Game Therapy Workshop - Cognitive-Behavioral Play Therapy

The workshop is an introduction to Game Therapy suitable for both children and adolescents. No prior clinical experience with children or Game Therapy is required. You will develop skills as a game therapist with a combination of instruction and hands-on training. The workshop will introduce the underlying cognitive–behavioral principles, guidelines in using games and the learning objectives for each of 10 games. You will then hone your skills by role playing the games in small groups. Dr. Berg will move among groups assuming the role of therapist or child to il-lustrate various concepts. Group members will then take turns practicing the role of therapist and receiv-ing feedback from Dr. Berg and other group mem-bers. Reconvening as a large group, participants will share their insights and address questions related to the role play experience.

• Identify the major constructs of cognitive-behavioral play therapy, psychodynamic and client-centered play therapy.
• Identify similarities of cognitive-behavioral play therapy to other play therapies
• Integrate cognitive-behavioral play therapy with other play therapies
• Identify the circumstances related to select-ing cognitive-behavioral play therapy over other play therapies
• Apply play therapy techniques (e.g., reflec-tive listening) to cognitive-behavioral play therapy
• Select the game(s) that best fits the pre-senting problem
• Select the game cards most appropriate for the child
• Model good responses to game cards
• Model the thinking processes associated with problem solving
• Coach the child to give a better response to a game card
• Ask therapeutically useful questions
• Use objective measures to assess treatment progress and outcome