The Play Therapy Circle

Ep 53- The First Session- What Actually Happens & Why It Matters

The First Session: What to Expect (and What Not to Do) in Child-Centred Play Therapy In this episode of the Foundation Series, Kylie Ellison, therapist, clinical supervisor, and play therapy trainer, dives deep into one of the biggest sources of anxiety for new play therapists: the first session with a child. If you've just finished your training or you're still building confidence in the playroom, this one's for you. The neurobiology of a first meeting Kylie starts by unpacking neuroception, the concept from polyvagal theory describing how a child's nervous system is constantly assessing safety below conscious awareness. Before a single word is exchanged, a child's body is already deciding whether the playroom, and the therapist in it, feels safe. Understanding this piece is key to setting the tone for everything that follows. Why the relational piece matters so much Children don't arrive as blank slates. They come with an existing template for how adults behave, shaped by prior relationships, previous therapy experiences, or in some cases, trauma and child protection histories. Kylie reflects on Gary Landreth's idea that the therapist is often the first adult in a child's life who doesn't want anything from them, and why that shift can be so disarming and healing for kids who are used to placating, performing, or people-pleasing with the adults around them. Structuring the first session Kylie walks through the practical mechanics of a first session, including: Grounding and regulating yourself before the child arrives Getting on the child's physical level (and why she prefers sitting on the floor) The opening welcome statement, and variations for younger children Sitting with the silence that follows, and recognizing when the urge to fill it is about you, not the child What not to do: asking questions, explaining play therapy, offering praise, or rescuing Ending the session with a five-minute warning and a clear, embodied closing statement Working through common scenarios Kylie also talks through real situations that come up in first sessions, including children who refuse to enter the playroom, kids with attachment or trauma histories who need more time to feel safe, separated or high-conflict families, and how to manage stakeholder expectations when trust-building takes longer than a few sessions. She's honest about the emotional toll this work can take, and the importance of clinical supervision and self-care along the way. This episode is a grounding reminder that CCPT isn't about having the perfect script. It's about trusting yourself, trusting the child, and trusting the process. Coming up next week: reflecting feelings and empathetic responding. Got a question or topic you'd love Kylie to cover? Email hello@playtherapycircle.com or find the podcast @playtherapycircle on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Episode 52- Back to Basics: Empathic Responding & Returning Responsibility

Returning Responsibility: Handing the Power Back to the Child In this episode of The Play Therapy Circle, host Kylie Ellison continues the series on foundational child-centered play therapy skills. Following on from tracking and reflecting feelings, this week's focus is returning responsibility: the skill of handing decisions, choices, and problem-solving back to the child, without withholding support, delivered in a warm and genuinely caring way. Kylie explores why this skill can feel counterintuitive for caring professionals whose natural instinct is to step in and help. She unpacks the difference between doing for a child and empowering a child to do for themselves, and why that distinction matters so much developmentally. Many children arrive in the playroom with underdeveloped agency, having learned that adults are the ones who speak, decide, and solve problems for them. Some children defer responsibility because of an external locus of control, while for others, particularly those who have experienced trauma or family violence, deferring to adults and people-pleasing has been a survival strategy. Returning responsibility offers these children a different relational experience: one where they are trusted to know what they need and capable of deciding for themselves. Kylie shares some of the classic Landreth-informed language she leaned on early in her career, phrases like "in here, that's something you can decide" and "you can decide how you want it to look," and explains why grounding statements in "in here" helps signal that the playroom operates by different rules to the outside world. She also walks through the common mistakes practitioners make when learning this skill: refusing to help with tasks that are genuinely beyond a child's developmental capability, delivering the statement too rigidly or without warmth, overusing it when a child actually needs practical assistance, and missing the moments when a distressed, dysregulated child needs co-regulation rather than an invitation to problem-solve alone. Kylie also touches on how this skill extends beyond the playroom, and why it's a valuable tool to introduce to time-poor, overstretched parents during consultations, so the growth happening in session can be reinforced at home. A short but rich episode packed with practical, ready-to-use language for your next session. Don't miss out - tickets to the 2026 Play Therapy Circle Conference are limited. Secure yours today - Play Therapy Circle Conference 2026 - Kylie Ellison Therapy & TrainingJoin the circle - Circle Subscriptions - Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training

