Psychology and Play Therapy Australia

Psychology and Play Therapy Australia Psychology and Play Therapy Australia delivers supervision, training and consultancy services Australia-wide and internationally.

Our clinical services are based in Hobart, Tasmania, and available to those in other states by mutual arrangement.

If you’re doing the work to help families and schools get through to the end of the year, this is for you!Have you seen ...
06/11/2025

If you’re doing the work to help families and schools get through to the end of the year, this is for you!

Have you seen our Therapeutic Response Plans booklet yet?

Therapeutic Response Plans are simple and concise documents that capture the key focus areas of therapeutic intervention, important information about the child, and the recommended therapeutic responses/approaches. They are a helpful tool for anyone working with families and schools at this time.

You can download the booklet for free here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17pPZcLbqZMX2mhWOH7rof5IdAInQPKw1/view?usp=sharing

05/11/2025

This video is a snippet from a past training we ran on working with parents and caregivers.

The stepped care model shows the levels of need and services within the population.

It gives you a sneak peek into the type of thing you can expect from our upcoming training - Be My Co-Therapist™ Module 1: Parent Mental Health Vulnerabilities in Child and Play Therapy - which is part of the Dyadic Play Therapy Training Program.

We’ve been seeing plenty of registrations coming through for the individual Modules 1 and 2 of the Dyadic Play Therapy T...
04/11/2025

We’ve been seeing plenty of registrations coming through for the individual Modules 1 and 2 of the Dyadic Play Therapy Training Program, which is wonderful!

But if you’re a play therapist or mental health clinician working with children and you’re not confident supporting the parents and caregivers of the children you work with, then we recommend doing the entire program (instead of just the individual modules).

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing more about each of the individual modules within the curriculum so that you can get a better sense of what to expect from the program.

Modules 1 and 2 are the only ones available to purchase separately, and if you’ve done so then just send us an email to claim your discount off the entire Dyadic Play Therapy Training Program!

Have you seen our Dyadic Play Therapy Program, and now you have questions?Post them here! Alternatively, you can email t...
03/11/2025

Have you seen our Dyadic Play Therapy Program, and now you have questions?

Post them here! Alternatively, you can email them to katherine@psychologyandplay.com.au if you’re more comfortable asking in private.

I will do a Q&A to answer them all on Facebook live over the next couple of days.

If you have more specific questions around whether it’s the right fit for you, you can email me and we’ll schedule a quick phone call to chat it through.

Now… post your questions in the comments! 👇🏻

Parents/carers bring their own mental health vulnerabilities and challenges to the child’s therapy process and these pre...
02/11/2025

Parents/carers bring their own mental health vulnerabilities and challenges to the child’s therapy process and these present in many ways.

It is the task of the therapist to effectively understand and navigate these so the child can be best supported. Yet many child therapists feel low confidence in this area of the work or have limited knowledge and skills in working with these adults.

That’s why we’re running the brand new workshop ‘Be My Co-Therapist™ Module 1: Parent Mental Health Vulnerabilities in Child and Play Therapy’ on 13th November 2025. This is module 1 of our Dyadic Play Therapy Training Program.

Learn more and register now for Module 1: https://psychologyandplay.mykajabi.com/offers/u3gpozUc/checkout

Learn more and register now for the Dyadic Play Therapy Training Program: https://psychologyandplay.com.au/dyadic-play-therapy

**WEEKEND WONDERING**What does rest and recovery look like in your life?You've likely got your go-to ways, places, peopl...
01/11/2025

**WEEKEND WONDERING**

What does rest and recovery look like in your life?
You've likely got your go-to ways, places, people etc.
But here's a question that's relevant for many right now.....

Are the ways you've done this rest and recovery in the past the same as what you need right now?

Take a moment to pause.
Reflect on the impacts of the past 18 months.
Notice in particular, the cumulative nature of the impacts.
How are you holding these impacts in your body?
How are they occurring in your thoughts or feelings?
How are they presenting in your relationships?
In your behaviour?

Now consider this.
What if you realise that what you've been through is something you've never experienced before?

