Parsons Counseling Training Institute

This advanced clinical training transforms the therapeutic landscape by equipping mental health professionals with the specialized Oaklander Model, a dynamic, present-centered, and process-oriented therapeutic approach. Participants will learn to focus on the healthy integrated functioning of the total organism, including the senses, body, emotions, and intellect.

Through this program, clinicians will master the unique projective process, learning to have clients speak directly to the art they have created rather than responding to the therapist. The training emphasizes the "I-Thou" relationship, teaching clinicians how to be fully present and available as a collaborator rather than an expert.

Clinicians will develop expertise in:

• The Five-Step Projective Sequence: Guiding clients through Imaginative Experience, Sensory Expression, Narrative Description ("Be It"), Life Application, and Sense-Making.
• The "I Am" Experience: Utilizing embodiment and "I Am" statements to help children become more whole and aware of their existence in the world.
• Sandtray Dynamics: Applying key Gestalt concepts including Figure/Ground dynamics, Polarities, Contact Boundaries, and Unfinished Business within the tray.
• Self-Nurturing Work: Assisting children in reshaping internalized negative messages and working toward integration by reclaiming "split off" parts of the self.
• Managing Resistance: Implementing gentle approaches and energy tracking when clients struggle with "I Am" statements or experience "stuck places".
• Externalization: Using miniatures to bypass verbal defenses and provide concrete representations of abstract concepts.

This training represents a paradigm shift in child-focused interventions, focusing on the wholeness of the child and their ability to self-regulate.

Learning Objectives:

• Utilize the five-step Oaklander Sequence of play therapy (Imagine It, Make It, Be It, Now What, and Does It Fit) to facilitate symbolic expression and activate the therapeutic power of self-expression.

• Apply Gestalt play therapy techniques, including sandtray dynamics (polarities and contact boundaries) and "I Am" embodiment, to strengthen the child's contact functions and emotional regulation.

• Identify and assess contact/boundary disturbances and clinical resistance within the play therapy process to inform treatment planning and identify markers of therapeutic progress.

• Integrate cultural and social diversity (CSD) considerations into the Oaklander Model to ensure play therapy interventions and playroom environments are responsive to the child’s unique cultural background and intersecting identities.

3.5 CE hours for NBCC and APT. This workshop meets APT’s definition of Live Webinar.  

Work toward becoming a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) by attending this conference. Go to www.a4pt.org for more information.

Provider Information:

Parsons Counseling Training Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7101. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Parsons Counseling Training Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Parsons Counseling, LLC has been approved by APT as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, APT No. 17-496. Programs that do not qualify for APT credit are clearly identified. Parsons Counseling, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

If you have any questions regarding continuing education, the program, grievance issues, or learning objectives, please contact the Training Institute Coordinator at 859-985-7862 or by emailing [email protected].

Cancellations with 14 or more days' notice will receive a full refund minus a $25 administrative fee. Cancellations with less than 14 days' notice will not be refunded. A 50% credit towards a future trainings may be applied at discretion  of the training coordinator. Bundled or discounted registrations are non-refundable.