Episode 51- Inside the Play Room - What Belongs There and Why the Space Matters

The Playroom as the Third Therapist: Setting Up a Child-Centred Space In this episode, Kylie continues the foundational series with a deep dive into the child-centred play therapy playroom, what belongs in it, why it matters, and how the space itself communicates safety, welcome, and possibility to the children we work with. Drawing on Gary Landreth's teaching that the playroom is "the child's world in miniature," Kylie unpacks the three essential toy categories every CCPT playroom needs: nurturing, aggressive, and expressive/creative, and explains the message each category sends when it's present, and when it's missing. She talks through practical toy suggestions (with an Aussie flavour, hello, Kmart), how to explain aggressive toys to cautious parents, and why "quality over quantity" remains the guiding principle, no matter how tempting it is to fill a room with resources. Kylie also gets honest about what this looks like outside a picture-perfect private practice playroom: shared clinic spaces, outreach work, schools, and home visits, and shares ideas for building a simple, portable travel kit that still covers all three categories. Plus: what typically doesn't belong in a CCPT playroom (think licensed characters, electronics, and toys with predetermined narratives), and why board games might be the exception that proves the rule. Whether you're setting up your very first playroom or auditing a well-established one, this episode offers a grounded, practical reminder that a modest, thoughtful space with genuine warmth will always beat a beautifully stocked room, because ultimately, it's your presence, congruence, and connection that create the safety a child needs to do their work. In this episode: 🧸 Why the playroom is often called "the third therapist" 🎯 The three core toy categories, nurturing, aggressive, expressive, and what each communicates 🥊 How to talk to parents about aggressive toys in the playroom 🚫 What typically doesn't belong in a CCPT playroom, and why 🎒 Building a travel kit for shared spaces, outreach, and school-based work 💛 Why intention matters more than a perfectly curated room Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not provide therapeutic advice, and listening does not create a client-therapist relationship. All views expressed are Kylie's own, and any case examples shared have been de-identified to protect privacy. If you're seeking personal support, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional in your area. 🎧 New episodes every week, follow along as we build our foundational CCPT series. 💬 Got a topic or question you'd love us to explore? We'd love to hear from you. 🎟️ Join us in person in October in Brisbane for our first-ever Play Therapy Circle Conference, link in show notes. 🌱 Connect with our free Play Therapy Circle community, link in show notes. 📱 Follow along on Instagram and Facebook: @ThePlayTherapyCirclePodcast

Episode 50- Characteristics of the Play Therapist - The Personhood at the Heart of the Work

Episode 50: Characteristics of a Child-Centered Play Therapist, The Way of Being Behind the Technique We've hit a milestone, you guys, Episode 50! To mark one year of The Play Therapy Circle Podcast, Kylie Ellison is kicking off a brand-new series unpacking the core topics she covers in her CCPT training programs, starting with a question that comes up again and again in her supervision sessions: what kind of person does this work invite us to become? Kylie opens up about imposter syndrome (still present eleven years into practice!), the discipline it takes to stay non-directive when outside pressures pull you toward "doing something," and why child-centered play therapy can never be reduced to a checklist of techniques. Drawing on Rogers and Landreth, she makes the case that the relationship itself is the intervention, and that empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard only work when they come from genuine presence, not performance. As she puts it: being with the child matters more than doing something to the child. She walks through five characteristics she believes are essential for CCPT practitioners, plus the practical pathways for growing each one: 🌿 Genuine warmth: holding a child as inherently worthy of care, not because they've earned it, but simply because they're there. Children pick up on performative warmth almost instantly, so this has to be real. 🌿 Self-awareness: knowing what's yours versus what belongs to the child. Noticing your own triggers, history, and countertransference, and doing that unpacking work in supervision rather than in the room. 🌿 Tolerance for not knowing: sitting in uncertainty, trusting the process, and resisting the urge to interpret, control, or rush a child's timeline. 🌿 Genuine humility: remembering the child is the expert on themselves, and that every child who sits with us is also our teacher. Humility here isn't a lack of confidence, it's confidence that doesn't require the child to prove their worth. 🌿 Capacity for stillness: offering active, regulated presence in a culture obsessed with productivity. Kylie reframes stillness as the antidote children need, not passivity. Kylie also speaks candidly to the very real pressures practitioners face working across systems, including funding bodies, education, and NDIS, and how to protect the sacredness of the playroom while still translating the work for outside stakeholders. She shares four pathways for developing these characteristics over time: personal therapy (a deeply individual choice, but one she's found invaluable), ongoing supervision that holds the whole practitioner rather than just the caseload, deliberate practice of stillness outside the playroom, and community with fellow CCPT practitioners. This episode also carries some exciting news: The Play Therapy Circle's very first conference is coming later this year, bringing the global CCPT community together, with plans in place for international listeners to access recordings if they can't attend in person. Whether you're just beginning your play therapy journey or years into practice, this episode is a generous reminder that growth in this work never really ends. There's no finish line, only an ongoing commitment to show up as your fullest, most congruent self. 🎧 Tune in for an honest, reflective conversation about the person behind the practitioner, and thank you for being part of our first year. 👉 Learn more about our CCPT training programs and join our free community forum, links in the show notes. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide therapeutic advice. Listening does not create a client-therapist relationship.

