Live Events: Trainings & Speaking Engagements
Join Melissa as She Presents Live
Attending these live trainings gives you the opportunity to participate and learn in a more engaging and interactive way in order to deepen your understanding of the many facets of working with children and families.
PESI Sponsored 2 Day Somatic Experiential Play Therapy: An Embodied Approach to Help Kids Regulate, Connect, and Heal
Join me for this 2-day training and I’ll show you exactly how you can use tools from the SEPT approach to:
Effectively read a child’s body cues – like breath, posture, and tension – so you know exactly when to step in and help them regulate.
Give kids a safe way to process emotions – without feeling overwhelmed or pressured to talk.
Skillfully interpret metaphorical play, recognize symbolic themes in children’s play behaviors, and use these play therapy insights to guide emotional processing.
Effectively Partner with Parents – communicate play therapy themes, set expectations, and equip caregivers to support nervous system regulation at home.
And much more!
If you work with kids, what you’ll learn from me about play therapy is sure to transform the way you approach trauma and help you support healing in a more grounded, effective way.
FREE Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Lunch and Learn
Join Missy and Sara together for this FREE live, online training via Zoom designed to introduce you to the Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT) model. Together, we’ll explore the core principles of how lasting change happens, the powerful role of symbolism and metaphor in play-based healing, and the critical connection between trauma and incomplete fight-or-flight responses. You’ll also gain practical insight into recognizing and supporting children who experience freeze, collapse, and dissociation in the playroom. Whether you’re new to SEPT or looking to deepen your understanding, this training offers a solid foundation for integrating these transformative concepts into your work with children and families.
Private Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Training
This private live, in person training for ReGroup Counseling Group will briefly discuss basic tenets of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy and incorporate the importance of tracking the physiology in children during play. Principles of neuroscience and tracking for fight, flight, freeze, and collapse will also be discussed. Lecture, power point, experiential learning, and video case examples will be used to enhance learning. Participants will gain an understanding of what children's physiology is communicating during play and ways to respond to and support their nervous systems in the resolution of trauma.
Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
Step into a transformational week-long intensive training where theory comes alive in practice. This in-person experience introduces the Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT) model while immersing you in hands-on learning with live child sessions. Together, we’ll explore the foundations of how change happens, the power of symbolism and metaphor in play-based healing, and the vital link between trauma and incomplete fight-or-flight responses.
Through bug-in-the-ear supervision, real-time guidance, and the use of video playback with feedback, you’ll develop a deeper ability to recognize and respond to freeze, collapse, and dissociation in the playroom. This intensive is designed not only to give you a strong grounding in the SEPT model but also to sharpen your skills through direct practice, reflective learning, and personalized supervision. By the end of the week, you’ll leave with both the confidence and the practical tools to integrate these concepts into your work with children and families.
Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
Step into a transformational week-long intensive training where theory comes alive in practice. This in-person experience introduces the Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT) model while immersing you in hands-on learning with live child sessions. Together, we’ll explore the foundations of how change happens, the power of symbolism and metaphor in play-based healing, and the vital link between trauma and incomplete fight-or-flight responses.
Through bug-in-the-ear supervision, real-time guidance, and the use of video playback with feedback, you’ll develop a deeper ability to recognize and respond to freeze, collapse, and dissociation in the playroom. This intensive is designed not only to give you a strong grounding in the SEPT model but also to sharpen your skills through direct practice, reflective learning, and personalized supervision. By the end of the week, you’ll leave with both the confidence and the practical tools to integrate these concepts into your work with children and families.
Advanced Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
This training will be founded in the theoretical model of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT). The underlying tenets of SEPT play therapy will be expanded upon in this advanced training.
Parents and Play- Mastering How to Integrate Parents into Play
One of the hardest parts of working with children is knowing how to integrate their parents into the therapeutic process. Research shows that it is essential to get parent buy in and support in order to create the change we know is possible for their children.
This live, in person training will address the most essential pieces for parent involvement including increasing parent buy in, explaining the what and why of play to parents, differentiating and clarifying both therapist and parent roles, and setting boundaries with parents regarding our expectations of them.
Introduction to Somatic Experiential Play Therapy
This live, in person training will briefly discuss basic tenets of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy and incorporate the importance of tracking the physiology in children during play. Principles of neuroscience and tracking for fight, flight, freeze, and collapse will also be discussed. Lecture, power point, experiential learning, and video case examples will be used to enhance learning. Participants will gain an understanding of what children's physiology is communicating during play and ways to respond to and support their nervous systems in the resolution of trauma.
Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
Join us for a week long journey into Somatic Experiential Play Therapy.
Supporting Play Therapy Parents through a Polyvagal Lens
This live, online training hosted by North Dakota Association for Play Therapy will use the polyvagal theory to equip you to educate parents about what is underneath their children’s behaviors, actions and needs. It will address the most common states of nervous system dysregulation and skills that we can use to help children regulate through each state. It will lay out a model of structuring parent sessions to allow for this education and parental support, creating a partnership between therapist and parent making successful healing more likely.
Stage of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy
This live, online training will lay out the unique stages of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy, as well as highlight the types of responses that are most helpful in each stage. This will help equip you, the therapist, to understand how to best support and challenge the nervous systems of children in the playroom based on what their capacity is at each unique stage of therapy.
Advanced Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
This training will be founded in the theoretical model of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT). The underlying tenets of SEPT play therapy will be expanded upon in this advanced training.
Parents and Play: Mastering How to Integrate Parents into the Play Therapy Process
This training will focus on the many facets of integrating parents into the play process. We will cover how to sell play therapy as a viable modality, how to talk about the child’s play with parents in order to increase buy in and support, and how to explain to parents their role in the change process in a way that results in therapeutic partnership.
The Power of Metaphor: Interpretation and Support of Symbolic Play Themes
This training will dive into the world of play based metaphor. We will work on interpreting the most common symbolic play into themes and discuss how to deepen these themes with our own responsive play. The training will feature a discussion on how to use board games in a thematic way in the playroom.
Somatic Experiential Play Therapy Intensive Training
Join us for a week long journey into Somatic Experiential Play Therapy.
North Dakota Association for Play Therapy Annual Conference
This training focuses on the basic tenets of Somatic Experiential Play Therapy, including the ability to understand metaphor and the power of play for children as they process their pain and trauma.
Coming Soon & Save the Dates
Melissa is constantly updating her offerings. Check back here often to register for new events, or subscribe for updates and don’t miss a thing.
Save the Dates
Coming Soon
Minnesota Ethical and Legal Considerations for Play Therapy Supervisors
The INs and OUTs of Working with Blended Families: Rules, Roles, and Relationship Building
Intro to Play Therapy for non-play therapists: What is play and why is it an effective referral option for family systems?