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Nature Play Therapy

September 16, 2022

Presenter Bio

Jamie Lynn Langley, LCSW, RPT-S is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist -Supervisor, currently in private practice in Smyrna, TN. She has specialized in working with children, teens and families for over 30 years. Jamie co-founded the TN Assoc. for Play Therapy and serves as its president. She is also teaching faculty with Middle TN State University. Jamie has a passion for creativity and nature and integrates these personally and as well as professionally in her clinical work, including supervision, writing, training, teaching, and also for professional self-care.  Puppets were some of Jamie’s favorite toys as a child and she delights in sharing their special qualities in play therapy.  

Program Description

Play therapy modalities and approaches generally involve an indoor playroom with specifically selected toys, by which a play therapist holds the healing space for clients to do their therapeutic work via play. Nature Play Therapy is a modality in which the play therapist can literally go outside with the child, teen or family with nature as the playground utilizing various “toys” discovered such as sticks, stones, leaves, mud, feathers and more. With these, imaginative play can blossom where a stick can be a sword, a broom, a magic wand, or any number of things that the child might choose. Messy play, risky play, and other types of stimulating play often thrive in an outdoor environment. Nature’s toys can also be brought inside the playroom to be used in play therapy sessions, as well as utilized virtually for telemental health. This six-hour presentation will provide an overview of Nature Play Therapy as a burgeoning model with extensive roots that can be integrated with various modalities of play therapy including Child-Centered Play Therapy, Gestalt Play Therapy and more. Various forms of NaturePlay will be explored that can be incorporated in play therapy as well as prescribed by play therapists in-between sessions for continued growth and resilience. Grounded in the therapeutic powers of play, including positive emotions, self-esteem and self-regulation, combined with nature’s well-researched curative benefits, Nature Play Therapy offers a double-dose of healing! Participants are encouraged to gather some nature items (picked-up rather than picked) and bring to use for experiential activities. 

  • Date: Friday September 16th, 2022
  • Location: In-Person (Elizabethtown Tourism Bureau 1030 N. Mulberry St, Elizabethtown, KY 42701)
  • Time: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM EST (6 Contact Hours)
  • Cost: $140.00 (Pair with Thursday September 15th–Creativity and Puppetry in Play Therapy and get both trainings for $265.00)
  • Cancellation Policy can be viewed here.
  • Continuing Education:
    • APT Approved Provider # 20-599
    • Brighter Futures Counseling, PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7035. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Brighter Futures Counseling, PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
    • Brighter Futures Counseling, PLLC is an approved continuing education sponsor by the Kentucky Board of Marriage and Family Therapy (Approved 02/17/2022)