Episode 49- A Milestone Episode

🎉 Happy 1st Birthday, Play Therapy Circle! + Our First-Ever Conference It's officially been 12 months since The Play Therapy Circle podcast began and in this special milestone episode, host Kylie Ellison (therapist, clinical supervisor, and play therapy trainer) is celebrating with a shorter, more personal episode recorded on the run between training sessions. In this episode, Kylie reflects on: 🎙️ A whirlwind first year - reaching listeners in 72 countries every week via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and beyond 💚 Why she started the podcast: to represent Australia in the Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT) space and share her passion for this work with the wider community 🌏 Gratitude for the incredible global community that has grown around the show, including regular listeners from the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, and New Zealand 📈 Landing in the top 25% of podcasts worldwide by the end of last year 🤝 The privilege of connecting with supervisees and practitioners navigating the challenges of play therapy work ✨ Why she believes anyone doing this hard, emotional work needs to know: you are not alone, and what you do matters 🎊 Big News: Our First-Ever Conference! Kylie announces the very first Play Therapy Circle Conference, a two-day, in-person event this October at The Ridges, South Bank, Brisbane, featuring the incredible Dr. Jodie Mullen (Kylie's own clinical supervisor and a recent podcast guest). Expect sessions on working with parents, compassion fatigue, and burnout, plus the chance to connect with fellow CCPT practitioners from around the world. 🎁 Win a Free Ticket! Head to our Instagram or Facebook (@ThePlayTherapyCirclePodcast), follow along, and tag a friend or colleague in our pinned "Win a Free Ticket" post to enter. Tag as many people as you like for multiple entries! Can't make it in person? Stay tuned — recordings will be made available. Whether you've been with us since day one or just found the show, thank you for being part of this community. Here's to the next 12 months of CCPT conversations, connection, and growth. 💛 Follow, share, and leave a review to help others find the circle. 📍 Play Therapy Circle Conference 2026 - Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide therapeutic advice. All views expressed are Kylie's own; any case examples shared have been de-identified to protect privacy.

