EMDR with Kids: Integrating Play Throughout the 8 Phases with Fidelity
with Jackie Flynn, EdS, LMHC-S, RPT-S™ January 8,9,10, 2025 in Orlando, Florida
Imagine Transforming Your EMDR Practice in Person
Join us live in Orlando, Florida for a hands-on training that integrates play therapy into all 8 phases of EMDR with precision and fidelity. Over three days, you'll experience practical, in-person learning designed to enhance your skills and effectiveness with children and teens.
Course Highlights:
- Live, In-Person Experience: Engage directly in hands-on activities that blend play therapy with the 8 phases of EMDR.
- Play Integration with Fidelity: Learn to apply play techniques throughout each phase of EMDR, ensuring accurate and impactful interventions.
- Nervous System-Informed Methods: Use developmentally appropriate, nervous system-focused approaches to address a range of emotional and behavioral issues.
- Tailored for Developmental Needs: Adapt your play therapy strategies to support various stages of child and adolescent development.
- Comprehensive Tools and Resources: Receive a detailed manual, art supplies, bibliotherapy books, and a sand tray to use during and after the training.
Experience transformative learning that equips you with the tools to make a profound difference in your practice.
IMPORTANT: Eligibility for EMDRIA Credits is restricted to those who have completed an EMDRIA-Approved Basic EMDR Training.
Course Description:
This immersive, play therapy training equips therapists with the skills to integrate the healing power of EMDR with the developmental and therapeutic benefits of play and play therapy techniques. Through a comprehensive exploration of the 8-phase EMDR protocol—History Taking/Case Conceptualization, Preparation, Assessment, Desensitization, Reprocessing, Positive Cognition Installation, Body Scan, Closure, and Re-evaluation—participants will learn how to adapt play therapy interventions for children, adolescents, and clients across the lifespan. Play therapy approaches and play-based techniques are woven into each phase, ensuring that EMDR is delivered with fidelity while addressing the unique developmental and nervous system-informed needs of clients, particularly in trauma-sensitive contexts.
Participants will engage in practical demonstrations, case vignettes, and hands-on, play-based learning, exploring how play therapy can be tailored to different stages of child development, especially for children impacted by chronic stress and trauma. Key topics include attachment theory, affect regulation, and the use of play-based assessments, ensuring that all interventions are developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and focused on supporting the nervous system. The training emphasizes the essential role of play in fostering emotional regulation and healing, allowing children and adolescents to engage in therapy in a way that aligns with their developmental capacities and needs.
The training will also emphasize the importance of diversity and inclusivity, focusing on how to deliver EMDR and play therapy in ways that feel safe and customized to the unique cultural backgrounds of clients. Therapists will learn how to create environments that honor each client's cultural identity, providing trauma-informed care that is respectful and tailored to individual needs.
Therapists will also learn creative ways to integrate play therapy into virtual environments, ensuring continuity of care and therapeutic engagement in various settings. Special attention will be given to the integration of EMDR with Sandtray therapy, poetry, and other expressive, play-based methods to deepen access to traumatically stored material. The training will also focus on how to work effectively with special populations, ensuring that play therapy techniques are culturally considerate, inclusive, and adaptable. Participants will explore how play therapy can be used to develop therapeutic resources such as bibliotherapy, team-building activities, and strategies to help children find safety even in unsafe environments.
PRIOR TO OUR IN-PERSON MEETING: This training includes a pre-course, prerecorded refresher, to be completed no earlier than 3 weeks prior to the live training in Orlando, Florida. This ensures participants are fully prepared for the immersive, hands-on experience, where they will review the 8 phases of EMDR and foundational concepts such as traumatology, interpersonal neurobiology, and the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. By the end of this training, therapists will be equipped to foster healing, nervous system regulation, and deep connection across all ages, while staying true to EMDR fidelity through play-based interventions that are central to the therapeutic process and culturally sensitive.
IMPORTANT: Eligibility for EMDRIA Credits is restricted to those who have completed an EMDRIA-Approved Basic EMDR Training.
Our Schedule:
In-Person Learning (15 Hours Total):
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Day 1: 6 hours
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. -
Day 2: 6 hours
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. -
Day 3: 3 hours
8:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
On Your Own (Pre-Recorded Content - 3 Hours):
- EMDR Mini Refresher: Back to Baseline
The pre-recorded content must be completed before the live training begins.
EMDRIA: Jackie Flynn is an EC Provider (#19012), and this program (#19012-30) is approved for 18 EMDRIA Credits. Eligibility for EMDRIA Credits is restricted to those who have completed an EMDRIA-Approved Basic EMDR Training.
