The Wisdom and Hope of Psychodynamic Play Therapy

3-Part Live Webinar Series (*SINGLE SESSION)

6 APT NON-CONTACT CE

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Join Clair Mellenthin and David Crenshaw for this exciting webinar series!!

What if children’s play holds stories they cannot yet put into words? In this three-part live webinar series, participants will explore the rich world of symbols, metaphors, drawings, and stories in psychodynamic play therapy. Through a blend of theory, clinical examples, and experiential learning, we will discover how children use play to communicate their inner worlds, make meaning of their experiences, and move toward healing.

Each webinar invites therapists to look beneath the surface of play with curiosity rather than assumptions. Together, we will explore how symbolic themes can illuminate children’s emotions, relationships, conflicts, fears, losses, and hopes—and how the therapist’s attuned presence can create space for deeper understanding and therapeutic change.

From The Jolly Green Giant to The Thief in the Night and Stitches Are Stronger Than Glue, participants will discover the wisdom embedded within children’s play and the powerful ways symbols and metaphors can help transform difficult experiences into stories of connection, resilience, and hope.

Webinar 1: The Jolly Green Giant: The Rich Use of Symbols and Metaphors in Psychodynamic Play Therapy (2 CE)

Date: January 23, 2027

Time: 12:00 pm MST

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify how symbols and metaphors communicate children’s internal experiences, emotions, relationships, and unconscious themes within psychodynamic play therapy.
2. Explore how play therapists can use symbolic play to develop deeper clinical understanding while remaining curious, developmentally responsive, and attuned to the child’s unique meaning-making.

Webinar 2: The Thief in the Night: The Rich Use of Symbols and Metaphors in Psychodynamic Play Therapy (2 CE)

Date: February 27, 2027

Time: 12:00 pm MST

Learning Objectives:

1. Examine how recurring symbols, metaphors, themes, and narratives in play therapy may provide insight into children’s experiences of fear, loss, conflict, relationships, and emotional needs.
2. Apply psychodynamic principles to explore symbolic play without imposing adult interpretations, allowing meaning to emerge through the therapeutic relationship and the child’s own story.

Webinar 3: Stitches are stronger than Glue: The Rich Use of Symbols and Metaphors in Psychodynamic Play Therapy (2 CE)

Date: March 13, 2027

Time: 12:00 pm MST 

Learning Objectives:

1. Examine how symbolic play can support the integration of fragmented experiences, strengthen relational connections, and create opportunities for repair and healing.
2. Demonstrate 2 strategies that play therapists can therapeutically respond to symbols and metaphors in play to facilitate insight, connection, hope, and movement toward greater emotional integration.

Meet Dr. David A. Crenshaw, Ph.D., ABPP

 David A. Crenshaw is Retired, Chief of Clinical Services at the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, New York. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1969 from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist (American Board of Professional Psychology, ABPP). Dr. Crenshaw is a Fellow in the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. He was also awarded a Fellow in the American Psychological Association (APA) and a Fellow in the APA Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology. Dr. Crenshaw is a licensed psychologist in NYS and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor by the Association for Play Therapy.

He has taught graduate courses in play therapy and child/adolescent counseling at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University. He has been a vigorous advocate for Courthouse Dogs to provide comfort to child witnesses when testifying in criminal and family court trials. He serves on the Advisory Board andResearch Committee of the Courthouse Dogs Foundation in Seattle.

He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 22 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters on topics of child and adolescent therapy, resilience, child trauma and abuse. He was awarded in 2009 the “Excellence in Psychology Award” byhis colleagues in the Hudson Valley Psychological Association (HVPA). In 2012, HVPA honored him with its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, the Coalition against Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault (CASADA) honored him with its CASADA Award for contributions to combating Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault. In 2015, Dr. Crenshaw was awarded the “Great Friend to Children Award by the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum. He was awarded a 2nd Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 by the New York Association for Play Therapy, and in 2021 a Lifetime Achievement Award (3rd ) from the Association for Play Therapy (International).