Episode 48- Dr Jodi Mullen Joins the Circle

For our very first guest interview on The Play Therapy Circle Podcast, host Kylie Ellison sits down with the incredible Dr. Jodi Mullen, a professor in the counselling and psychological services department at SUNY Oswego, where she has worked as a counsellor educator for nearly 30 years. Jodi is the founder and director of Integrative Counselling Services, a registered play therapy supervisor, a CCPT Master, an internationally sought-after trainer and speaker, and the recipient of the Association for Play Therapy's Key Award for professional training and education. She has also been Kylie's own clinical supervisor for several years, and it shows in the ease and honesty of this conversation. Jodi reflects on entering the play therapy field back in 1994, at a time when the profession was barely known, even within the mental health community. She talks about how far things have come since then, with a growing evidence base, wider public awareness, and more practitioners specialising in theoretical approaches like child-centred play therapy. She's candid, though, that calling yourself child-centred and actually practising with fidelity to the model are two very different things, and that fidelity is what makes the approach genuinely evidence-based. Kylie and Jodi trace the emotional and professional journey of becoming a play therapist, including the vulnerability required to sit with a child's story, the discomfort of learning skills like limit setting for the first time, and the deep self-acceptance work that underpins being able to accept a child exactly as they are. Jodi shares moving stories from her decades in the same community, including former child clients returning to see her as adults, and small, unforgettable moments in the playroom that reveal just how much children pick up on connection and care, even without ever being able to name it themselves. The conversation moves into some of the more complex clinical territory play therapists face: children who present as selectively mute, children who seem almost too compliant and hard to "find" in the room, and the growing pattern of learned helplessness Kylie is noticing in her own practice in Brisbane. Jodi offers a compassionate, curious lens for understanding these presentations rather than viewing them as problems to fix. They also dig into supervision, talking about the qualities Jodi looks for in a supervisee who is going to thrive in this work, including vulnerability, self-awareness, the ability to take feedback, and a genuine sense of humour. From there, the discussion turns to countertransference, which Jodi describes not as something to be avoided or feared, but as a consultant in the room, a signal from the child that deserves attention and care rather than personalisation. Toward the end of the episode, Jodi and Kylie talk openly about compassion fatigue and burnout, and why regulation, boundaries and self-care aren't optional extras in this profession, they're essential to being able to keep showing up for clients. Jodi's advice is simple but sits with you: protect your non-negotiables, learn to say no, and find an accountability partner to help you stick to it. This episode is warm, funny, and full of hard-won wisdom from someone who has spent over three decades in the playroom and still finds it as meaningful as the day she started. Whether you're brand new to play therapy or years into your own practice, there's something here to sit with. Jodi will be joining us in person at the Play Therapy Circle Conference, 24-25 October at Rydges South Bank, Brisbane. Come learn, laugh, and connect with her and the wider play therapy community over two full days. Details and tickets are in the show notes. Play Therapy Circle Conference 2026 - Kylie Ellison Therapy & TrainingCircle Subscriptions - Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training

FLASHBACK EPISODE- #19 Self Care for Play Therapists

🎧 Flashback Episode: Self-Care for Play Therapists (A Revisit) We're pulling this one back into your feed because some conversations deserve a second listen, especially when life gets busy and self-care quietly slips down the priority list again. If that's you right now, welcome back to this one. In this episode, Kylie Ellison gets refreshingly honest about what self-care actually looks like in the life of a play therapist, recorded, fittingly, at the tail end of an exhausting Monday, with no polish and no pretending. It's less "10 tips for wellness" and more "here's what's really going on, and maybe you're going through it too." Kylie talks through why self-care isn't a nice-to-have but a professional responsibility, especially for play therapists holding space for children's big emotions, trauma stories, and nervous systems day after day. She shares the cumulative, often invisible toll of that work, and how easily compassion fatigue and burnout can creep in when we're deeply passionate about what we do. The conversation moves through three practical pillars: 🔹 Professional self-care: setting boundaries around caseloads, session spacing, admin time, and communication limits (including the "if it's more than two lines, it's an appointment" rule) 🔹 Emotional and nervous system care: grounding rituals before and after sessions, post-session processing, and the reminder that a dysregulated therapist can't co-regulate a child 🔹 Practical, real-life self-care: hydration, eating, workspace atmosphere, recognising early burnout signs, and building in small moments of joy and connection outside the playroom Kylie doesn't offer this as someone who has it all figured out. She's candid about still learning, still working on her own boundaries, and still forgetting to drink water. That honesty is the heart of the episode: a reminder that self-care isn't about doing it perfectly, it's about noticing, adjusting, and starting with just one small thing. If you're feeling tired, stretched thin, or like you've been pouring from an empty cup lately, consider this your permission slip to slow down and check in with yourself today. 💛 Take care of you, and take care of each other. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide therapeutic advice. All case examples referenced are de-identified. If you're seeking personal support, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional in your area.