Association for Play Therapy: This training is approved by APT Approved Provider Jacqueline Flynn (#20-628) for 15 Live CE hours
Learning Objectives
- Describe the 8 phases of EMDR therapy, integrating play through case vignettes and documentation to ensure fidelity while adapting interventions conducive to the developmental needs of children and teens.
- Describe the stages of child development and their impact on the therapeutic process within play therapy, emphasizing nervous system-informed approaches.
- Discuss how play therapy techniques can be tailored to align with the developmental stages of children and adolescents to enhance therapeutic outcomes, considering nervous system-informed practices.
- Identify effective methods for assessing children through play therapy, ensuring that techniques are developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and nervous system-informed.
- Understand attachment theory and the effects of attachment wounding on a child's emotional and psychological development within the context of play therapy, incorporating nervous system-informed interventions.
- Explain how to recognize and address secondary gain in children and adolescents during play therapy to support adaptive changes, ensuring interventions are nervous system-informed.
- Discuss the importance of affect regulation in play therapy, teaching children developmentally appropriate ways to manage their emotions while considering the reciprocity of play.
- Demonstrate how to develop resources, including bibliotherapy, gathering a supportive team, and finding safety in the unsafe, in a developmentally appropriate way during play therapy (Phase 2: Preparation).
- Apply both non-directive and directive approaches in play therapy to meet the unique needs of children and adolescents throughout the EMDR therapy process, emphasizing the reciprocity of play.
- Prepare to gather comprehensive information from both parent/caregiver and child/adolescent through play therapy techniques, facilitating a thorough history-taking, case conceptualization, and treatment planning (Phase 1: History Taking and Case Conceptualization).
- Demonstrate how to effectively prepare child and adolescent clients through play therapy by enhancing emotional literacy, practicing grounding techniques, and engaging in resource development with imagery such as a calm place, container, and animal imagery (Phase 2: Preparation).
- Use play therapy techniques, like the “What Happened Next” drawing activity, to conduct assessments that identify targets and elicit developmentally appropriate positive and negative cognitions (Phase 3: Assessment).
- Demonstrate creative methods of Dual Awareness Stimulation (Bilateral Stimulation) within play therapy to support the desensitization and reprocessing of distress (Phase 4: Desensitization and Reprocessing).
- List play therapy techniques to reassess and reinforce positive cognitions (Phase 5: Installation).
- Identify play therapy techniques that assist children and adolescents in recognizing somatic distress and symptoms through a child-friendly body scan directive (Phase 6: Body Scan and Identification of Somatic Distress).
- Explain pendulation and titration techniques, using play-based approaches with children and adolescents to reduce somatic distress (Phase 7: Closure and Stabilization).
- Discuss how to educate child/adolescent clients and their parents/caregivers on resourcing and grounding techniques within play therapy to achieve stabilization and equilibrium (Phase 7: Closure and Stabilization).
- Observe the re-evaluation process within play therapy, involving the child/adolescent and/or their parents/caregivers to assess progress and plan next steps (Phase 8: Re-evaluation).
- Demonstrate the integration of all 8 phases of EMDR with Sandtray therapy, illustrating how these methodologies can be effectively combined within a play therapy context.
- Discuss the principles, techniques, and benefits of Sandtray therapy when used alongside EMDR in play therapy.
- Identify potential reasons to reconsider or delay EMDR therapy for a client, highlighting key considerations and contraindications within the context of play therapy.
- Describe the framework of EMDR, outlining its structural components and the theoretical basis that supports its use with children and adolescents in play therapy.
- Prepare strategies for explaining EMDR clearly and comprehensively to clients, parents, and caregivers within the context of play therapy.
- Identify the benefits and challenges of incorporating Sandtray therapy as a supplementary technique within each phase of the EMDR protocol in play therapy.
- Discuss theoretical instruction alongside practical demonstrations of each EMDR phase within play therapy, ensuring comprehensive understanding and application.
- Apply refined communication techniques within play therapy to effectively engage both child clients and their guardians, fostering a more responsive and nervous system-informed therapy process.
- Assess the understanding and skills of therapists in both traditional and innovative therapies, integrating play therapy with the latest research and practice insights into the training curriculum.
- Utilize play therapy approaches in virtual settings, effectively integrating techniques through Telehealth to maintain continuity of care and engagement with child clients.
Understand the unique considerations when working with special populations and diverse cultures, ensuring that play therapy techniques are adapted to be inclusive, respectful, and effective.
