Level Two Training

Level Two Theraplay & Marschak Interaction Method (MIM)

Prerequisite: Level One Theraplay & Marschak Interaction Method (MIM) and The Theraplay Institute and Theraplay Canada highly recommends entrance into the Dyadic or Cohort Supervision group or application into the Certification program and working towards Foundational level prior to taking Level Two Theraplay course.

This workshop will cover three main areas of content: Core Concepts In-Depth and MIM Skills Development, Working with Parents and Building Your Theraplay Skills, and Adapting Theraplay to Work with Trauma and Complex Families. The first module will focus on several examples of MIMs and their interpretation to improve your comfort and skill in administering and interpreting this play therapy assessment. There will be in-depth application of the core concepts of Theraplay and current relevant play therapy research to case material, greater analysis of the Marschak Interaction Method (MIM) by Dimension, and an observation and analysis of MIM using case material. Participants will also learn greater skills about play therapy treatment planning in through delivery of parent feedback sessions.

During the second day, participants will improve the breadth of their Theraplay play therapy skills by assessing complex parents using case materials, learn how to work with caregivers’ attachment history in treatment planning, and learn implementation of the parent demonstration session. Participants will learn how to manage resistance throughout the play therapy treatment process.

Lastly, participants will learn how to better work with children who have experienced trauma, have attachment disorders, or are seen as having complexities. Participants will gain a greater understanding of developmental trauma and how it applies to clinical decision-making in Theraplay. Further, participants will learn how to adapt play therapy activities for clients who have been impacted by trauma and how to engage parents who present with their own trauma histories.

Registrants should have experience using Theraplay in their work before attending this training. Each module will include at least one case presentation. Making a case presentation is not required, but is an option if you would like to receive supervision.

Learning Objectives

Describe the underlying principles of Theraplay, a modality of play therapy, and their relationship to current attachment and brain research

  • Administer and analyze the MIM at an intermediate skill level

  • Develop skills in the use of the MIM for play therapy treatment planning

  • Describe how to use feedback sessions with parents to transmit a sense of hopefulness and trust in play therapy treatment

  • Describe play therapy methods for overcoming parental resistance

  • Describe factors that influence the decision of whether to include parents in play therapy treatment sessions

  • Demonstrate how to use a wider range of Theraplay activities and techniques

  • Describe how to adapt Theraplay, a modality of play therapy, to work with a wider range of populations, such as children with autism and older children

  • Describe play therapy strategies for dealing with resistant clients

  • Describe the concept of complex trauma and how it applies to play therapy

  • Describe three modifications to Theraplay, a modality of play therapy, to meet the needs of traumatized children

  • assess when to use Theraplay in the overall play therapy treatment course of a client

  • Describe how to adapt treatment to meet the needs of parents who may have been traumatized