Episode 47- Supporting Parents when Progress Becomes 'Stuck'

When Parents Push Back: Working with Resistance in Play Therapy You can have every handout, every strategy, every piece of psychoeducation ready to go, but if the parent sitting across from you is defended, exhausted, and quietly drowning in shame, none of it is going to land. So what do we actually do? Ever sat across from a resistant parent and thought, "If I could just get through to them, everything would shift for this child"? You're not alone, and in this episode, Kylie unpacks one of the most common threads she hears from supervisees: how do we support children when we're not finding movement, insight, or collaboration with their parents? Recording on a beautiful winter's morning on Quandamooka country (yes, you're getting the Brisbane weather update whether you asked for it or not), Kylie shares reflections on why so many parents show up to our clinics exhausted, overscheduled, and carrying an enormous amount of shame, and why the answer, again and again, comes back to connection. In this episode, Kylie explores: Why all roads lead back to relationship. You can have every tool in the world, but without connection, parents simply won't invest in giving your suggestions a go. The contributing factors behind parental defensiveness: guilt and shame (one of the most acute forms of shame in the literature), overwhelm, unresolved childhood history, system pressure, and protection. Why this generation of parents, hello geriatric millennials, are the first expected to re-parent themselves while re-parenting their children, often while working and running a household at the same time. How the tenets of CCPT, empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard, apply just as much to the parents in our consults as they do to the children in our playroom. What it means to "meet children of all ages," including the defended parent who was likely criticised as a child and learned that vulnerability wasn't safe. This is the parallel process: the way we work with children mirrors the way we work with parents. Practical shifts you can make right away: leading with curiosity and wonder statements instead of "you should try," reflecting and validating feelings, sharing playroom wins as gentle invitations, and honouring where a parent sits in the cycle of change. Why countertransference is therapeutic gold, and what your own frustration or irritation might actually be telling you about what's happening for that parent. The "session three" marker Kylie watches for, why early drop-off can sometimes be a better outcome than losing a family twenty sessions in, and how to set collaborative expectations, and hold boundaries, from the very first consult. This is gentle, person-centred reflection for anyone doing the tender work of supporting families. A reminder that we don't need to break through the wall. We just need to make the environment safe enough that the wall doesn't have to work so hard, and to give parents the same patience, empathy, and time we'd offer any child in the playroom. Whether you're a seasoned play therapist, a student just starting out, or someone deeply passionate about working with children, you belong here. Got a play therapy or CCPT question you'd love answered on the pod? Email Kylie. The link's in the show notes, and she'd genuinely love to hear from you. Come join the free community circle to connect with other CCPT practitioners (link in show notes too). If this episode resonated, please follow the podcast, share it with a colleague, or leave a short review. It helps others find the circle. Until next time, look after yourselves and each other. Go well. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute therapeutic advice. All views are Kylie's own, and any case examples have been de-identified.

Episode 46- Back to Basics: Reflecting Feelings PLUS Listener Question!

Episode 46: Reflecting Feelings (Back to Basics) + Listener Q&A on Post-COVID Babies In this episode, Kylie returns to her Back to Basics series to unpack one of the most fundamental and often most challenging skills in child-centred play therapy: reflecting feelings. Coming live from the playroom (beanbag and all), she takes listeners through why this skill can feel so vulnerable for beginning play therapists, even though it's one of the most powerful tools we have for building connection and trust with the children we work with. Kylie breaks down the clinical rationale behind reflecting feelings, explaining how it helps children bridge the gap between what they're feeling internally and the words to express it, something that's neurobiologically difficult for kids and often overlooked by the adults around them. She talks through why feeling seen is one of the most therapeutic experiences a person can have, and how reflecting feelings communicates empathy in a deeply Rogerian, person-centred way. She also walks through the common mistakes practitioners make when reflecting feelings, including turning reflections into questions through tone and inflection, over-reflecting to the point of disconnection, inserting the therapist's own feelings rather than the child's, and reflecting with too much or too little intensity compared to what the child is actually showing. Kylie shares practical guidance on matching pacing, tone, and energy to the child in the room, and how this shifts as the therapeutic relationship develops over time, from co-regulation in early sessions through to the more natural, attuned reflections that come with experience. In the second half of the episode, Kylie answers a thoughtful listener question from Catherine, an early childhood educator, who asks whether children born after COVID are still showing developmental effects of the pandemic, even though they weren't alive during lockdowns themselves. Kylie unpacks the research and clinical observations behind this, covering family stress transmission, parental depletion and reduced co-regulation capacity, perinatal anxiety and depression, the impact of a "reduced village" in many communities, and the role of sibling modeling within the family system. She makes the case for why supporting the whole family, not just the individual child, is essential when working with this generation. In this episode: Why reflecting feelings is one of the hardest skills for beginning play therapists to master The clinical and neurobiological reasons reflecting feelings matters Common mistakes: questioning tone, over-reflecting, inserting your own feelings, and mismatched intensity How reflecting feelings evolves as the therapeutic relationship deepens Listener Q&A: are post-COVID babies still affected by pandemic-era family stress, even without lockdown exposure? The role of family stress transmission, maternal mental health, and community support in early childhood development Got a question or topic you'd love Kylie to explore on the podcast? She'd love to hear from you. This space is for thoughtful, soulful conversations about play-based work, and it's built around the community that listens. Reach out, follow along, and remember, you belong here.