Experience the Best of Orlando Before or After Your Training
Orlando, Florida, is a fantastic place to visit in January, with its warm, sunny weather providing a perfect escape from the winter chill. Whether you're traveling with family or on your own, there’s plenty to do before or after the training. You can dive into the magic of Walt Disney World, explore the thrills of Universal Studios, or spend a day at SeaWorld. If you're looking for a more relaxing experience, you can easily take a short drive to nearby beaches on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for some sun and sand. For something truly inspiring, the Kennedy Space Center offers an unforgettable look into space exploration. Orlando really has something for everyone, whether you’re up for adventure or just want to unwind!
Important Information for EMDR with Kids: Integrating Play Throughout the 8 Phases
Training Location:
University of Central Florida Digital Learning Center
12351 Research Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826
Who is Eligble to Attend?
Eligibility for EMDRIA Credits is restricted to those who have completed an EMDRIA-Approved Basic EMDR Training.
Dates:
January 8-10, 2025
Traveling In?
Here are some convenient hotel options nearby:
- Hilton Garden Inn Orlando East/UCF Area
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando-UCF Area
- La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Orlando UCF
Key Details:
- Parking: A parking pass will be required. Information on obtaining your pass will be sent closer to the event.
- Comfortable Attire: Wear comfortable clothes for hands-on activities and creative sessions.
- Food and Drinks: Light snacks, sandwiches, and beverages will be provided. Please notify us in advance of any food allergies or dietary needs.
What You’ll Receive:
- A colorful, 118-page manual included in your EMDR with Clinicians kit
- Toys, art supplies, the new Animal Imagery card deck, and bibliotherapy books for kids
- Your own sand tray and a set of miniatures to use during and after the training
Pre-Training Resources:
All course materials and handouts will be available online two weeks before the training. Printed copies will be at your seat. Additionally, a 3-hour EMDR refresher will be accessible online to review the 8 phases before the course begins.
Why This Training?
This interactive course offers practical techniques to integrate play therapy with EMDR, ensuring an effective and engaging experience. It has been carefully updated to be the most comprehensive and useful training available.
If this sounds like the right fit for you, register now, before it fills up!
Your Instructor
About the Trainer
Jackie Flynn is an experienced Certified EMDR therapist, an EMDRIA Approved Consultant, an Approved Provider for the Association for Play Therapy, and an EMDRIA Approved Trainer, EC Provider (#19012-29). Specializing in EMDR intensives, Jackie has become a sought-after expert, with people traveling from far and wide to benefit from her efficient format to therapy. In addition to these roles, she serves as an education consultant, author, and internationally recognized speaker.
She harbors a special interest in integrating EMDR in nature, applying neuroscience throughout the process to enhance the therapeutic experience. Another area of her expertise is integrating play therapy into each phase of EMDR, making the healing power of this method more accessible to children.
Jackie has also earned certification from ILS (Integrated Listening Systems) to provide the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) — a non-invasive application of the Polyvagal Theory designed to benefit individuals of all ages.
While Jackie is renowned for her work with children, teens, and families, her expertise also extends to individuals across all age groups. Driven by her aspiration to significantly reduce global suffering, she delivers top-notch experiential trainings, consultations, and develops clinical resources specifically designed for child therapists. Her proficiency in telehealth enables her to support clinicians worldwide in offering the healing touch of Play and EMDR therapies online.
Jackie's contributions include Play Therapy trainings, EMDR advanced training, and consultation efforts. She is the host of the Play Therapy Community podcast and the annual Innovative Child Therapy Symposium. Jackie also organizes the Neuroscience of Play Therapy Summit at the beach. As a private practitioner, she serves children and families in the state of Florida, offering a comprehensive and transformative approach to therapy.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction to the EMDR Refresher: Back to Basics
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StartOrigins of EMDR
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StartAdaptive Information Processing Model (AIP)
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StartTraumatology and Neurobiology in a Nutshell
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StartIntention and Framework of EMDR Therapy
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Start3-Pronged Protocol
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StartBlocking Beliefs and Looping
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StartInterweaves
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StartPhase 1: History Taking Refresher
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StartPhase 2: Preparation Refresher
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StartPhase 4: Desensitization Refresher
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StartPhase 5: Installation Refresher
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StartPhase 6: Body Scan Refresher
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StartPhase 7: Closure Refresher
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StartPhase 8: Re-evaluation Refresher
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StartBringing It All Together: Demonstration and Practical Application.
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StartI feel refreshed? now what