Child-Centered Play Therapy

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) is a very effective and frequently used form of play therapy in its own right, and it has been applied with a wide range of child and family difficulties. CCPT is sometimes referred to as Non-Directive Play Therapy, and is considered a foundational form of play therapy, and is actually much more complex than many people believe. This is a great course to start with for those who have not had much in-depth play therapy training.

This 10-hour course includes a powerpoint, detailed handout, and video of the instructor explaining the concepts and uses of CCPT, as well as session videos.

Child-Centered Play Therapy

Introduction to Filial Therapy

Filial Therapy simultaneously addresses child problems, helps parents develop effective ways of interacting with their children, and is designed to create healthy parent-child attachment relationships. In this 10-hour video-based course, Dr. VanFleet provides an overview of the entire process of Filial Therapy. The course shows how to train and supervise parents as they conduct special nondirective play sessions with their own children, and how to incorporate family issues in a mutual problem-solving process that benefits children and parents alike.

Introduction to Filial Therapy

Parents as Partners in Play Therapy

This 3-part series, prerecorded from live webinars offered in 2020, focuses on providing insights and skills for therapists to help them work more effectively with parents and other caregivers. The workshop draws on the major family therapy and play therapy contributions of Dr. Bernard Guerney and Dr. Louise Guerney as elucidated by Dr. Risë VanFleet, providing practical, empathic, and effective ways of approaching parents. The webinars are consistent with the evidence-based approach of Filial Therapy co-created by the Guerneys, but attendees need not be familiar with it to benefit from these sessions.

Parents as Partners in Play Therapy

Overcoming Resistance: Engaging Parents in Play Therapy

When therapists work with children, they also work with their parents or caregivers. The relationship with parents can have a huge impact on the course of therapy. Parental resistance to play and family therapies can take many forms. Some parents expect that therapy alone with “fix” their children; others are skeptical about the entire process. This 4-hour video-based online course explores the types and sources of parental resistance to play and family therapies and provides viewers with practical methods for working with challenging families. This course includes ways to explain play therapy and Filial Therapy to parents who might be skeptical, as well as ways to handle many different forms of resistance. The course includes several video demonstrations of the methods by Dr. VanFleet.

Overcoming Resistance: Engaging Parents in Play Therapy

Proceedings of the 2023 AAPT Conference

On February 20-21, 2023, we held our third annual online Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ Conference, It featured 12 presentations which are now available, collectively, as a self-paced online course. Continuing education credits are available.

Proceedings of the 2023 AAPT Conference

Proceedings of the 2022 AAPT Conference

On March 2-3, 2022, we held our second annual online Animal Assisted Play Therapy® Conference. It featured 12 presentations which are now available, collectively, as a self-paced online course. Continuing education credits are available.

Proceedings of the 2022 AAPT Conference

Therapeutic Writing by Animals

An online course developed from a webinar featuring Kirrie, therapeutic writing author with her typist, Risë VanFleet, PhD, RPT-S, CDBC, CAEBC-I

Therapeutic Writing by Animals

Human-Animal Relationships in AAPT: Special Topics

This 4-part series, recorded from live webinars offered in 2020, focuses on special topics designed to enhance participants’ understanding of the human-animal relationship in Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) and Animal Assisted Play Therapy® (AAPT). The co-creators of AAPT, Risë VanFleet and Tracie Faa-Thompson, focus on multiple species in their sessions, with an emphasis on dogs and horses. The other presenters, Val Miraglia and Jodi Smith, focus primarily on dogs, although the general principles will apply to all species involved in this work.

Human-Animal Relationships in AAPT: Special Topics

Canine Communication in Animal Assisted Play Therapy®, 2nd edition

Despite sharing our lives with dogs for years, it is often the case that we are unaware of the many ways that they are constantly communicating. They use virtually every part of their body to communicate, and the study of canine body language provides us with a deeper understanding of our dogs. This course is designed to help you become more aware of the ways that dogs communicate and why it is so important for you to become adept at observing and understanding what they are saying at all times, including during therapy or educational sessions in which they participate.

Canine Communication in Animal Assisted Play Therapy®, 2nd edition

Selection of Dogs for Family Life & Therapy Work

This self-paced online course has been developed to provide practical and up-to-date information that will help you acquire a dog who is more likely to fit well with your family and work, helping you make a more informed choice. It is designed to help you determine the attributes that you want or need in the dog, and to help you look more fully for those characteristics in the puppies or dogs being considered. Information is provided about acquiring puppies from responsible breeders as well as how to adopt dogs from rescues or shelters.

Selection of Dogs for Family Life & Therapy Work

Essentials of Canine Behavior & Training for Animal Assisted Play Therapy®

This self-paced course has been created to provide the practitioner of Animal Assisted Play Therapy® or other Animal Assisted Interventions with a solid background in canine behavior and training. It is likely to be useful to others who wish to learn more about canine socialization, behavior, and training, and how these relate to our relationships with dogs as well as to the work we ask them to do.

Essentials of Canine Behavior & Training for Animal Assisted Play Therapy®

Introduction to Animal Assisted Play Therapy®

This course is intended as a thorough introduction, but not as an in-depth training program. People completing the course will have a solid understanding of the possibilities and procedures for AAPT, but should not begin the practice of AAPT based upon this single course.

Introduction to Animal Assisted Play Therapy®