319 | Art of the Session: Empowerment on the Way to the Playroom

In this episode of the Art of the Session series, I walk you through a phase of the play therapy process that’s often overlooked—what happens on the way to the playroom. This moment may feel small, but it holds tremendous power to reinforce the child’s sense of autonomy, predictability, and safety. I share how empowerment choices—offered consistently and predictably during the walk back—set the tone for the session and become a ritual that communicates "You are in control here."

I offer real-life examples of how to work these choices into your routine, even if you're in a school, office building, or don’t have a sink nearby. Whether it’s picking a hallway, choosing which sanitizer to use, or deciding how to travel to the playroom (hopping, skipping, or sliding in socks), these micro-moments become powerful anchors of trust and consistency. This episode helps you refine the seemingly simple transitions into meaningful therapeutic opportunities.

Mastering CPRT is open for registration - go to playtherapynow.com and use the code “CPRT100” to get $100 off for 10 days. It goes up to full price after 10 days, so grab this offer today!

PlayTherapyNow.com is my HUB for everything I do! playtherapynow.com. Sign up for my email newsletter, stay ahead with the latest CCPT CEU courses, personalized coaching opportunities and other opportunities you need to thrive in your CCPT practice. If you click one link in these show notes, this is the one to click!

If you would like to ask me questions directly, check out www.ccptcollective.com, where I host two weekly Zoom calls filled with advanced CCPT case studies and session reviews, as well as member Q&A. You can take advantage of the two-week free trial to see if the CCPT Collective is right for you.

Ask Me Questions: Call ‪[phone]‬, or email: [e-mail]
Brenna's CCPT Hub: https://www.playtherapynow.com
CCPT Collective (online community exclusively for CCPTs): https://www.ccptcollective.com
Podcast HQ: https://www.playtherapypodcast.com
APT Approved Play Therapy CE courses: https://childcenteredtraining.com
Twitter: @thekidcounselor https://twitter.com/thekidcounselor
Facebook: https://facebook.com/playtherapypodcast

Common References:
Cochran, N., Nordling, W., & Cochran, J. (2010). Child-Centered Play Therapy (1st ed.). Wiley.
VanFleet, R., Sywulak, A. E., & Sniscak, C. C. (2010). Child-centered play therapy. Guilford Press.
Landreth, G.L. (2023). Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (4th ed.). Routledge.
Bratton, S. C., Landreth, G. L., Kellam, T., & Blackard, S. R. (2006). Child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) treatment manual: A 10-session filial therapy model for training parents. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Benedict, Helen. Themes in Play Therapy. Used with permission to Heartland Play Therapy Institute.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks,
your source for centered and focused play therapy coaching.
Hi,
I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks,
The Kid Counselor.
This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get
a master class in child-centered play therapy
and practical support and application for your
work with children and their families.
In today's episode,
we are continuing the Art of the Session series.

(00:23):
So our second,
I guess our 2.0
summer school series,
but this one is Art of the Session.
And I hope that you,
I know this is only the 3rd one,
so maybe you haven't connected the dots yet,
so I'll connect them for you.
I'm hoping that you have seen
that we are literally starting at the beginning and doing the progression.

(00:44):
So first episode in the series was making sure your playroom was set up.
Then it was interacting with
your client
slash child and parent slash customer in the lobby.
Now
today we're talking about heading toward the playroom,
not once inside the playroom yet,

(01:04):
that'll come,
but this is what do we do as we're heading back to the playroom.
I've noticed in a lot of videos that I've been reviewing lately
and a lot of discussions in the coaching and the Collective.
That
people understand in general
what CCPT is,
and people understand the clinical side,
the skills.

(01:25):
But what seems to be missing
is the nuanced
components
of the process.
So that's really what I'm trying to accomplish with this Art of the Session series
is that
there's awareness of what
we're supposed to be doing
at every point along the way.
So that's what I'm hoping
you're,
you'll see this all come together.

(01:47):
So today,
heading to the playroom.
What does that look like?
How are we to be interacting as we're walking back from the lobby
to
actually moving into the playroom?
One of the helpful things that I've
done and I've trained my therapists to do.
Is after you have that lobby interaction like we talked about in the last episode,

(02:12):
then I typically say to the child,
I'm ready if you are.
I have often said,
I wonder if you're ready to go play,
but I think I tend to more often than not say,
I'm ready if you are,
and that indicates to the child that
it's time to go play.
Now,
here's what you need to know before we dive into my process.

