Overview

ACT With Play Therapy for Children (Part 1) is an experiential training designed for mental health professionals who want to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into play-based work with children.

This hybrid training (online + in-person) explores how ACT’s core processes can be brought to life through play, imagination, storytelling, and experiential activities that meet children where they are.

You'll learn how to use ACT to help children develop psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, and values-based behaviour—all through developmentally attuned, playful therapeutic methods.

This training is accredited for 14 hours of continuing education when both Part 1 and Part 2 have been completed.

Note: This workshop focuses on children. Part 2 will focus specifically on working with teens using ACT and creative, developmentally appropriate interventions. Register for Part 2 here.

A Unique Training Experience

This isn’t a "sit-and-listen" workshop — it’s experiential, interactive, and creative. You’ll have opportunities to play, move, reflect, and practice interventions in a supportive environment.

• In-person participants will engage in hands-on, play-based exercises.

• Online participants will join adapted experiential sessions and small-group activities.
  

Through this format, you’ll experience the best of both worlds: relational depth and learning flexibility.

Who This Training Is For

This training is ideal for psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, and graduate-level trainees who work with children and want to strengthen their ACT and play therapy skills. No prior ACT experience is required—just basic clinical foundations and supervised experience.

What You’ll Learn

In Part 1 (Children), we will explore:

• How to build strong therapeutic relationships with children through play

• ACT foundations adapted for younger clients (Hexaflex, defusion, mindfulness, values, and committed action through play)

• Using toys, storytelling, drawing, and metaphor to teach ACT skills

• Child-friendly case formulation and assessment

• How to use play to externalize difficult thoughts and emotions

• Ways to help children build flexibility, self-regulation, and willingness

• Introducing ACT metaphors in developmentally accessible language

• Supporting parents/caregivers while maintaining child-centred practice

You will also be introduced to themes that will be expanded upon in Part 2 (Teens), including autonomy, identity, and motivation—register for Part 2 here.

What You’ll Gain

• Practical and playful ACT techniques tailored for youth

• Tools to strengthen the therapeutic relationship through co-play and attunement

• Strategies to engage reluctant adolescents using creative and values-based methods [Part 2]

• Confidence integrating ACT + Play Therapy across developmental levels

• Experiential learning, reflection, and connection with peers

Practical Information

Format & Duration: 14 hours total over two consecutive days (online and in-person components).

Prerequisites: A basic understanding of therapeutic principles. No prior experience in ACT or Play Therapy is required.

Certificate: Participants receive a certificate of completion documenting training hours.

Accessibility: Online participation and in-person attendance options are available.

About the Presenter

Dr. Moire Stevenson, Ph.D.

Dr. Moire Stevenson (pronounced Moy-ra) is a clinical psychologist, passionate educator, and dedicated nature enthusiast with over a decade of clinical experience. She is dedicated to helping others live fulfilling lives.

Dr. Stevenson is the owner and director of Stevenson Psychology and Mindfulness Outdoors. She also works as a Pediatric Psychologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Led by an ongoing curiosity about the natural world and the human mind, Dr. Stevenson completed a combined honours degree in Biology and Biochemistry at Dalhousie University prior to receiving her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Montreal in 2015. She integrated these passions further with Mindfulness Outdoors, a wellness-based nature program. (You can find out more about Mindfulness Outdoors here.)

Over the past 8 years, Dr. Stevenson has become increasingly interested in training students, interns, and other professionals. She is a recognized clinical supervisor with the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec (OPQ) and runs several training programs accredited by various organizations (including the OPQ and the Canadian Psychological Association). She also teaches and supervises with the Montreal Therapy Centre.

Dr. Stevenson works with a variety of organizations in the public and private sectors, providing workshops on mindfulness, ecotherapy, and well-being. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the Vivago Foundation, and on the Advisory Board for Scattered.

She values providing rich training experiences that combine learning with processing and practicing new techniques in natural settings that nourish the therapist as they learn. 

For more on Dr. Stevenson, check out her Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.