Anne Stewart, PhD

Anne Stewart is a professor at James Madison University, the president of the Virginia Play Therapy Association and serves on the Association for Play Therapy’s Foundation Board, Research Committee and Editorial Board. She is the recipient of the International Association for Play Therapy Distinguished Service Award and the Virginia Counselors Association’s Humanitarian and Caring Person Award.

Anne and co-author  Lennis Echterling, wrote two books, Becoming A Community Counselor and Thriving! A Manual for Students in the Helping Profession. They assisted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, Virginia Tech shootings and many other catastrophic events. Over the past six years, she has been providing play-based therapeutic services to children and families of the Virginia National Guard members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dr. Stewart presents the following course:

Resilience – Based Crisis Supervision: The Use of Play Therapy Techniques to Promote Resolution

This workshop will highlight the principles and practices of resilience-based crisis supervision (RBCS). This creative, strength-based approach harnesses the therapeutic power of play to prepare and support helping professionals. As mental health professionals, play therapists rely on supervisory relationships to promote their growth and development. Increasingly, our clinical and supervision work involves coping with clients in crisis. Crisis events may include real or feared acts of aggression or violence, high risk suicidal states, and moments in therapy when affect is heightened. Play therapists and supervisors conducting crisis work are at risk for compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious traumatization. Including respectful yet, playful approaches in supervision can mitigate these dangers by enhancing self-efficacy, promoting resilience, and instilling hope. Participants will explore a variety of strategies for integrating play into the supervision process. The workshop will include didactic presentations, playful demonstrations of crisis supervision, experiential exercises, and small group discussions.

Learning Objectives

Learner will be able to:

• Describe the supervision needs of helping professionals working with people in crisis.
• Explain the theoretical framework for resilience-based crisis supervision.
• Identify elements of crisis supervision that promote counselor resilience.
• Describe at least four play-based crisis supervision strategies.
• Practice play-based crisis supervision.
• Develop a personal action plan for implementing a new play therapy strategy in your therapy and supervision practice.