What if you realise that you've been going through something big? That you're exhausted and maybe even burnt out?

Then I invite you to consider the notion perhaps a period of RECOVERY might be what you need right now.

What if you realised that you've coped with and adapted to in the best way you can, with the resources you have? That includes your usual go-to's for self-care, rest and recovery.

Then I invite you to consider whether these unique needs you might have now might require a different way of looking after yourself.

Enter this space.....notice what you discover.....and if need be, explore the different things that might support and resource you right now.

With much care
Katherine Olejniczak
(Director, Principal Psychologist, Play Therapist)

**BEING IS THE DOING**The power of presence, of being with....Attuned...Connected...Two biologies in flow with each othe...
30/10/2025

**BEING IS THE DOING**

The power of presence, of being with....
Attuned...
Connected...
Two biologies in flow with each other...
Healing.
Transformational.
No other "strategies" or "techniques".
Being together.
Co-regulating. Witnessing. Validating. Accepting.
Healing.
Transformational.

Have you saved your spot for ‘Be My Co-Therapist™ Module 1: Parent Mental Health Vulnerabilities in Child and Play Thera...
29/10/2025

Have you saved your spot for ‘Be My Co-Therapist™ Module 1: Parent Mental Health Vulnerabilities in Child and Play Therapy’ yet?

This workshop will provide an overview of common mental health issues many parents/caregivers experience, and will support child therapists to recognise these presentations in their practice.

These presentations include:
👉🏻 Postnatal depression or anxiety
👉🏻 Generalised anxiety disorder
👉🏻 Depression
👉🏻 Loss and grief
👉🏻 Fertility issues
👉🏻 IVF

Special consideration will also be given to the impacts of a parent’s fertility journey, family violence, and intergenerational trauma.

Learn more and register here: https://psychologyandplay.mykajabi.com/offers/u3gpozUc/checkout

Join me on 13th November as I get personal. I'll be sharing from my lived experience to support you in your work with pa...
28/10/2025

Join me on 13th November as I get personal. I'll be sharing from my lived experience to support you in your work with parents/caregivers.

The increasing occurrence of fertility treatment means that many of your child clients were conceived this way.

In fact, 1 in 16 children were conceived through IVF in Australia in 2023.

It is imperative that child and play therapists approach their interactions with parents/caregivers with great sensitivity .....it is likely their pathway to parenthood has involved much pain.

From initial intake and assessment sessions, through to feedback and parent/caregiver support sessions, these parent/caregivers experiences are likely to make their way into our space in some way.

If you don't yet know about the nitty gritty detail of fertility treatment and IVF, I implore you to join me for my upcoming workshop "Parent mental health vulnerabilities in child and play therapy".

This is rarely talked about.
And this knowledge is too important to miss!

This will be recorded, so if you can't attend live, please register and access the recording:
https://psychologyandplay.mykajabi.com/offers/u3gpozUc/checkout

With care
Katherine Olejniczak
(Director, Psychologist, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™)

If you feel like there’s something hard about working with a parent, it’s likely that it’s touching a parent vulnerabili...
28/10/2025

If you feel like there’s something hard about working with a parent, it’s likely that it’s touching a parent vulnerability.

The goal of our training ‘Be My Co-Therapist™ Module 1: Parent Mental Health Vulnerabilities in Child and Play Therapy’ is to help therapists identify these vulnerabilities, so that you can more effectively work with the parent to help them become open to the therapy process with their child, or to engage in therapy with them.

Let me give you an example of how this may present in your clinical work…

The parent may be resistant to participating, even in an initial intake or assessment session, or if they do engage then what they speak about is problem-saturated about the child. This may look like a parent who takes over the child’s session by wanting to talk and ask questions, including either before or after the child session.

If you aren’t confident working with parent mental health vulnerabilities, I recommend joining us for the live workshop on 13th November.

Learn more and register here: https://psychologyandplay.mykajabi.com/offers/u3gpozUc/checkout

Address

Hobart, TAS

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

Telephone

+61361693104

Website

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