I Don’t Wanna Talk About It: Working with Hard-to-Engage Children, Youth & Families

When young clients have been traumatized, they often disengage from others even helpers. Understanding the reasons underlying this “resistance” is the first step in the therapeutic process. For many clients including young children and teens, entering therapy is a fearful process. They may feel a lack of control over the decision to attend therapy or that they are being scapegoated for family problems. As a result, even the most seasoned clinicians may experience challenges and frustration trying to engage them. 

Description

The first step is understanding the reasons beneath what has been called “resistance.” The second step involves engaging clients in the therapeutic process to build rapport, facilitate open communication, and help the client work through treatment goals. Participants will learn to recognize the reasons why some children and families may be “hard to reach”.  

 You will learn tips, tricks, and techniques to engage children, adolescents, and parents in therapy and maximize potential for change. Emphasis will be on play-based, expressive arts techniques for use with preschool, school-aged, and adolescent clients, including therapeutic games, art, music, and stories. Strategies for engaging parents in therapy will be outlined, as well as activities for use in child-focused family therapy sessions. 

Learning Outcomes 

  1. Describe the factors underlying therapeutic resistance. 
  2. Implement creative interventions to facilitate rapport-building with children of all ages. 
  3. Utilize innovative strategies to engage resistant, hard to serve parents. 
  4. Implement play-based and expressive arts techniques with clients who are reluctant to verbally articulate their thoughts and feelings. 
  5. Utilize activities for child-focused family therapy sessions. 

Who Should Attend  

This course is suitable for clinicians and therapists working with children and youth and with their families. 

Course Dates & Format  

There are no scheduled dates for this course at this time, however in-service is available.

This is a 6-hour training. This course consists of two 3-hour interactive virtual sessions using Zoom. 

Instructor:  Liana Lowenstein, MSW, RSW 

Liana Lowenstein is a Certified Play Therapist-Supervisor, and Certified TF-CBT specialist in practice in Toronto since 1988. She is recognized for her innovative work including numerous books on child and family therapy. Liana is frequently invited to give presentations throughout Canada and abroad. She provides clinical supervision to mental health practitioners, runs a play-therapy internship program, and consults to several mental health agencies. She served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Child and Play Therapy for nine years and is the former Education Chair of the Canadian Play Therapy Certificate Program. She is winner of the Monica Herbert award for outstanding contribution to play therapy in Canada. 

Training Fee 

Group Registration: Save 20% off individual fees with a group registration of 4 or more participants. Download the group registration form HERE.

Continuing Education Information  

Licensing boards and professional organizations will grant Continuing Education credits for attendance at their discretion when participants submit the course outline and certificate.  

In-Service  

This is available as an in-person or virtual in-service training and customized to suit your needs. 

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