What’s the Difference Between Play Therapy and Using Play in Therapy?

Happy International Play Therapy Week! 🎉

What is play therapy—and how is it different from simply using games and activities in therapy sessions?

This is a common and critical question for mental health professionals working with children. While games, art, and activities are often part of therapy, play therapy is a distinct, evidence-based clinical approach grounded in child development, theory, and the therapeutic relationship.

In this special International Play Therapy Week conversation, I’m joined by four play therapists who share their personal journeys into play therapy and why they chose this work. Together, we explore not just what play therapy is—but why it matters so deeply for children and families.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What defines play therapy as a therapeutic modality
  
  
  
• Why play therapy is more than “using games in therapy”
  
  
  
• The three essential components that differentiate play therapy from expressive activities and interventions
  
  
  
• How understanding these differences improves clinical decision-making and therapeutic outcomes for children
  
  
  
• Real-world experiences from play therapists who have seen the power of play therapy in action
  
  
  

Play therapy has become a leading approach for helping children process trauma, regulate emotions, and heal within safe therapeutic relationships. Gaining clarity about what play therapy truly is—and what it is not—supports ethical practice, stronger case conceptualization, and greater confidence in clinical work.

Join us in celebrating International Play Therapy Week by deepening your understanding of play therapy, hearing from fellow play therapists, and reconnecting with the heart of why this work matters.