(02:35):
We're going to get into
the four pillars,
we're going to get into the reflective responses.
We're going to look at those in light of what does that mean
in the play session,
how are those executed,
what's the outcome,
what's the purpose,
what's the why?
I know we've covered the skills before,
but we've not covered them in light of being in a session

(02:57):
with a child as part of the process from start to finish.
So we're going to look at all of those,
but here's what we're talking about today.
When you think about
choices,
we know that choice giving is one of our pillars.
When you think about choices,
there are two different kinds,
we're gonna dive into that more deeply.
It is very difficult

(03:17):
to provide empowerment choices in a session.
It
is possible,
it is just difficult.
The circumstances are not ideal for being
able to offer empowerment choices frequently.
However,
it is easy to work empowerment choices into your approaching the playroom process.
And
we're also going to talk about the consistency

(03:38):
and the predictability of the entire process.
So this goes into that constancy that we provide as well.
But what we're talking about today are offering empowerment choices
as part of your standard routine every single week.
All right,
so let's start diving into this.
As you

(03:59):
have spent time in the lobby,
as you're ready to walk back,
you now have said,
I'm ready if you are,
the child says,
yep,
let's go,
and we start walking back to the playroom.
All right,
that's where we are in the process.
Empowerment choices are worked in.
So that the child gets practice making choices,
so that it's consistent every single time,

(04:20):
and so we're not hoping for opportunities in the playroom.
The way we have found this to work
is
for us where they choose to wash their hands,
for example.
Our policy is clean hands going in,
clean hands coming out.
So therefore,
every kid washes their hands before the start of every playtime

(04:40):
and they wash their hands at the end of every playtime.
Therefore,
we have an empowerment choice.
You can choose to wash your hands in the bathroom or
you can choose to wash your hands in the playroom,
which do you choose?
Many of you do not have sinks in your playrooms,
so maybe your choice becomes you can choose to wash
your hands or you can choose to use hand sanitizer,

(05:01):
which do you choose?
Ironically,
we also have sanitizer,
but
that's,
do we typically say wash your hands in the bathroom or the playroom,
but
you can choose to wash your hands in the bathroom or
you can choose to use sanitizer to clean your hands,
which do you choose?
One of my former coaching participants is in
the UK and she's in the school environment,

(05:22):
and Lee does not have a sink anywhere near
her playroom.
She has to take the child from the classroom to the playroom
and so she has two separate bottles of hand sanitizer.
I actually have a current participant that also
has 2 bottles of sanitizer in the room.
So this is another option.
And so for Lee in the UK in the school,

(05:44):
for example,
she,
I don't know if she put one on there.
I don't know exactly what the circumstances are,
but
there's animals on the bottles.
So she offers,
you can choose to use the sanitizer with the
giraffe,
or you can choose to use the sanitizer with the zebra,
which do you choose?
And although it would be
giraffe and zebra in in her case,

(06:06):
but
look,
I,
I am,
uh,
I,
I possess some skills in some things,
but accents are not one of them,
so I apologize to all of you Brits that just butchered your beautiful language.
Anyway,
so
she offers the animal,
you can choose to use the zebra or the giraffe.
I don't even know if those are the animals,
but you get the concept.
And notice that

(06:26):
this becomes a routine
part of every single walking back to the playroom.
How are you going to clean your hands?
Another option that you can work in.
If you are not on the first floor of a building,
for example,
I know many of you are not.
You can
give the choice of,
you can choose for us to do the stairs or you can choose for us to do the elevator,

(06:47):
which do you choose?
Another option,
you can choose to push the buttons for the elevator or you
can choose for me to push the buttons for the elevator,
which do you choose?
Another option for us,
for example,
we have
a hallway down both sides of the building from the lobby.
So when you walk into our lobby,
there's a right door and there's a left door,

(07:08):
and it makes one big square.
So one of the options is you can choose to go down the right door to
the playroom or you can choose to go down the left door to the playroom,
which do you choose?
All,
all roads lead to the playroom.
It's just which
counterclockwise or clockwise direction you happen to be moving.
Another empowerment choice.

(07:29):
The one that we consistently every single time use
is how they choose to wash their hands.
But sometimes we provide other ones that I'm throwing out for you.
Another option,
how they choose to get back to the playroom.
So once they've
decided on their hallway or their path,
you can choose to skip to the playroom or you can choose to hop to the playroom,

(07:51):
which do you choose?
In
one of my current client's cases,
it is he takes his shoes off and he runs in his socks
about as far down the hallway as he can get
to leave himself with enough room
to slide on his knees
the rest of the way down the hallway all the way

(08:13):
to the door and then he comes back to the playroom.
So he actually passes the playroom.
Sliding on his knees and his socks all the way
down and then turns around and then walks back in.
But starts at the door and like sprints as fast
as he can until he leaves himself enough room to
to do like the
Tom Cruise slide in whatever dance movie that was.

