Event Schedule, CE Breakdown & Hotel Information

Schedule For Conference:

- All Conference Events will take place in the Main Southpoint Conference Area

- Meals are included in the registration cost:  3 breakfasts, 2 hot lunches, 1 light snack.

*Special dietary accommodation will be available with information provided at registration

Thursday, May 14, 2026

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Check-In & Bag Drop-Off

Hotel check-in begins at 3:00 PM

12:00 PM – 12:30 PM | Welcome & Orientation

12:30 PM – 4:00 PM | An Afternoon of Wisdom with Robyn Gobbel and Rose LaPiere-Harvey

Session Title: Invited Into Their Story: Receiving the Wisdom Offered by Play Therapy Clients

Presenters: Robyn Gobbel, MSW & Rose LaPiere, LPC, RPT-S™, ACS

Presentation: Invited Into Their Story: Receiving the Wisdom Offered by Play Therapy Clients

Description: What if the goal of play therapy isn’t for our clients to trust us, but for us to trust them? To hear and believe the stories they offer, especially the ones that transcend words. Our clients are already telling us exactly what they need us to know; our work is to hear and believe them.

As clinicians, this shifts our role toward cultivating presence and connection within ourselves so we can truly meet our clients in the stories they share. From that grounded place, we’re better able to reflect back their truest selves and trust that they are on the healing path meant for them, having the experience that is possible for them in that moment.

In this Symposium kick-off keynote, we (Robyn and Rose) will share some of the most powerful and profound wisdom our clients have taught us; those moments that reshaped how we listen, how we trust, and how we accompany. We’ll also invite you to reflect on the teachings your own clients have offered you, and how those moments continue to guide your presence, your work, and your heart.

Objectives: 

1. Identify at least three ways that play therapy clients communicate their needs through nonverbal or symbolic play.
2. Explain the role of trust in the therapeutic relationship and how trusting the play therapy client’s process can support clinical outcomes.
3. Analyze the bidirectional exchange of information and meaning between play therapy clients and play Therapists to inform clinical decision-making.

4:00 PM | Closing Announcements

4:30 PM | ICE CREAM SOCIAL! Cool off with ice cream or non-dairy sorbet while connecting with fellow attendees and browsing our amazing vendors!

Evening | Free for reflection, rest, connection, or fun in Las Vegas

Friday, May 15, 2026

7:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Continental Breakfast, Coffee & Tea

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Morning Welcome & Announcements with Janet Nordine

9:15 AM – 12:00 PM | A Day of Wisdom with Abby Esquivel, Marshall Lyles, and Janet Nordine

Session Title: Listening to Ancestral Wisdom as a Guide in Play Therapy Practice

Description: This workshop invites play therapists to explore how ancestral wisdom — the stories, practices, and quiet inheritances carried across generations — can deepen our capacity to care for play therapy clients through thoughtfully playful practices. Through reflective exercises, experiential activities, and culturally grounded discussion, participants will examine how their own lineages shape their therapeutic presence, attunement, and understanding of safety.

Together, we will consider how ancestral knowledge can support clinicians in recognizing themes of resilience, identity, protection, and belonging as they emerge in playful and expressive means. Participants will learn ways to ethically and sensitively integrate ancestral awareness into treatment planning, case conceptualization, and person-of-the-play-therapist work, while honoring the diverse cultural backgrounds of the families they serve.

This workshop centers on the idea that when therapists listen with a sense of timelessness, to the wisdom behind us and head , we strengthen our ability to listen to the clients who come seeking connection, repair, and a sense of home within themselves.

Presenters: Marshall Lyles, LPC-S, LMFT-S, RPT-S™, RST-C/T™, Abby Esquivel, LCSW RPT-S ACS EMDRIA Approved Consultant™ and Janet Nordine, MS, LMFT-S, RPT-S™, RST™

Objectives: 

1) Identify ways ancestral narratives, cultural lineages, and intergenerational strengths can inform a therapist’s presence and attunement in the playroom.

2) Describe how ancestral wisdom and culturally rooted practices can support case conceptualization, particularly around themes of safety, identity, and belonging in play therapy.

3) Demonstrate reflective skills that help play therapists recognize how their own ancestral stories shape countertransference, intuition, and therapeutic decision making.

4) Apply developmentally appropriate play therapy interventions that honor a client’s cultural and familial heritage while maintaining ethical and culturally responsive practice.

5) Integrate ancestral awareness into play therapy treatment planning and caregiver collaboration in ways that respect diverse cultural traditions and avoid appropriation.

6) Evaluate how ancestral grounding practices can enhance therapist regulation, resilience, and capacity for deep listening within the play therapy relationship.

