Playful Practices to Use in Family Therapy with Children

 Earn 1.5 CE Contact Hours

When families come to therapy, they often have negative stories about themselves and one another, shaped by recurring negative patterns of interaction that leave children and caregivers feeling inadequate and disconnected.

This 90-minute webinar introduces clinicians to a relational-systemic framework designed to help therapists stay grounded in a curious, non-pathologizing stance. From this position, therapists can collaborate with families to co-create new, desired patterns of interaction that encourage moments of connection, understanding, and relational ease.

Participants will gain practical strategies, including repair-focused roleplays, connection-building rituals, and relational question activities that invite new insights and deeper family attunement.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Participants will learn core tenets of a relational, non-pathologizing therapeutic stance
• Participants will learn interviewing questions that introduce alternative storylines in the family narrative
• Participants will develop tools to help families collaboratively problem solve
• Participants will learn activities to use in sessions that develop family attunement

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals working with children and families seeking hands-on tools to strengthen relationships, foster attunement, and co-create positive family patterns.

Meet Catherine Lewis:

Catherine Lewis, LCSW, MS, is the Director of Ackerman’s Foster Care and Adoption Project & Community Training. Ms. Lewis has extensive experience working with families who have experienced trauma and has served in leadership positions at several New York City social service agencies. She has presented nationally and internationally on the best practices of working with families. Ms. Lewis maintains a small private practice in New York City and Westport, Connecticut, working with families, couples, and children.