Black Play Therapy Foundation, 2227 Old Bridge Road #143, Woodbridge, VA (2026)

Q: What is the website?

http://www.blackplaytherapy.com/

04/05/2026

The school-to-prison pipeline operates, not through one big decision, but through a thousand small biased moments, each one documented, each one building a narrative, each one stealing a piece of childhood.

And mental health professionals? We’re positioned right at the intervention point. We receive these referrals. We make decisions about them. We either interrupt the bias or we perpetuate it.

The morning session of the Stolen Childhoods workshop teaches you HOW to interrupt—with interventions you can use immediately in your practice.

This is for professionals in schools, private practice, agencies, community settings, anywhere you encounter children impacted by systemic bias.

You’ll leave ready to use these interventions with clients already on your schedule.

Day 2 Morning Session | July 11 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Black Play Therapy® Symposium | Springfield, VA

Register: www.blackplaytherapy.com

04/04/2026

www.blackplaytherapy.com

04/01/2026

I’ve always wondered what would be next for me as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.

The NFL is now requiring teams to have a mental health professional on staff🫣

Oh the things I could process with LEGO and Sand Tray💜🖤🙌🏽

04/01/2026

I’ve always wondered what would be next for me as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.

The NFL is now requiring teams to have a mental health professional on staff🫣

Oh the things I could process with LEGO and Sand Tray💜🖤🙌🏽

03/30/2026

SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT

🖤 We are honored to announce Dr. Althea T. Simpson, DSW, LCSW, RPT-S as a featured speaker at the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium! 🖤

Reclaiming Black Childhood: Identifying and Disrupting the Cognitive Biases Behind the School-to-Prison Pipeline, July 10–11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

Dr. Althea T. Simpson is a powerhouse of creativity and a force for healing in the Black mental health community. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, certified PlayMobil Pro Pro.Play facilitator, and certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator and trainer, Althea brings over 22 years of expertise in trauma-informed care, youth mental health, and substance use disorder treatment. She is the founder of Brighter Day Therapeutic Solutions, Unicorn Life Play Therapy (Unicorn Life Play Therapy Academy), and the Black Play Therapy® Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to centering healing in the Black community through clinical support, advocacy, and community programming. She currently serves as Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Supervisor at Child & Family Behavioral Health Services (CFBHS) and is the author of Hurt to Healing: Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence and Their Invisible Injuries. 💜🖤
As both host and speaker, Althea will bring her full expertise as clinician, supervisor, trainer, and systems thinker to the 2026 symposium stage. Her life’s work is a living testament to the profound power of play as both a clinical tool and an act of resistance, and her commitment to creating affirming spaces where Black children, families, and clinicians can thrive is the heartbeat of everything this symposium stands for. 💜
And she is the visionary founder of the very symposium you’re reading about, now in its seventh year. 💜🖤

03/30/2026

SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT

🖤 We are honored to announce Dr. Althea T. Simpson, DSW, LCSW, RPT-S as a featured speaker at the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium! 🖤

Reclaiming Black Childhood: Identifying and Disrupting the Cognitive Biases Behind the School-to-Prison Pipeline, July 10–11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

Dr. Althea T. Simpson is a powerhouse of creativity and a force for healing in the Black mental health community. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, certified PlayMobil Pro Pro.Play facilitator, and certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator and trainer, Althea brings over 22 years of expertise in trauma-informed care, youth mental health, and substance use disorder treatment. She is the founder of Brighter Day Therapeutic Solutions, Unicorn Life Play Therapy (Unicorn Life Play Therapy Academy), and the Black Play Therapy® Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to centering healing in the Black community through clinical support, advocacy, and community programming. She currently serves as Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Supervisor at Child & Family Behavioral Health Services (CFBHS) and is the author of Hurt to Healing: Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence and Their Invisible Injuries. 💜🖤

And she is the visionary founder of the very symposium you're reading about, now in its seventh year. 💜🖤

As both host and speaker, Althea will bring her full expertise as clinician, supervisor, trainer, and systems thinker to the 2026 symposium stage. Her life's work is a living testament to the profound power of play as both a clinical tool and an act of resistance, and her commitment to creating affirming spaces where Black children, families, and clinicians can thrive is the heartbeat of everything this symposium stands for. 💜

Using PlayMobil Pro, arts-based interventions, and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodologies, participants attendng her full day session will develop concrete strategies for bias-resistant assessment, evidence-based intervention, and protective documentation that reclaim childhood through play therapy.

