Advanced Child Development Course
with Components in Mindfulness-Based Play-Family Therapy & Supervision
*** Leads to becoming a Registered Play Therapist ***
The Advanced Child Development Course (ACDC) is based on the philosophy that understanding the emotional causes and effects that occur in the child's developmental history greatly enhances a therapist's effectiveness in guiding a child's healing beyond temporary symptom relief into deep and lasting personal change. In addition to the major theme of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy, this program is a strong post graduate training in child development, rooted in the work of Margaret Mahler. A group of parents with their babies and toddlers, from infancy to three, visits the class four times through the year. The theories we are reading about come alive in the classroom as we get to observe the developmental changes happening in this diverse group with eight one hour and fifteen minute observations over the two years. Also included are attachment theory, Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), affect regulation, and trauma theories and much more.
The training includes a strong emphasis on developing a solid multifaceted framework that links the problems of early development to the issues that bring children to play-family therapy at later ages. Therapists learn how to explain these links to the parent and how to include this knowledge in the basis of the treatment. Therapists report a dramatic improvement in their ability to engage the child and parent in one-on-one interactions as well as in being able to communicate separately at regularly scheduled parent feedback meetings. Attention is given to working mindfully with the parents who are encouraged to understand how their own issues have contributed to the problems that the child is presenting.
The ACDC is a two-year course which meets every other Friday for three hours, from September to May, seventeen weeks per year, and also includes twenty hours of supervision. See the brochure for a description of the multiple classes in play therapy that are the foundation of this course. The ACDC is for therapists who want to be very grounded working with children and families, and it is particularly recommended for therapists seeking the credential of Registered Play Therapist (RPT) with the Association for Play Therapy.
All courses taken at the Family and Play Therapy Center to meet the RPT credential. Requirements for the RPT credential can be completely fulfilled by taking courses at the Family and Play Therapy Center. We also welcome RPT and RPT-S therapists, psychologists, family therapists, counselors, art therapists and all who desire a stronger child development foundation combined with play therapy, family therapy and parenting. There are no term papers or examinations.