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

Transcript

Cathi Spooner: 0:02

Welcome to Next Level Play Therapy. A weekly podcast dedicated to supporting the next generation of child and adolescent therapists to provide exceptional play therapy services. We'll explore all things play therapy. To elevate your work with children and adolescents using the therapeutic powers of play. I'll discuss practical tips and ideas so you can provide a transformative experience for your young clients and make a real difference in their lives. So get ready to take your play therapy skills to the next level and make a lasting impact in the lives of children, adolescents, and families. Hey there. Welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy. I was trying to go live on Instagram. It's not working out very well. Um, let me keep trying. For those of you watching on LinkedIn and um, YouTube welcome to this week's episode. It is International Play Therapy Week, and as play therapists, I thought it would be fun to have some actual play therapists with us today. And so I, I gathered together some of our um, I'm still trying to figure out, I don't know. Brill, if you can fit. Brill is my virtual assistant on the backend, so I cannot, it's not going live. It's not going live on Instagram this week. Um, but anyways, I thought it would be fun to, I. Um, have some actual play therapists in the field talking about play therapy and why being a play therapist makes a difference. And so that's what we're gonna talk about today. And what actually is play therapy. And why is that? Why is that different than kind of that idea of pulling out games and toys? As a way to help children talk. And so in this episode I wanna talk first a little bit about what exactly is play therapy and then we will have a conversation with play therapists about why, why become a play therapy, what kind of drew you to this field? So let's do some introductions. Why don't we have, um, Heidi, if you wanna go ahead and do an introduction of yourself and then we'll have Amy, Julie, and Malia. Okay. Hi, my name is Heidi Ton and I, um, just got my LCSW license and I'm working towards my RPT, my registered play therapy license. Um. I work for Red Sand Psychiatry, restorative therapy, and counseling, and my main clientele are kids and teens, so that's me. All righty. How do you wanna go next? Oh, I think you got Heidi, but I'll go next. Oh, I meant Amy. I'm still both multitasking. I'm still trying to get Instagram back. I might as well just give up. Get up. Amy Robinson. I'm an LCSW. I'm also certified in EMDR and I'm working towards my RPT. Um, I work at Red Sand Psychiatry with Heidi and I. I see about half kids and half adults. I really specialize in combining play therapy and EMDR together. Awesome. Thank you. Hi, I am Julie Blake. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist and registered play therapist. I work at Ascend Counseling kids and teens. Um, with my colleague Malia. I specialize in working with kids and adults, um, in play therapy and trauma. All right. Good morning. I'm Malia McDermott. I'm A-L-M-F-T and working towards my RPTI, um, spent some time, um, after getting licensed to set up a clinic, so that was fun and took a lot of time and energy, but now I'm pouring that into becoming more legit and getting my registered play therapist. Um. Trademark. Um, and I do work at Ascend Counseling Kids and teens. Um, it's my baby, uh, and I get to lead the team. But, um, really just be inspired by all the wonderful people that come through our doors. And, um, I like connecting with the community, so I know Heidi and Amy as well. And, um, I get to be in Kathy's group twice a month, which is awesome. Thanks for having us. Yes, welcome. Um, so this week I wanted to talk about, well, like we talk about play therapy all the time, and I think nowadays play therapy has really become kind of the go-to modality and people think about when you do, when you work with kids, they're gonna do some type of play therapy. What I've noticed is there's not always a real full understanding of what exactly is play therapy and what sets it apart from maybe pulling out games and toys and art supplies, and using that as a way to help children talk. So essentially, really using a traditional talk therapy mindset when you are providing. Counseling services to young children and I, I think play therapy is a fundamental mindset shift and most of us in, when we were in graduate school, most of us, we didn't really get any training.'cause most of the graduate school programs don't really. Offer any kind of courses about play therapy. I would say with the except exception for Julie Julie's program did offer some play therapy course. Oh, yours did too. As Malia. Oh, that's awesome. Um, and so really the things that set play therapy apart, and I would, I would be curious what you guys think about this, um, is. The way that the Association for Play Therapy defines what is play therapy is that it is a, um, using a theoretical model to access the therapeutic powers of play within the context of a strong therapeutic relationship. I think most of us get the relationship piece. Um, and the thing that I think is the mindset shift. For play therapy is that you're actually using a theoretical model to influence how you're gonna help your clients access the therapeutic powers of play, and that therapeutic model is gonna influence how you make sense of what's going on in the session. It's also gonna