Description
Child-Centered Play Therapy and Nature:
Inviting the Outdoors into Play Therapy
With Kimberly Autrey, PhD, LMHC, RPT, NCC
Connection to the natural world offers a wealth of benefits for children across domains of development. From decreasing symptom severity of ADHD to increasing emotional self-regulation, researchers consistently find children improve with increased nature contact. Counselors have started to expand on this knowledge by exploring the therapeutic benefits of including nature in play therapy. The integration of nature is particularly fitting with child-centered play therapy principles and its foundational value of holistically understanding children’s worlds. This experiential workshop will introduce participants to nature-based play therapy grounded in child-centered play therapy principles and the research that supports this growing practice. Participants will leave the workshop with tangible ideas for integrating nature into their play therapy spaces in theoretically consistent ways.
Objectives:
- Participants will identify at least 2 documented benefits for nature contact in children across each of the domains of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development.
- Participants will describe how including nature in CCPT aligns with the condition of congruence.
- Participants will describe how including nature in CCPT aligns with the condition of empathic understanding.
- Participants will describe one nature-based play therapy intervention that can be applied in a traditional indoor therapy room.
- Participants will describe one nature-based play therapy intervention that can be applied in an outdoor setting such as a garden or park.
- Participants will describe 2 strategies for ethical considerations around confidentiality when conducting outdoor-based interventions.
Speaker:
Kimberly Autrey, Ph.D., LMHC, RPT, NCC, is a faculty member of the Counselor Education Department at City University of Seattle. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling in 2021 from the University of North Texas. Dr. Autrey’s experience working with young children and their families as a child-centered play therapist includes conducting sessions in both traditional CCPT playrooms and in outdoor spaces. She is a passionate researcher, writer, and practitioner of integrating nature-based treatments with CCPT and has presented at various national conferences on the topic, including at the Children & Nature Network’s 2025 Nature Everywhere Conference. Dr. Autrey serves as a board member of the Washington Association for Play Therapy, as a council member of Child Centered Play Therapy International, and as a member of the Climate Justice in Counseling ACES Interest Network.
Fees, CEs, and Participation
This online and live training is only $100 per participant. This fee gets you 3 Non-Contact CE hours. EmpathyWell, PLLC is an Approved APT Provider: 22-674. Participants must be present for entirety of workshop in order to receive CE credits and full completion of the course. Participants must also complete an exam and evaluation after the workshop in order to receive the CE credits and full completion of the course.
Complaints Review & Resolutions: Individuals may contact EmpathyWell, PLLC at info@empathywell.com or (972) 498-1307 if they would like to express a concern about a continuing education program provided by EmpathyWell, PLLC. We will consider all complaints, make any necessary decisions or changes, and respond within 5-10 business days.
Confidentiality and Security of Participant Information: EmpathyWell, PLLC will keep all participant information received during registration confidential and secure including participant name, phone number, email address, address, education level, and license/certification information. During any live webinar or in-person program, EmpathyWell, PLLC will ask for verbal consent prior to taking photos involving participants or sharing photos including participant images on marketing materials or social media.
CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY:
