The Best Of Chronicles of A Play Therapist

Children don’t grieve in the same way that adults grieve. We need to honor children’s grief process and help them recover without time constraints. Althea T. Simpson’s guest in this episode is Dr. Ajita Robinson , grief and trauma expert and the author of The Gift Of Grief . Dr. Ajita discusses with Althea how children are more than likely to show their grief through demanding behaviors as they mo...

Working as a mental health professional takes a huge emotional and psychological toll on any individual. And, if not managed correctly, this could manifest in how you handle your business. In this episode, Althea T. Simpson shares how she deals with negative emotions while running her private psychotherapy practice. Althea not only tackles how she deals with her own trauma but how she interacts in...

What is non-directive play therapy and how does it promote resilience? Not all children and adolescents possess the resilience to bounce back from adverse situations. Parental involvement is crucial to achieving therapeutic change in children and adolescents receiving play therapy treatment. There are several protective factors that can help children build resilience. In this podcast episode, Alth...

Play therapy helps clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development. Althea Simpson discusses in this episode how play therapy themes manifest during play therapy with children. Examples include aggression, containment, good vs. bad, etc. Identifying themes gives insight into a client’s inner world. Mental health professionals can use the observation...

Marketing and branding are two different concepts. Achieving business success is understanding the differences between the two and how to effectively use each to level up or level out your business. Branding and marketing are necessary expenses to starting and sustaining a psychotherapy business, but they are often missed steps, or does not get enough time and attention to create lasting impressio...

Mindset and emotions are two necessary factors in achieving success, and they are as important as your goals and motivations. Althea T. Simpson reflects on the ups and downs of her private psychotherapy practice and entrepreneurial journey, sharing how her feelings and perceptions impacted every decision and strategy she has made, usually in the wrong ways. She explains how life will always be ful...

Knowing the business of psychotherapy practice is just as important as offering traditional psychotherapy to clients. When thinking about starting a private psychotherapy practice, you must consider timing and your financial resources because starting your own business is not as easy as one may think. Even after starting your business, you must sustain it. On today’s podcast, Althea T. Simpson foc...

Many psychotherapists are unaware of the importance of building their personal brand and platform. Harnessing its power can help your private practice stand out to prospective clients before they even set foot in your door or computer. Althea T. Simpson sits down with Sharvette Mitchell  to dissect the six different components in establishing your personal brand. They detail how to choose your aud...

It’s unrealistic to make children the change agents in their families when they are the least powerful. As therapists, we must address the important relationship between parent and child to help parents become the therapeutic agents of change themselves. In this episode, Althea T. Simpson is joined by Licensed Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor,  Cathi Spooner , to talk about a...

Some traumatized children will see the school environment as challenging and trigger traumatic stress reactions. Others may view the school environment as a source of security and continuity. Either way, the school should be safe to all, and in this episode, host, Althea T. Simpson, discusses the need to collaborate with educators to create trauma-informed learning environments. She talks about th...

Parental conflict, stress, anxiety, and depression increase child misbehavior and acting out. If we can help decrease this, we can better help the parents help the child. Dr. Sandy Stillo, LPC-S, CHST , and Mrs. Amber Bailey, MS, LMFT, LPC, CHST from The Counseling Spot are child therapists who believe in the power of intentional parent-centered consultation during the process of child-centered pl...

Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic technique that incorporates books and pretty much any literature, depending on your creativity, into the play therapy session with children, adolescents, adults, families, and even couples. Utilizing storytelling through fiction and non-fiction books can be very therapeutic and symbolize nurturing, depending on how you incorporate it. Bibliotherapy is adaptable and c...

Domestic violence is a major concern for children. It is a social problem that impacts individuals, families, and society. Children who witness domestic violence experience emotional, mental, and social problems that can affect their developmental growth. Even if children are not hurt themselves, they can see, hear, or imagine what is happening to a parent or caregiver, making the child feel unsaf...

Just because you’re in the helping profession doesn’t mean that you aren’t supposed to make money. Psychotherapy practice may not be a gold mine by itself, but there are so many ways that you can diversify your income beyond traditional psychotherapy practice. Join Althea Simpson as she talks about this with Paul "Bashea" Williams, LCSW-C, LICSW. Paul is not just a psychotherapist. He is an author...

Play therapy does not exist in a vacuum; it can be used with other modalities with the aim of enhancing the whole healing experience. In this episode, Althea Simpson sits down with Jackie Flynn, EdS, LMHC-S, RPT to talk about using Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) as a safe and effective treatment modality for treating children with trauma experiences. EMDR is a promising psychothe...

Does play therapy work for adults? Traditionally, play therapy was designed to work with children below 11 or 12, but you’ll be surprised at how well it works for people beyond those ages. In this episode, Althea Simpson discusses the use of play therapy as an effective treatment modality for adults receiving psychotherapy treatment. As with children and adolescents, play therapy can help adults g...

You can't build a house without a foundation. As with starting your own psychotherapy private practice, what you need before anything else is get the basics down. In this episode, Althea T. Simpson offers a checklist of business essentials to start a psychotherapy private practice. Though it is not an exhaustive list, it gives some guidance about the necessities that will help you kickstart your n...

Growing up can be tough when you are in an environment that discriminates you based on the color of your skin, and so many Black children have to deal with the traumas and anxieties caused by racism. Especially now with the Black Lives Matter movement going strong, it has become even more important to provide the necessary mental and emotional support to the children within the community. In this...

Welcome to the Chronicles of a Play Therapist Podcast. In this first episode, Althea Simpson , MBA, LCSW, RPT-S introduces play therapy – an approach in expressive therapy that holds incredible potential and practice-proven effectiveness in healing the generational trauma that besets the black community through their historical and contemporary experience of racial inequality and oppression. Black...