influence how you show up, so what you say, how you say it, and what you do. And what happens at each stage of the play therapy process. Is also gonna be influenced by your play therapy specific model. Like a lot of people, like Amy talked about a a little bit of an integrative model, meaning I know Amy does child center play therapy and also integrates in EMDR. So even when we say we're using an integrative approach, it's still theory based. It's still using your theoretical model to guide how you make sense. Like EMDR is gonna help you think of, is gonna influence the way you think of what's going on in the session, what you're gonna say, how you're gonna say, and what you're gonna do, versus it's a little different with child-centric play therapy that looks a little bit different. So I'm curious for you guys, um, how you would. Define play therapy. When people ask you about being a play therapist or what play therapy is what, what do you think sets play therapy apart? So why don't, we'll start with Julie 'cause she's the OG here and then we'll, yeah. I love trying to, to talk to people about play therapy. I think a lot of like parents that come in maybe don't know what it is or have heard of it, and so I think it's. Basically to start letting them know that the play is a children's language and toys are their words, and just to kind of give them that basic understanding. But then it's also important to connect it to how a PT defines play therapy. So we're not just like grabbing an idea off of Pinterest, but we're really grounded in like those 10, um, historical and significant theories that a PT defines, and we're allowing those. What methods that have been researched for years and evidence-based to guide how we, um, use this meeting of medium of play to, um, have the child process emotions and work through feelings. But it, it is, um, important to explain to, to parents because it is different than like an adult and talk therapy. So, yeah, I, I think that's. A really awesome way of saying it too, the way you kind of broke that down. Um, it's just the developmental stage that the kids are at. It's, it's really addressing where they are at developmentally. So, yeah. Yeah, and I think that's an important point as well, that developmental piece. Um, Malia, I don't know what, if you had anything to add and. I think, um, Julie nailed it by saying that the, the play is their language and the toys are their words. Right? Like, um, if you were to kind of put that into an adult model, um, that therapist sitting across from an adult is using a model or integrating, but using an evidence-based. Model that they learned, um, and are passionate about, most likely, and have done a lot of trainings in Right? Like we, we are constantly getting those and um, and they are using that to inform how they're. Conducting therapy, it's, it's probably 90% the relationship between the therapist and the client and building that safe space and that sense of trust. And then applying the model and, and using that to inform the therapy and making sense of it. And interpreting, interpreting it. And then with kids, we're still doing that, right? Our model is a play therapy model. And we are still applying that and interpreting what's happening in the playroom. Um. You can really see it when we are looking for themes. For example, if we're pulling a theme out, what, mm-hmm. Was this an aggressive theme? Were they showing, you know, were they expressing that in some way or who are the characters? Um, and we're careful not to over-interpret, but, but we are looking to extrapolate some of those. Those main themes to understand their play. Um, but sometimes I just tell people I'm a professional UNO player. I love that. I always play an uno. I think it was yes. Or earlier this week. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. And I, um. I, I think that kind of highlights also play therapy is a di is the mindset shift in that we're looking at what's happening in the session to make sense of, like you talked about the play themes. That's the way they communicate and then we kind of use our training and and supervision to help us figure out what it is they're communicating.'cause you can get a lot. Through just what's going on in the playroom. How about you, Amy? Oh, so when I'm talking to parents, I think to me play, I mean, play is the language of kids, right? But kids innately know how to heal themselves. And most often adults get in the way. Right. And play is the way that kids do it. And we just kind of amplify that, right? By narrating, by reflecting. There's like this gentle guidance, but they kind of already know they'll trauma play and then they will move to Play-Doh and regulate. Like it's trusting that they know what they need. But guiding them a little bit and as they see that trust or fill that trust, then it it, like they build self-esteem. They start to build problem solving skills. They're, they can manage their anxiety more. All of those things they can play through the trauma. And it's because we trust them. We trust that they're gonna show us what they need and then we can offer 'em tools once they show us that. Spoken like a true child-centered play therapist. Trust the child to innately know what needs to happen. Right. Well said. Um, how about you, Heidi? I think of parents who would often say, Hey, I need you to go in to their kid and talk to your therapist about what happened at school. Yeah. Or I need you to talk about this issue that's happening