(This is a LIVE VIRTUAL event. Access to a recording will not be available.)

Presented by

Alexza Gutierrez, LCSW, RPT-S

Resilience develops within supportive relationships and is influenced by each family's cultural and social context. Play is a developmentally appropriate way for children to process experiences and practice coping skills. Family play therapy provides a structured, collaborative environment that strengthens caregiver–child relationships, promotes adaptive coping, and builds on the family's existing strengths while recognizing the systemic factors that shape their experiences.

The past decade has seen a trend towards increased psychological stress on children, testing the resilience of each child. Resilience is the ability to adapt and thrive despite adversity. It can be difficult for children to process the impact of these challenging experiences verbally. Play is the language of children. Play therapy creates a therapeutic environment that offers children a safe, supportive space to understand themselves, explore their surroundings, and build the skills needed to develop competency in an uncertain environment. This interactive workshop proposes merging family therapy and play therapy into family play therapy to address the needs of children and their families in a developmentally appropriate format. Participants will explore how the essential ingredients of resilience, (a) supportive relationships and (b) opportunities for growth and skill building, are supported by family play therapy interventions.

Learning Objectives
As a result of attending this course, learners will be able to:

1. Identify the core principles of family play therapy.
2. Identify the benefits of supporting resilience within family systems.
3. Explain strategies for addressing caregiver hesitation in engaging in family play therapy.
4. Demonstrate the implementation of two family play-based interventions that promote communication, problem-solving, and strengthening of family relationships.

About Alexza Gutierrez

Alexza Gutierrez, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ (RPT-S™), is a bicultural, bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Clinical Director at the Mount Sinai Harlem Health Center Child and Family Institute in New York, with more than 20 years of experience. She graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in human service studies and social work, and from New York University with a master's degree in clinical social work. She is currently a Doctor of Clinical Social Work (DSW) candidate at New York University. She has been an adjunct professor for the past decade, teaching foundational and practice courses at Columbia University School of Social Work, the City University of New York, Hunter College, Silberman School of Social Work, and New York University Silver School of Social Work.

She works with children ages 5-17 who are struggling with emotional and behavioral issues that affect their daily lives at a large hospital-based outpatient child psychiatry clinic. She is one of the few providers trained in family systems theory and an RPT-S™. The clinic is in a major urban city and serves a predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhood. Many of the children seen in the clinic carry diagnoses of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and anxiety disorders such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Unspecified, Social Anxiety, and Separation Anxiety Disorder.