(08:34):
Anyway.
So the,
the options that you're providing with two kids
are for empowerment and let's go back to why does this matter?
We know the value of giving choices.
We know how important
the child practicing making choices and taking the responsibility and ownership.

(08:54):
Of those choices,
but in the playroom session it is
very difficult to consistently have empowerment choices,
so we might as well work it into our system.
Now the system itself is important.
We're going to talk about that
probably next time actually
we have to have consistency and.
Predictability and stability for the child that is a monumental crucial component

(09:18):
of our work in child-centered play therapy.
Kids need to know what to expect.
So yes,
we're going to be a broken record.
Yes,
we're going to say the same thing every time,
but that's intentional
and there's purpose behind it.
And here's the thing,
when you do the same exact choice
every single week.
At some point,
with most kids,

(09:39):
you get about 2 or 3 words in
as you're walking back,
you can choose,
I know,
I know,
I know,
I'm choosing to wash my hands in the bathroom.
OK,
they know the choice,
they don't want you to say it anymore.
They will tell you what their choice is before you even get it out.
And many therapists go,
well,
they clearly are irritated that I keep giving them choices,

(09:59):
so I stopped.
We will not stop.
Well,
they clearly know what the choices are,
so I don't need to keep repeating it.
Yes,
we will repeat it.
There is purpose
in this process.
We are going to state the choice out loud every single time.
It is for empowerment's sake.
It is a reminder
that they have control.

(10:21):
It is a reminder that they are being given a measure of power.
It is a reminder that whatever outcome they choose
is tied to the choice that they made.
Therefore,
ownership
is brought into this.
We don't let the child's
irritation or interruption or I know the choice,

(10:42):
you don't need to say it to me anymore,
interfere with the process.
The process is the same every single time.
Now,
what I typically say when a kid does that is,
you know the choices and you chose to wash your hands in the bathroom.
But I don't stop and then next week I'm gonna say exactly the same thing.
This is how the process looks

(11:03):
as we're walking back to session.
Now,
we also provide empowerment choices at the end of the session,
but we'll talk about that once we
walk ourselves through the entire process in the playroom.
This is a downward flow chart if you all are visual.
So think about every single one of these episodes in order.
This is likely gonna be a long series,

(11:23):
y'all.
I'm just letting you know.
I know it's a summer series,
but
I think we may be into the fall by the time this is over.
That's OK,
endless summer,
right?
But this is a downward flow chart.
So we're seeing
the
playroom needs to be set up a certain way,
then we need to interact in the lobby,
then we're going to walk kids back to the session.
What do we do when they get into the session?

(11:45):
Then what are the skills in the session?
Then what are we doing when we leave the session?
This is a flow chart,
and my hope is that this is going to give you all very clear
understanding of what this looks like.
And you will be much more confident
in the execution of these little things because
there's some clinical component to this,

(12:06):
sure,
but this is not truly just the clinical nature of CCPT.
I could pop quiz you what are the be-with attitudes,
you likely know them,
but do you know how to provide empowerment choices
when walking a child back to the session?
That's stuff that we don't talk about very much.
So my hope is this is providing you with competence and confidence
so that you understand exactly what this looks like from start to finish.

(12:29):
All right,
before I let you go,
I want to remind you,
we have launched Mastering CPRT.
So if you are interested,
please go to playtherapynow.com.
Until July 17th,
you get $100 off with the code CPRT100
So if you've been,
I know many of you have already purchased it,
we got all kinds of updates yesterday that many of

(12:50):
you have already jumped on that and saved money.
I'm happy for you all.
And CoreWell wants that.
CoreWell specifically said,
Brenna,
I know how much your audience has bought in.
I know how much they care about CCPT.
Let's honor that.
Let's honor your listeners and your people
and let's help them save money.
So we're really excited for you to not pay full price.
Please take advantage of that if you are wanting to do the course.

(13:13):
Self-paced,
on demand,
in order,
16 CEs,
that's like half of your requirement for your license renewal.
And it's APT approved
and it will count toward RPT.
So all kinds of reasons why CPRT mastering CPRT is going to be helpful for y'all.
Play Therapy now is where you can get info.

(13:34):
Please use the code CPRT100 to save money.
All right y'all,
I love you.
I hope you have a great week.
We'll talk soon.
Bye.
Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr.
Brenna Hicks.
For more episodes and resources,
please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.