at school. And this can be a five-year-old. Right. And almost always, if you were to try to ask that kid, Hey, your mom wants me to talk about what happened at school, nine times out of 10, they're going to say, I don't remember. I don't know. Right, and sometimes they do that as avoidance to not talk about it, but a lot of times they do it because they're not fully developed yet with their brain. You know, they're not fully rational and logical, yet they don't have the abstract thinking skills to be able to process conversations like adults do. But as soon as you get them involved in play over time and building the relationship, you see those skills. Develop, you see, um, trauma being, you know, worked through and anxiety, depression worked through, and they just naturally learn how to do that and they don't even realize that they're doing it. Most often we do, but they don't. Yeah, it's pretty amazing to watch them do that in the session. I would, I would say, um. Uh, and I think that's, I think you guys all gave a really kind of good understanding of why is play therapy different, you know, like it's, it's a fundamental shift in our thinking about how police, how, how therapy is supposed to work in that. The, the association for, I mean, um, well, yes. The Association for Play Therapy talks about the therapeutic powers of play. The therapeutic powers of play, really focus on play is the vehicle. It's the way and which we children heal. It's not like talking about, um. Talking about, like you were saying, Heidi, go in there and talk about what happened. They were like, I don't, I don't know. Um, but even I get that with older kids too, I don't know. Um, which is, I think a lot of times their way of saying, I don't, I'm not ready. But we can use those therapeutic powers of play, of self-expression, indirect teaching, attachment, social skills. We can use the therapeutic powers of play to really facilitate the healing. They'll do it through the play. They don't, and it, I kind of think of it as a way of even like bypassing, um, bypassing the cognitive areas and going right to implicit experiences stored away in the body. What do you guys think? I don't know, Amy. Um, Julie, if you wanted to. Add to that. Yeah, no, I love how you just said that, how it just bypasses the cognitive it, it is such a deep work. It goes right to where the kids need to, where they need to process their emotion. Whereas, you know, adults might spend a lot of time like in that cognitive space, talking, talking, talking. But kids can just. Jump right. To do that work and, and get to that, you know, emotional processing of those, those deep feelings. So it, it's, it's really amazing to get to watch this process and, and be a part of, be a part of that with the kids. Yeah. I don't know if any of you guys, I, Amy, Malia or Heidi wanted to add to that. I think that, um, like a good example would be, let's say a kid is trying to deal with the death of their family pet in the playroom. They would likely, um, play that out by taking care of a stuffed animal, making it all better being the veterinarian, walking the stuffed animal through that process. Um, maybe even. Um, in their own way saying goodbye. Um, you, you, you see the magic happen right in front of you 'cause the parent maybe clued you into what was going on, but then you watch the kid play it out unprompted and you're just like, wow. Play therapy really works. Yeah. So let me ask you guys, I'm curious for you. Um, why did you become a play therapist? So, I don't know, Heidi. Heidi, if you wanna start like what, because becoming a play therapist is not just about going to graduate school and learning counseling, it's really about going through that process. Here in the United States, we have the Association for Play Therapy and they have the registered play therapy credential. Uh, uh, there are other kind of entity entities outside the US that are doing similar things. All of the things they have in common are, there are requirements to do that. Like even the association, I keep these nearby. These are the, um, competencies to be a play therapist. There are three categories. Of competencies that you are expected to master. So what, what, what would you say is the reason why become a play therapist? Why invest that time? For me, it sounds cheesy, but I love to learn and I knew that, um, going for an RPT and working towards that would really help me to become kind of an expert in this field and to learn as much as I can about it. Um, I love that. Play Therapy Academy has a group. We're in a group, we consult with each other, we have a supervisor, and we are able to come and bounce ideas off each other and consult with each other about our cases and, you know, difficult situations we deal with. I also think that it makes us a little more marketable if we have an RPT. Um, it gives us kind of that, that title to people that says, Hey, I know what I'm doing. I'm trained, you know, and. I think when schools or hospitals or these bigger institutions are looking for referrals for children, I think that makes us more marketable to be able to put ourselves out there. Yeah, I think that's a good point. Also, like it says, you've accomplished these competencies. Yeah. Yeah. How about you, Amy? Yeah, I kind of agree with what Heidi said. It's interesting because. So many people will say, I do play therapy, and that might mean that they pull out a deck of UNO cards. Yeah, it does not necessarily mean. That they're trained