Introduction to Filialesque Therapy - An Experiential Training

Karen Wolfe, LMFT

Training Description

Filial therapy is based on the evidence that teaching parents and caregivers child-centered play therapy skills improves difficult behaviors and increases bonding and attachment in families. This interactive training will give an overview of how to teach these skills to parents/caregivers over Telehealth in order to improve communication between children and families, support strengthening the attachment bond between children and parents/caregivers, and as an accessible strategy for parents and caregivers to use with children in the foster care system or with a history of trauma for restoring developmentally appropriate functioning and emotional health. Parents/Caregivers are always a child’s most important relationship, and especially during this time of Telehealth during a pandemic, teaching them how to be the therapeutic agent in their child’s life is of the utmost importance. Please note, this training is experiential and is intended for participants who are willing and able to actively participate.

Learning Objective

• Learn the 4 Filial skills of structuring, empathic listening, fantasy/role play, and setting limits
• Be able to explain to parents who these skills are and how they support strengthening bonds between children and caregivers and help children in resolving difficult emotional issues and trauma
• Learn and practice how to teach these 4 skills to parents over video-based telehealth

Agenda 

10:00am-10:30am Introduction to Child Centered Play Therapy

10:30am-10:45am Introduction to the Structuring and Empathic Listening Skills

10:45am-11:15am: *Demo & Experiential Practice of the Structuring and Empathic Listening Skill in Dyads*

11:15am-11:30am: *Demo and Experiential Practice of the Imaginative Role Play Skill in Dyads*

11:30am-12:00pm: *Exploring Limit-Setting and Experiential Practice in Dyads*

12:00pm-12:30pm: Lunch Break (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

12:30pm-12:50pm Steps to Filial Therapy

12:50pm-1:20pm: * Experiential Practice Explaining Rationale for Filial Therapy in Dyads*

1:20pm-2:00pm: * Experiential Practice Supervised Play Sessions*

2:00pm-2:30pm: Q&A and Evaluations

**Times in *italics* are experiential. Participants  must be available to engage with their videos on with

other participants  during these entire times This is a highly experiential training as these skills MUST be

practiced in order to really understand and use them with your clients.

Meet Our Trainer

Karen Wolfe, MA is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Hand in Hand Parenting Instructor, and the founder of SF Bay Play Therapy Family Counseling Center serving families in San Francisco, Oakland, and through telehealth throughout California. She has been supporting children and families since 2002 and her specialty is working with families of children with sensory, social, or learning differences as well as an emerging passion for working with LGBTQ+ youth. She is passionate about empowering children to feel whole and heard in this world made for adults, and helping parents find their authentic voice as a parent in a way that heals their own wounds from childhood and adds more laughter and ease into family life. She has served as the president of the San Francisco chapter of the Association for Play Therapy and leads trainings and workshops for parents, schools, counselors, and couples. She and the other clinicians at SF Bay Play Therapy offer child and family play therapy, parent coaching, social skills groups, and emotionally focused couples therapy. They have been on the forefront of creating trainings for the new method of tele play therapy. You can find more information and past trainings at www.SFBayPlayTherapy.com.

This course meets the qualifications for (4.0) BBS CEUs for LCSWs and MFTs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.