Episode 45- Remembering Dr Garry Landreth

This week's episode is one we didn't plan to record, but one that felt necessary. On the day our community learned of the passing of Dr. Garry Landreth, Kylie sat down to record this special tribute episode in honour of one of the most influential figures in child-centred play therapy history. Dr. Landreth's contributions to the field are immeasurable. As a Regents Professor at the University of North Texas, he founded the Center for Play Therapy in 1988, growing it into the largest play therapy training and research program in the world. He authored Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship, now in its fourth edition and the most widely used play therapy textbook globally, and produced over 150 publications across journals, books, and training videos. He co-developed Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) with Sue Bratton, was a founding board member of the Association for Play Therapy and received APT's Lifetime Achievement Award among countless other honours. But beyond the accolades, Dr. Landreth gave child-centred play therapy its name, its identity, and its structure. Building on the lineage of Carl Rogers, Virginia Axline, and the Gurneys, he codified CCPT for training, defended its integrity against more directive approaches, and passionately championed the idea that CCPT is not simply a set of techniques, it is a way of being with a child. In this heartfelt episode, Kylie reflects on how Dr. Landreth's writings shaped her own journey as a play therapist, clinical supervisor, and trainer. From first encountering The Art of the Relationship during her training in 2015, to leaning on it as a lifeline in her early years of practice, to building her training program and this very podcast on the foundations he laid, his influence is woven through everything the Play Therapy Circle community stands for. Kylie also invites our global community to reflect on and share how Dr. Landreth touched their own professional lives, because his reach truly is everywhere. All roads in child-centred play therapy lead back to Garry Landreth. This episode is our community's small way of saying thank you. "Toys are children's words and play is their language." Dr. Garry Landreth

Episode 44- Am I Making a Difference? When the World Outside the Playroom Is Out of Our Hands

Have you ever finished a session and wondered, did any of that even matter? You've shown up, you've held the space, you've given everything you have and then that child walks back out into a world you can't control. A chaotic home. An unstable system. A family in crisis. And you're left sitting with the quiet, heavy question of whether what happens inside the playroom can possibly be enough. In this episode, Kylie gets honest about one of the most persistent questions she hears from supervisees and sits with it herself. Because here's the thing. This question doesn't go away with experience. Whether you're one month into your play therapy journey or eleven and a half years in like Kylie, the wondering doesn't stop. And she wants you to know that's not a sign something is wrong with you. It's a sign that you care. Kylie draws on Emmy Werner's landmark forty-year longitudinal study on resilience, which found that the single strongest predictor for children growing up in adversity was the presence of at least one consistent, caring, attuned adult in their life. Not necessarily a parent. Just one person who showed up and saw the child as worth showing up for. In systems where caseworkers change and placements shift, we may be that person. And that is not a small thing. She also explores the neuroscience behind what happens in a child's brain during attuned, regulated sessions in the playroom. Neuroplasticity research tells us that repetition of safe, connected experiences can literally reshape neural pathways. The calm we offer doesn't just stay in the room. It becomes a reference point. The brain holds what happened. That's not a metaphor. It's biology. And then there's the long timeline. Research shows that the impact of therapy with children often shows its strongest effects not during treatment, but years after it ends. The outcome you can't see at the end of a course of treatment is not evidence that there is no outcome. It's just the timing. This episode is a gentle but firm reminder to trust yourself, trust the process, and trust the child. If you offered congruence, empathy, and unconditional positive regard, the work was done. The outcomes belong to the child. The work belongs to you. If you've ever sat with that quiet doubt, this episode is for you. The seeds were always real, even when you don't get to see them grow. Follow us on Instagram @playtherapycirclepodcast and join our FREE community HERE