in play therapy because there's a lot more to it. And I lean towards going towards my RPT because as a therapist, my belief is that we should always continually be seeking consultation or supervision, no matter how far we are in our licensing. And the RPT programs, actually, I think Julie and I made a joke about it, it's almost worse than your master's program trying to get your RPT, but. That says something, right? It says something about the knowledge that you gain. And I feel the same way about EMDR and combining 'em together. Like EMDR has the certification and the ongoing that the model in EMDR is almost the same. You should always be seeking supervision and consultation, and I think that that's what makes good therapists. And so getting your RPT is just kind of a natural process if you want to be a good play therapist. Yeah. How about you, Julie? Yeah, I, I agree. You know, with Heidi and Amy too, I, um, also feel like I'm a lifelong learner. And so I feel like that it's important for me to learn from others who have researched and done this for years. And so, you know, when I knew I wanted to be a play therapist, I wanted make sure that I, um, you know, had really good training. And so the Association for Play Therapy, um, is just. Have has provided us this opportunity where we can, um, get, you know, their credential process is really hard. Like Amy said, I do feel like I spent as much time on it or more than my, my MFT degree. Um, but I feel like, I feel like, um, in order for me to, to, to provide that, um. You know, adequate service to families and kids that I need to be adequately trained to. And I think it's important for us as professionals to belong to organizations that hold us, you know, kind of accountable and, and to help us provide evidence-based treatment rather, you know, than just. Grabbing an idea and, and I also, you know, agree with Heidi that I feel like if I'm a parent and I'm looking for someone to help my child, I am gonna feel a lot, like more, I can trust them if they've earned their registered play therapist credential. They've really, you know, been trained a lot and, and so I might, you know, trust them more with my kiddo. How about you, Malia? Um, I think Amy, you just accidentally coined a new phrase for us. The ABCs right. Is always be consulting. Um, but yeah, those, those are all the same reasons why I'm seeking my to be a registered play therapist and get that legitimacy title. But for me it's been more about the journey of that and the learning and, um. The con, the consultation group. I don't want to stop doing that. Um, we don't want you to stop either. I know. It's so great and you know, like, um, that, that does need to exist in our field, right? We could, if the more isolated we are, the worse. We get as therapists. So the continued learning, um, the applied application or the applied learning by bringing cases to consult with others is just, it's, um, it's great. I, in my marriage and family therapy, um, program, we had a therapy class, we had a, um. We had a couple of like how to work with children and families and like, uh, obviously the marriage and family therapy. I didn't really care for the marriage part. Um, in fact, I prefer to work with divorced couples'cause you know, like you can't screw 'em up anymore. But, um, only only way to go is up. Um, but working with kids is just, I don't know, it's dynamic and it's fun and you don't know what you're gonna get and every hour is different. And that just tickles my brain, right? Like I just love working with. Kids, they're so honest and authentic and they just bring their real selves. Um, and, and their walls aren't built yet sometimes. Um, and it's just a beautiful process to be part of. And I do wanna bring that legitimate, um, training to it and make sure that I'm showing up, um, as best I can for those kids.'cause also we're planting seeds for therapy to be a good experience so that later in life. When they need a therapist again, they're, they're like, yeah, that was a good experience. I really liked that person. Yeah, I remember. So, uh, you guys probably know this and I, I've, I've mentioned this on the, um. Live streaming podcast episodes. In the past, like I got introduced to play therapy, I knew I always wanted to work with kids. I was gonna go save the world. Like every good little therapist. We started out wanting to save the world. Um, but I, I remember I always wanted to work with kids and I was a special ed teacher back in the eighties, 1980s. And the school psychologists and social worker were doing this play therapy thing. And I worked in a, a center, a special education center for children elementary age who had emotional problems. So to the extent that they could not be in a, a regular classroom. And so, um, anyways, long story short, we did the, that's where I got introduced to it and I saw what. Amazing changes. Just doing a, a play therapy group with the school psychologist and I with the kids in my classroom. There were 12 of 'em and we would do these, uh, act out fairytales based on Bruno Bedel, Himes, the uses of Enchantment, and that was kind of the catalyst that got me going back to grad school. I realized I wanted to this, to do this therapy thing. Um, and so went back to graduate school and then nobody knew how to do it. And I, I just floundered until I finally back in like the 2000, like 2002, 2003. I think somebody, 'cause it was like there was no internet around either. It was just beginning, so it's not