it continue to shape and strengthen your work for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to attend live?
Nope! Each day’s presentations are available for 24 hours so you can watch at your own pace.
When will the sessions be available?
Sessions will be released each day from June 2–6, 2025. If you’re registered for the free access, you’ll see each day’s content open up at the start of that day and stay available for 24 hours.
Nothing will be visible before June 2, so don’t worry if your dashboard looks empty at first — everything will unlock in rhythm with the event.
Is this only for play therapists?
Not at all. This symposium is for anyone who supports children — including counselors, educators, occupational therapists, and curious caregivers.
Can I get CE credits?
The symposium itself does not offer CE credit. However, one of the bonus trainings included in the Therapist Extraordinaire Pass may be eligible for CE depending on your credentialing board.
How long do I have access?
With free registration, you’ll have access to each day’s content for 24 hours. With the Therapist Extraordinaire Pass, you’ll get lifetime access to all materials and bonuses.
What if I register and miss a day?
No worries — you can upgrade at any time to unlock full access and catch anything you missed.