Play Therapy Across Cultures: Responsive Interventions for Identity, Bias, and Diverse Family Systems
Presented by Ebony Hutchinson, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist™
Children do not enter the playroom separate from their cultural experiences. Their emotional expression, attachment patterns, communication styles, family roles, coping strategies, spiritual beliefs, and behavioral responses are shaped by multiple intersecting identities and environmental influences. In today’s clinical landscape, play therapists must move beyond surface-level multicultural awareness and develop the ability to recognize how culture is continuously present within the therapeutic process.
This Play Therapy workshop examines culturally responsive clinical practice through an expanded lens culture that includes race, ethnicity, religion and spirituality, socioeconomic status, immigration experiences, neurodivergence, gender identity, regional culture, family structure, and community context. Rather than focusing primarily on definitions, this training emphasizes clinical application through interactive case scenarios, reflective discussion, and practical intervention strategies that therapists can immediately integrate into practice.
Participants will explore how bias and assumptions may unintentionally appear in the playroom through assessment practices, interpretation of play themes, treatment planning, communication with caregivers, toy and material selection, expectations around emotional expression, and perceptions of behavior. The workshop will examine how children’s cultural identities and lived experiences influence symbolic play, emotional regulation, relationship dynamics, and responses to therapeutic interventions.
Using Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) and Gestalt Play Therapy frameworks, participants will learn how to create culturally responsive play therapy environments that support safety, empowerment, and authentic self-expression for children and families from diverse backgrounds. Special attention will be given to understanding systemic stressors and contextual factors impacting children, including community violence, religious identity conflicts, financial instability, relocation, discrimination, educational inequities, caregiver stress, and experiences of marginalization.
Through clinical illustrations and experiential activities, participants will analyze complex case examples involving culturally diverse children and caregivers. Therapists will practice identifying culturally responsive interventions, adapting play materials, increasing cultural humility, and strengthening therapeutic attunement without stereotyping or over pathologizing clients.
This workshop is designed for mental health professionals seeking to strengthen culturally responsive Play Therapy practice through practical application, clinical reflection, and increased awareness of how culture and systemic experiences shape children’s emotional worlds both inside and outside the playroom.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify at least five ways cultural assumptions, systemic bias, or contextual factors may influence Play Therapy assessment, interpretation, and intervention.
- Analyze how cultural identities including religion, socioeconomic status, family structure, neurodivergence, immigration experiences, and geographical context may appear within children’s Play Therapy themes and behaviors.
- Demonstrate at least three culturally responsive Play Therapy interventions that support emotional expression and therapeutic engagement with diverse children and families.
- Describe at least three strategies Play Therapists can use to increase cultural humility, reduce bias, and strengthen therapeutic attunement in the playroom.
- Apply Child-Centered Play Therapy and Gestalt Play Therapy principles to culturally responsive case scenarios involving diverse family systems and identities.
This training is approved by APT Approved Provider 99-050 for 3 non-contact CE hours.
This program has been submitted for approval from the NASW-Michigan Chapter for 3.0 continuing education hours.
Trainings are not recorded.
Intermediate Level | Play Therapy Special Topics
ABOUT OUR PRESENTER: Ebony Hutchinson, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist™ has worked in behavioral health since 2004. In addition to her private practice, Ebony has served as an adjunct professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis since 2021, where she teaches future social workers about mental health, trauma, and child development. She specializes in supporting children, families, and individuals through trauma, emotional wellness, and the complexities of parenting. Ebony is also the founder of The Community Reach, a nonprofit that was established to increase access to specialized mental health services to marginalized communities.
VIRTUAL: This will be a virtual workshop. Participants will be awarded APT non-contact CE after successful completion of a post-test. Participants are requested to be present and visible throughout the presentation to facilitate engagement. MIAPT is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to Play Therapy. APT Approved Provider 99-050. MIAPT maintains responsibility for the program.
PHOTO RELEASE: By registering for this training, you are giving permission for MIAPT to use any photographs (screenshots) that are taken at the event containing your likeness for as long as MIAPT deems appropriate and desirable. Photographs may be used on the MIAPT website, social media pages, and/or newsletter for any purpose. By completing the registration, you are also consenting to waive any rights to the photographs indefinitely. If you do not wish to have your photo used, it is your responsibility to notify MIAPT of your request to be omitted.
CANCELLATION POLICY: If you notify MIAPT you are canceling, and we are able to fill your spot, you will receive a refund for the registration fee minus $20 administrative fee. Cancellation requests must be made in writing. No refunds after July 17, 2026.
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