Working with divorce can be prickly.

Let’s be real - working with families navigating divorce can feel like navigating a minefield.  You feel like you spend more time dealing with co-parenting concerns vs. actually seeing your child client. Parents want you to be "on their side”, try to use therapy to get more custody, or use it to point out everything their ex is doing wrong. 

And when things aren’t going quite right? Kids stay up too late, have too much device time, or didn’t have their leotard washed (again), they want YOU to fix it. 

You want to show up fully for your kid clients, but the court jargon, co-parenting chaos, and constant emotional tension? It’s a lot. 

You didn’t sign up to be a referee in a custody battle --you signed up to help kids heal.

You feel as stuck in the middle as the kids.

For kids - life as they know it is over. 

Everything is changing, and on top of all of that it feels like they are in the middle of a tug-of-war.  Each parent has different ideas about everything - from curfews, screen times, or carpooling to Lacrosse practice. Even though parents just want what's best for their kids - all this fighting is confusing, exhausting, and overwhelming when all kids want is a little piece of normal. 

And the kids? The laaaast thing they want to do is talk about it. 

Kids are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want to be loyal to both of their parents, are confused about what is "okay to say", and are terrified of making things worse.  Kids say they are fine but their grades are tanking, anxiety is spiking, and there is a soundtrack of slamming doors at home.  And without the right tools and support, they're left trying to process these adult-sized problems in their kid-sized bodies.

That's where you come in.

Having the support and training to help you effectively navigate and successfully work with divorce in the playroom can make allllll the difference. For you. For the kids and teens you see. For parents. 

By creating space for the power of play therapy, you can help children express what they can’t always say, process those big, tangled emotions, and start to rebuild their sense of security and normal —one session at a time.

Because when the adults are stuck in the storm, kids need someone who knows how to bring the calm.

That someone? It’s you.

A trained therapists who has a toolbelt full of the best interventions and techniques (for both inside the playroom and navigating parent sessions) can have massive impact.  

Say hello to your step-by-step guide to working with divorce!

Buckle up for the road map that you need to work with divorce. 

This training is the essential comprehensive deep dive you need for working with divorce in the playroom. You will walk away with the rock solid base to help you create healthy boundaries and good working relationships with both parents and kids - right from the start.

With all of the policies, procedures, legal protections, and tweaks to your intake paperwork you can start out the play therapy process on the right foot allowing therapy to be a safe space for kids. And when kids feel safe and are out of the middle? The healing and rebuilding can begin. 

And this course? It goes deep.

By the end of this training you'll have a toolkit full of over 25 play therapy interventions that will take kids deeper into processing the trauma of divorce.  Interventions and techniques that are flexible and meet kids where they are at - in any stage of the divorce process. 

With tons of case examples this course holds your hand to troubleshoot the toughest stuck points when working with divorce and separation in the playroom. From subpoenas, navigating the legal dos and don'ts of working with divorce, clarifying your role, working high conflict-divorce, and loyalty conflicts - this course covers it all! This isn't a one or two hour beginning course - it will take your practice to the next level.  

Ready to become the play therapist who knows exactly what to do when divorce walks into the playroom?

The course information you need to know: 

This course is approved for 11 APT Non-Contact hours by Meehan Mental Health Services (APT Approved Provider 19-580).  

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe over 25 Play Therapy interventions that are appropriate to use with divorced and separated family systems. 
  • Identify at least 6 Play Therapy Theories that can be used effectively with children of divorce and separation.  
  • List and describe at least three signs of distress as a result of parental divorce and separation across the 6 stages of childhood development. 
  • Demonstrate the ability to understand and describe the role of a play therapist with divorcing and separating family systems.
  • Describe at least five ethical and legal considerations and concerns when working with divorce in play therapy. 
  • List at least 6 referral resources when working with kids and families of divorce and separation. 
  • Describe the four stages of divorce and how a child’s play therapy may be impacted by each stage. 
  • Identify at least 10 treatment tasks specific to divorce and play therapy. 
  • Describe at least 7 steps in the intake process therapists should take to maintain boundaries in play therapy with families of divorce and separation. 
  • Identify at least 5 strategies to help increase trust and effective working relationships with parents for play therapy parent sessions. 
  • List at least 10 therapeutic strategies to use with parents of divorced and separated family systems to increase stability, safety, predictability, and consistency.


Cost: $297

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction and Handouts

    • Introduction

    • MMHS HANDOUTS B+W - The Art of Rebuilding: Play Therapy for Families Navigating Divorce

    • MMHS HANDOUTS COLOR - The Art of Rebuilding: Play Therapy for Families Navigating Divorce

    • MMHS WORKSHEET BUNDLE The Art of Rebuilding: Play Therapy for Families Navigating Divorce

    • MMHS Choice Theory 5 Needs Handout

    • MMHS Parent Co-Regulation Guide

    • MMHS The Art of Rebuilding: Play Therapy for Families Navigating Divorce Bibliography

    • MMHS Course Disclaimer: The Art of Rebuilding: Play Therapy for Families Navigating Divorce

  • 2

    Module 1: Play Therapy and Divorce Overview

    • Module 1: Play Therapy and Divorce Overview

  • 3

    Module 2: Ethical and Legal Foundations for Working With Divorce in Play Therapy

    • Module 2: Ethical and Legal Foundations for Working With Divorce in Play Therapy

  • 4

    Module 3: Play Therapy Intake: Before The First Session

    • Module 3: Play Therapy Intake: Before The First Session

  • 5

    Module 4: Working With Parents in Play Therapy

    • Module 4: Working With Parents in Play Therapy

  • 6

    Module 5: Play Therapy Theories for Working With Divorce

    • Module 5: Play Therapy Theories for Working With Divorce

  • 7

    Module 6: Play Therapy Activities for Children of Divorce

    • Module 6: Play Therapy Activities for Children of Divorce

  • 8

    Module 7: Troubleshooting Stuck Points

    • Module 7: Troubleshooting Stuck Points

  • 9

    Module 8: Final Considerations

    • Module 8: Final Considerations

  • 10

    Getting Your APT CEs

    • Getting Your APT CEs

  • 11

    Q and A Forum

    • Q and A Submission