Overview

Play is the natural language of children and teens—a powerful way to express emotion, explore meaning, and build connection. In this hybrid training, you’ll learn how to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Play Therapy to help young clients develop flexibility, resilience, and value-driven lives.

Whether attending online or in person, you’ll explore creative, experiential ways to bring ACT processes to life through metaphor, art, movement, and symbolic play.

This training is accredited for 14 hours of continuing education when both Part 1 and Part 2 have been completed. Register for Part One 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, while online participants will join adapted experiential sessions and small-group activities.

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

The Training

Part 1 – Foundations & Play Integration

Learn the core ACT processes — mindfulness, acceptance, defusion, values, and committed action — and discover how play, metaphor, and imagination can bring these concepts to life for children and teens.

Part 2 – Relationship, Resistance & Youth Engagement

Deepen your understanding of the therapeutic relationship as the foundation for healing. Explore how to use play to build safety and trust, and learn evidence-based strategies for engaging reluctant or resistant teens through a values-based and collaborative ACT approach.

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

• 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. Venue and travel details will be shared upon registration.

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.