This is more than a conference. This is a movement.
🔗 Register at http://www.blackplaytherapy.com

03/21/2026

We are beyond excited to have these incredible clinicians joining us for the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium! This year's theme, Reclaiming Black Childhood: Identifying and Disrupting the Cognitive Biases Behind the School-to-Prison Pipeline, demands voices that have worked inside these systems. And that is exactly what we have. 💜

July 10–11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

Our 2026 speakers:

💜 Dr. Althea T. Simpson, LCSW, RPT-S Founder of Brighter Day Therapeutic Solutions, Unicorn Life Play Therapy Academy, and the Black Play Therapy™ Foundation. A clinician, supervisor, trainer, and author whose life's work is centering healing in the Black community.🖤

💜 Dr. Erica J. Tatum-Sheade, DSW, LCSW, CAdPT, RPT-S Founder of Integrated Mental Health Associates and Play Well with Dr. Erica. A passionate advocate for Black girls and the 2024 recipient of the Black Excellence in Play Therapy Award.🖤

💜 Sean Myers, M.Ed., LPC A school counselor and licensed professional counselor working at the front lines of the school-to-prison pipeline in Harris County, Georgia.🖤

💜 Audrice Johnson, M.Ed., LPC, LSATP A licensed mental health and substance abuse professional bringing a powerful perspective from inside the correctional system, bearing witness to where the pipeline ends and advocating for a different path.🖤

💜 Quinn Flowers, LICSW, LCSW-C, LCSW 2021 National School Social Worker of the Year and founder of The Healing Garden LLC. A frontline school social worker committed to keeping Black children connected to their futures.🖤

Together, these five clinicians represent every point along the pipeline, and they are coming to the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium to help us disrupt it. 💜🖤

Tag a clinician, social worker, counselor, or therapist, parent, caregiver, educator, juvenile justice professional, child welfare professional, child advocate who needs to be in the room.

🔗 Registration details at www.blackplaytherapy.com

03/18/2026

Here we go again, but this year is different, I am at peace…

To anyone who has spent seven years trying to tear this down: Your energy would be better spent examining why Black excellence makes you uncomfortable.

Let me address something quickly:

I just saw an email sent to me this evening that someone reported my Black Play Therapy® Symposium website to APT with an outdated link of my session overview and agenda page from before my complete 2026 information was uploaded. Pro tip: always refresh before you report. 😉

For SEVEN YEARS, people have reported my conference, questioned my credentials, challenged my right to create space for Black play therapists, and tried to sabotage the Black Play Therapy® Symposium.

Early bird registration is OPEN for the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium!

July 10-11, 2026 | Springfield, VA Theme: Reclaiming Black Childhood: Disrupting Cognitive Biases in the School-to-Prison Pipeline.

But here's what's real: It's been at least three years since I stepped back from being heavily active in the play therapy community. I NOW train once a year - at MY symposium - and I'm at peace with that.

And YET, I'm still perceived as a threat.

That should tell you something.

If people spent as much energy supporting Black therapists as they do trying to undermine us, imagine what we could accomplish.

To my community: Thank you for seven years of showing up despite the noise. Your presence is why I continue.

The 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium is happening July 10-11, and early registration has already begun (multiple people registered before I even announced registration was open because people couldn't wait - and I love that energy).

To whoever keeps reporting, questioning, and trying to tear down what I've built:

Your tactics show desperation, not legitimacy.

If you want to know what I am doing WRONG... buy a ticket and EXPERIENCE it for yourself. It's going to be amazing. As always.

The 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium is happening July 10-11 in Springfield, VA. It's going to be powerful and exactly what we need.

Some people will never be comfortable with Black therapists centering Black healing.

Register: http://www.blackplaytherapy.com

Reminder: Always refresh your links before you share them. You might be working with outdated information. 😉💜🖤

💜 🖤 Now back to planning an incredible symposium.

#

03/16/2026

Speaker Announcement: Dr. Erica J. Tatum-Sheade, DSW, LCSW, CAdPT, RPT-S

We are thrilled to announce Dr. Erica Tatum-Sheade as a featured workshop presenter at the 2026 Black Play Therapy Symposium, where she will share her groundbreaking work and inspire us all.

With an impressive list of accolades, including being named 2025 Clinician of the Year, 2024 Phoenix Titan 100 Award Winner, and 2024 Black Excellence in Play Therapy Award Winner, Dr. Erica’s expertise is undeniable. Her leadership as a former Two-Term President of the Arizona Association for Play Therapy has paved the way for innovation in the field.

Dr. Erica has a critical message to share about Black girls, and we are honored to have her at the symposium. Her workshop, Reclaiming Girlhood Play Therapy Interventions Addressing the Criminalization, Adultification, and Sexualization of Black Girls, promises to be a transformative experience.

Join us on Friday, July 10, 2026, from 1:30 PM to 4:45 PM, for this powerful workshop, where Dr. Erica will share her insights and expertise, earning 3 CE Hours.

The harsh reality is that Black girls face a triple threat: adultification bias, hypersexualization, and criminalization. These biases rob Black girls of their childhood, innocence, and protection.

But Dr. Erica isn’t just naming the problem; she’s bringing solutions. Her workshop promises to be a beacon of hope and a call to action.

Visit the Black Play Therapy website at www.blackplaytherapy.com to grab your Earlybird ticket and be a part of this transformative experience.

Black Play Therapy Foundation

04/05/2026

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