Creative Interventions for Working with Hard to Engage Children

This On-Demand Webinar is for 3 hours and talks about Working with Hard to Engage Children. 
Access information, resources, and CEU information will be sent to you shortly after registration and registrants will be given unlimited access to the recording for a full year.

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Working with hard-to-engage clients can be frustrating and challenging, even for seasoned clinicians. The challenge of working with younger clients in therapy can be further compounded by their fear of entering therapy, their lack of control over the decision to attend therapy, their feeling of being scapegoated for family problems, their lack of motivation for treatment, and their developmental capacity which can make it difficult for them to respond to traditional talk therapy.

The first step in working with hard-to-engage children is understanding the reasons underlying their resistance. The second step involves engaging clients in the therapeutic process.

This webinar will explore various factors that underlie therapeutic resistance. You will learn interventions to engage children in therapy and to maximize the potential for change. Emphasis will be on play-based, expressive arts techniques including therapeutic games, art, and stories. These techniques can be used during in-person sessions as well as online sessions.

Liana Lowenstein is one of Canada’s foremost child therapists and a best-selling author of 12 books that provide new techniques and approaches for helping children beginning with the 1999 publication of Creative Interventions for Troubled Children and Youth. She has helped thousands of therapists around the world to learn how to connect with children with innovative strategies.

By the end of this webinar, participants will be better able to —

  • Describe the factors underlying therapeutic resistance
  • Implement creative interventions to facilitate rapport-building with children
  • Implement play-based and expressive arts techniques with clients who are reluctant to verbally articulate their thoughts and feelings

Liana Lowenstein is a Registered Clinical Social Worker, Certified Play Therapist-Supervisor, and Certified TF-CBT Therapist who has been working with children and their families in Toronto since 1988. She presents trainings across North America and abroad. Recent speaking engagements include China, South Africa, Israel, England, and Australia. She provides clinical supervision to mental health practitioners, and consults to mental health agencies. Liana’s 12 books on child and family therapy are known internationally for their innovative and practical techniques.  She is a winner of the Monica Herbert award for outstanding contribution to play therapy in Canada.

TimeTopic Covered
1:15 pm – 1:30 pm
  • Definition of resistance and factors underlying resistance
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
  • Techniques to build therapeutic rapport
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
  • Tips for engaging children in therapy
2:45 pm – 3:00 pm
  • 15 Minute Break
3:00 pm – 4:20 pm
  • More tips for engaging children in therapy
4:20 pm – 4:30 pm
  • Question & Answer Period

This training offers 3 hours of direct contact (not counting breaks or lunch). It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards/regulatory body to verify CE requirements for their license to practice.

For Live Broadcast Attendees

Webinar attendance by participants is automatically tracked, documented and archived for future reference. Upon confirming you have attended 100% of the webinar and upon completion of a course evaluation, you will be issued a certificate of participation (see below).

For Attendees of On Demand/Recorded Version

If you cannot verify 100% attendance of the Live Broadcast or if you are watching the On Demand/recorded version of this webinar, you will need to complete a Post-Webinar Quiz with a pass of at least 80% in order to verify your attendance.

For US Participants

  • Instructions on how obtaining your Certificate of Attendance will be distributed either upon completion of the Live Broadcast or after participants pass the Post-Webinar Quiz following the On Demand recorded version of the webinar.

For more general info about CEs for US Participants, please click here.  

For Canadian and International participants

Upon fulfillment of the above requirements, Canadian and international participants will be issued a Certificate of Participation which features:

  • Name of Participant
  • Title of Training
  • Name of Presenter plus their credentials
  • Number of hours of training
  • Date of training
  • Confirmation that you have passed a quiz with at least 80% grade to verify your attendance

Please check carefully with your regulating body/organization that this certificate is sufficient proof for you to claim CEUs.

For general information about Continuing Education for Canadians and International participants, please click here.  

This training is aimed at all mental health professionals including:

  • social workers
  • counsellors
  • psychologists
  • psychiatrists
  • medical professionals supporting mental health patients
  • psychotherapists
  • mental health counsellors
  • marriage and family therapists and counsellors
  • occupational therapists
  • vocational rehabilitation therapists
  • addiction counsellors
  • religious counsellors
  • therapists
  • case managers
  • art therapists
  • licensed professional counsellors
  • all other professionals who would like to develop, update or expand their skills and knowledge in mental health practices
Register for webinar