2022 Summer Intensive: Creative Techniques in Child Therapy 

with

Jeanette Harroun, LMFT, RPT-S

It is said that you can’t enter any world for which you don’t have the language[i] and that is particularly true in working with children.  Play is a child’s language and both play and expressive arts techniques provide an effective means for therapeutic work with children. Many play therapy techniques are evidence-based and effectively integrated with a variety of theoretical perspectives.  In today’s two hour workshop we will explore approaches to play therapy, the healing benefits of play and a variety of interventions to successfully engage and support children and families in addressing concerns including depression, anxiety, self-regulation and trauma. The class will include both didactic instruction and hands-on activities.

Jeannette Harroun, LMFT, RPT-S is a Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. She has a private practice in Lafayette, CA where she provides psychotherapy and individual consultation and supervision.  Her approach to therapy is described as positive, warm and playful. She strongly believes in the power of play in helping children and teens better understand and express themselves.  She regularly uses play to address a variety of concerns including anxiety, self-regulation, self-esteem, attachment, tantrums and impulsivity, anxiety, depression, school and motivational issues, trauma, and divorce.  She also enjoys supervising and mentoring others, providing consultation and supervision to other professionals.  She is currently a collaborative supervisor for the Wright Institute and has taught at both the University of Phoenix and John F. Kennedy University.

Her practice is located within the Bay Area Psychotherapy Institute (BAPTI) non-profit and professional community and she has served in several roles on the BAPTI Board of Directors including Marketing Director, Vice President and Treasurer.  She is a member of both the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and the Association for Play Therapy. She was the 2014 President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Association for Play Therapy and served on the SF-CALAPT Board from 2013 – 2015.
Her play therapy training includes child-centered play, sandtray, and filial therapy (both intensive and advanced coursework).  In addition, she has a certificate in Mindful Schools K-12 Curriculum Training and in Neuroscience and Somatic Skill Building.  She is a Positive Discipline Parent Educator and an American Psychological Association Adults and Children Together (ACT) Program facilitator (both parent educator and provider trainer).

Prior to becoming a therapist, Jeannette worked for the University of California where she became known both for her HR expertise and the collection of toys, she kept in her office for colleagues’ use in stress relief.  Her slingshot animal collection was particularly popular. She continues to love toys and often adds to her current playroom collection.  In addition, she’s an avid videogamer.