like you could find things and got introduced to it and it made such a difference.'cause I felt like a giant fraud. Half the time because I, I wasn't sure what I was doing. And typically supervisors, well intentioned, I had some awesome supervisors would just say, well, you know, just pull out a worksheet. I hate worksheets. I mean, you can, they, they've got their uses. But I hate worksheets. I think, I think for me, all the things you guys said were like lifelong learning. I, I think for me, I wanted the confidence. I wanted the confidence to know that what I was doing wasn't gonna do any harm. Um, and I just kind of intuitively knew. That doing the worksheets wasn't gonna cut it for me.'cause I, I just kind of, and I had seen it too. I had experienced it with the school psychologist and so having, starting that process and having a play therapy supervisor and doing the courses for me gave me confidence. That like the training gave me the knowledge, but the supervision piece with the consultation gave me the confidence.'cause I remember going every week to my supervisor with a video, like, what am I doing now? What am I doing now? Like, help, help, help, help. Uh, because I felt like such a fraud in the beginning. Yeah, it was, it was awful. Um, which for me, like we're, we're. 20 years later, you know, and just seeing how the play therapy community has flourished and grown, like now people understand what I think most, most places, people understand what that RPT credential means. The registered plate therapist credential, which kind of got, led me into. Doing the consultation, which I love and I, you know, it's interesting 'cause I was, as you guys are talking, I'm thinking this is what I love. About Play Therapy Academy and also my other membership now that's up and running is Play Therapy Elevation Circle. We do the same thing. What I, I'm listening to you guys 'cause I, I throw out a question and I'm thinking about it a certain way and then you guys all share your insights and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, this is gold because you, there's so much depth, I think that gets added. To the discussion, and I find that when we're presenting cases in Play Therapy Academy, like you guys might pre be presenting a case. I'll start off like with the case conceptualization component and then, um. Then you guys start talking. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's gold. Oh my gosh, that's such a good point. Which gets everybody thinking a little bit more as well. So, um, for you guys, what, what is it about Play Therapy Academy that kind of helped you accomplish your skills? Um, I, Heidi, if you wanted to go first and we'll do Amy, Julie, and Malia. Malia rounds us up. Um, like we said earlier, everybody in our group kind of brings. New ideas and something different to the table. And I think that's extremely helpful. So we don't just get stuck in one way of thinking or one way of doing things. We're pretty open-minded to each other and we take each other's advice and we apply it a lot. Um, and that's been really helpful for me also, Kathy, in this group. Challenged me before, you know, I've been stuck on a situation with a parent and not knowing how to handle a situation or a conversation. And she will challenge me and she will say, Hey, let's role play this. You know, and to actually role play that with someone who knows what they're doing is extremely helpful. So, yeah, I think the, the benefit is. That anybody who's working on their RPT is doing a combination of group and individual supervision. And so when you have a therapist that's working on getting their RPT, you have like eight or 10 therapists. I don't think that parents or clients see that, right? It's like, Hey, you don't just get me. Whenever there's a problem, I'm talking to like eight other people and they're, try this, try this, or I've had experience with this type of client, and so there's just, I, I never walk away from a meeting, a supervision meeting without like learning something really valuable that I can use directly with one of my clients. I had to drop down and plug my laptop in because I was like, dang it. Like it's in the red zone. Yeah. So if you guys are watching on the video and you're like, where'd she go? Yes, I don't laptop. I sent a private message to these guy. I. Yeah, so Kathy, I was with you even before you created Play Therapy Academy. You know, and I would never be where I am without you. I couldn't even have gotten started in play therapy because there was no anyone, no anyone in St. George. And so like being able to work with you virtually, it just allowed me to even get started. So then when you transitioned our super group or our supervision group, you know, into Play Therapy Academy, I really loved how you had it set up. We had like. You know, I got to get my, some individual supervision and combined it with this like amazing group and discussions. And then you add like the trainings onto it too. So that helps work towards those 150 hours that we have to get. And it's like kind of one stop shopping. It's a, it's a good, it's just such a good resource and it is just this beautiful community. You know, I just get to make my play therapy therapist friends and just. And just build like these connections and associations so we can continue like to consult. And, um, yeah. It just, it just really helped me get there. It really helped me get to earn my credentials. Yeah. I, I lo, I love the community part, like