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Lunch Provided — time to connect and explore vendor offerings

1:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Continued Sessions with Abby, Marshall, and Janet

 (see above for title, description, and objectives)

4:00 PM | Closing Announcements

Evening | Free for reflection, rest, connection, or fun in Las Vegas

Saturday, May 16, 2026

7:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Continental Breakfast, Coffee & Tea

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Morning Welcome & Announcements with Janet Nordine

9:15 AM – 12:00 PM | A Day of Wisdom with Lisa Dion and Mili Sarmiento Shoemaker

Session Title: Wisdom in the Here and Now in Play Therapy: Self, Relationships, and the Body in Clinical Practice

Presenters: Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S™ & Milagros (Mili) Sarmiento-Shoemaker, LPC, RPT-S™

Wisdom in the Here and Now in Play Therapy: Self, Relationships, and the Body in Clinical Practice invites play therapists to deepen their capacity to bring present-moment awareness into therapeutic work. Drawing from Gestalt theory, Synergetic Play Therapy, and Interpersonal Neurobiology, this workshop emphasizes the ability to attach and attune to self as a foundation for working with the information that arises in the play therapist’s own body and within the space between therapist and child. Participants will explore how cultivating presence supports regulation, expands resilience, and facilitates deeper healing in the therapeutic relationship. The workshop highlights: “The moment itself holds all the information that you need in order to facilitate the process, the real question is whether or not you are present enough to listen.- Lisa Dion”

Objectives: 

1. Describe how Gestalt theory, Synergetic Play Therapy, and Interpersonal Neurobiology inform present-moment clinical practice in play therapy.

2. Identify ways to attune to self in a play therapy session in order to notice and work with the information arising in the play therapist’s body.

3. Demonstrate strategies for tracking and regulating the nervous system within the therapeutic process during a play therapy session.

4. Apply present-moment awareness to strengthen the relational space between play therapist and child during a play therapy session.

5. Explore how cultivating self-attunement enhances a play therapist’s ability to co-regulate with the child and support healing in play therapy.

6. Engage in experiential exercises that help play therapists identify and reflect on what interferes with their ability to stay present in the therapeutic moment during play therapy sessions.

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Lunch Provided — connect, eat, and browse vendor offerings

1:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Continued Sessions with Lisa Dion and Mili Sarmiento Shoemaker

(see above for title, description, and objectives)

4:00 PM | Closing Announcements

Evening | Free for reflection, rest, connection, or fun in Las Vegas

Sunday, May 17, 2026

7:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Continental Breakfast, Coffee & Tea

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Morning Welcome & Announcements with Janet Nordine

9:15 AM – 12:15 PM | Morning Session with the wisdom of Dr. Linda Homeyer

Session Title: Wisdom of the Sand Tray: For Ourselves, Play Therapy Clients & Others  

Description: Sand, a tray, and miniature figures provide deep insight for the user: self, client, or supervisee. This presentation will explore the impact of our play therapy mentors, life experiences, and the people we come into contact with (play therapy clients, supervisees, consultees, etc.) as we look toward the future. Of course, will experience hands-in-sand!

Presenter: Linda E. Homeyer, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S™, RST-C/T™ 

Objectives: 

1. Use sand play therapy with supervisees to explore their professional influencers.
2. Identify two components of figure-play to assist clients in developing deeper insight into their created sandtray scenes.
3. Describe how to develop a personal metaphor.

12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Closing Presentation with Janet Nordine - “Cultivating Our Own Inner Wisdom.”

Presenter: Janet Nordine, MS, LMFT-S, RPT-S™, RST™

Description: Participants will explore how ongoing Self-awareness and Self-regulation strengthen attunement, deepen presence, and support responsive moment-to-moment decision-making within the play therapy relationship. Grounded in Gestalt Play Therapy, this workshop highlights how concepts such as contact, field awareness, and the fluid, evolving nature of the Self naturally unfold in the playroom—guiding clinical choices in ways that honor the child’s process and promote relational safety. Therapists will leave with practical ways to cultivate their own internal wisdom as an essential therapeutic tool, as well as a deeper understanding of their "Self." 

Objectives: 

1) Identify two ways a play therapist’s Self-awareness and Self-regulation support therapeutic attunement, grounded presence, and responsive moment-to-moment engagement within the play therapy relationship.

2) Describe how core Gestalt Play Therapy concepts—contact, field awareness, and the fluid nature of the Self—emerge through the child’s play process and inform the therapist’s in-the-moment clinical decision making

Closing remarks and Gratitude expression - Janet Nordine 

1:15 PM – 2:15 PM | Evaluations, Certificates, & Closing of the Symposium

The Symposium concludes. Travel home safely.

18 Total CEs

APT Categories Breakdown

Play Therapy History

Total: 2

Play Therapy Seminal or Historically Significant Theories

Total: 4.25

Play Therapy Skills and Methods

Total: 5

Play Therapy Special Topics

Total: 4.5

Play Therapy Cultural and Social Diversity Topics

Total: 2.25