I mm-hmm. I always hear that from you guys, but I'm like, I love it too. Like, I go there, I'm like, oh my gosh, they're so amazing. And even people who think, oh, I don't really have much to add, I'm new. I've heard pure gold come out, uh, because I think we're an intuitive group. And so what I find that I love so much about it is that like your insights add so much to it, and then I'll be thinking about it one way and you guys will like add depth to it. To, to make it even better. Like, I don't, I don't think individual, I mean, I like individual consultation and I think it's important, but I, I think we don't always, um, understand the value of the group piece. And yeah, the group is really where it's at too. Um, I've been a part of, it may will be three years, so I feel very lucky, but I'm also on the slow boat to the RPT, right? Like, that's okay. I slow and steady. Steady once road steady. Yep. I'm a turtle in ways. Um, but the group piece is so important, the community building, the learning from each other. Um. It might not be my turn to present, but I'm always, like Amy said, coming away with something right? That I'm like, oh, I can use that. Or, um, being inspired. Um, and it's the fastest hour and a half of the week and, um. And that group really did sh like, got me through some really hard times in my personal life and helped me get, feel grounded in as a professional. Um, and how to show up through grief and things that we deal with as adults, right. That are hard. Um, and knowing that even though that stuff was going on, I still wanted to show up to group. And that said a lot to me that I was like, oh, I'm not dreading this. I'm actually looking forward to it. Um. For many reasons, right? Like not just the amazing people, and the people have come and gone and our group has changed the dynamics of it, but the heart of it is still the same. So I love that your company is called Renewing Hearts because you really do bring your heart. To this, this field, and to us as co-pro professionals, right? Like you really lift up your peers. Um, what is that saying? A rising tide lifts all boats. And Kathy, you've been the rising tide for us, and I just appreciate that so much. That is nice. Yeah. Well, Malia, why don't you tell us a little bit, like if people are interested in connecting with you or finding out more about what you're doing. I am, you know, not as tech savvy as you are, maybe, or I don't have a, a virtual assistant. You're so funny. That's why I have amazing virtual assistant. I have my own Instagram, but it's just for my dogs. Um, but our website is as send cw.com. So that's an easy way to find the profile. There's always psychology today. Um. I am a big Seattle Seahawks fan, so if you, if you see that this week, we're in Super Bowl. Um, so maybe I wouldn't get back to you this week, but, um, uh, I don't know. I'm pretty easy to find on the internet, I guess. But, uh, but our, our website@thencw.com has all of our clinics listed and kids and teens is obviously one of them. Um, but I don't have my own LinkedIn. I don't, I have an Instagram for my dogs and that's, I'm pretty boring. So. So website and Psychology today? It is, yes. Yeah, sorry. I dunno. I wouldn't have social media if I didn't have to do it for renewing Heartstring. I feel like it's a lot of work. Yeah. How about you, Julie? Yeah. You can find me on Psychology today@ascendcw.com and on Facebook. Mm-hmm. Awesome. And then Heidi and then Amy. I am also on Psychology Today, or you can find me at contact@redsandpsychiatry.com. Or you can just Google my name and you can find me that way. Yeah, same Psychology Today, red 10, psychiatry. Um, either of those we're there. Awesome. Yeah. Um, so, and for those of you who might be interested in play Therapy Academy, I do have some openings right now. Um, so you can pop over to my website at RH Play Therapy Training. Dot com. That's renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training. Pop over to the supervision page. You'll see Play Therapy Academy. My other membership is Play Therapy Elevation Circle. That one does not get you the RPT credentialed, but it does get you the support. Um, it's just not as intensive as Play Therapy Academy, but we do do the consultation and the support in there. That one enrollment for that one's closed right now. If you are interested in Play Therapy Academy, go ahead and schedule the 30 minute video with, uh, video call with me, and then we can make sure it's a good fit because maybe Elevation Circle is a better fit. Um, but either way, go ahead and schedule the 30 minute video call with me and we can see if that works out. And I will see you guys for next week's episode. All right. Bye everyone. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy. I hope you found the discussion valuable and gain new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information. Remember. Play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth. Whether you're a new play therapist or experienced, I encourage you to continue your learning journey to unlock the potential of play in your own work in relationships. If you have any questions or topics, suggestions for future. I'd love to hear from you. Connect with me on social media and visit my website at Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training to stay updated on upcoming episodes, trainings, and resources. Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy. Until next time, keep playing, learning and growing.