Episode 43- Back to Basics PLUS Listener Question Answered

Back to Basics: Tracking Plus Your Questions | EP43 This episode marks something new. Listener questions, answered on the show. And the question that came in was so good, it deserved real time and real depth. But first: a back-to-basics teaching segment on tracking — one of the very first skills we learn in Child-Centred Play Therapy, and one of the most quietly powerful. What it sounds like, why it matters, and the common mistakes that are easy to make without realising. Tracking is the skill of verbally following and reflecting a child's play and behaviour without leading, interpreting, or directing. It sounds simple. But done well, it communicates something profound: I am fully present with you, and what you are doing matters. It builds the relationship, honours the child's autonomy, and is unconditional positive regard in action. Kylie walks through what tracking looks like in practice, the crucial difference between tracking the action and interpreting the meaning, and the most common mistakes new practitioners make including over-tracking, labelling, and questions disguised as tracking. Then, your question: Terri from Ireland asks about children who people-please, control, or go silent in the playroom directed toward the therapist. Through the lens of Lipton's developmental theory, Kylie explores these behaviours as relational templates formed in the earliest years and now being replayed in the playroom. Each one is an adapted survival strategy. Each one points to an unmet need. Kylie unpacks all three with practical examples of how to respond, and when to move from simple reflection into enlargement and deeper reflective responding. She also addresses Terri's instinct about timing: that going too deep too early, before trust is established, can feel intrusive or even unsafe for the child. That instinct is exactly right. The principle that ties it all together: reflection follows relationship. The depth of our responding should never outpace the depth of trust we have built. Oh, and a milestone worth celebrating. The Play Therapy Circle Podcast is now reaching listeners in 70 countries. A genuine moment of gratitude for a community that continues to grow. In this episode: What tracking is, what it sounds like, and why it matters The difference between tracking and interpreting, and why that distinction is crucial Common tracking mistakes and how to avoid them People-pleasing, controlling, and silence as relational templates and unmet needs Practical examples of reflective responding and enlargement for each behaviour Why timing matters: when enlargement helps and when it can harm Reflection follows relationship: the principle that guides it all A celebration of 70 countries and the global Play Therapy Circle community Have a question you'd love answered on the show? Send it in via hello@playtherapycircle.com or find Kylie on Instagram @Playtherapycirclepodcast or @kylieellisontherapy. Join our free Community Circle - Tier One - The Community Circle

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FLASHBACK EPISODE - #18 The Pandemic Ripple Effect

Revisited: The Pandemic Ripple Effect This week, we're reaching back into The Play Therapy Circle archives to revisit a conversation that continues to resonate and perhaps now, more than ever, feels urgently relevant. The Pandemic Ripple Effect. If you are working with children aged 4–6 years old right now, whether as a play therapist, counsellor, early childhood educator, teacher, parent or carer, there is a very good chance you are noticing something. A rise in anxiety. More tears at drop-off. Children who seem younger than their age in some ways, or who struggle in social situations that might have once felt unremarkable. Big feelings that seem to arrive without warning, and separation distress that can feel confusing or even alarming to the adults around them. You are not imagining it. In this episode, Kylie explores what is increasingly being observed in clinical practice and supported by emerging research: that for many children in this age group, the earliest and most foundational years of their development unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those years, the ones that shape so much of who a child becomes, looked very different for this cohort. Routines that provide safety and predictability were disrupted or disappeared entirely. Playgroups, childcare and early learning environments closed or changed. Opportunities for peer connection, social rehearsal and play-based learning were significantly reduced. And all of this happened while many families were simultaneously navigating their own experiences of stress, grief, financial pressure, uncertainty and isolation. Children are exquisitely sensitive to the emotional climate around them. They absorb far more than we realise. Now, as this cohort moves into kindergarten, prep and the early years of primary school, those early experiences are showing up, in school readiness challenges, in emotional regulation, in separation anxiety at the gate, in social confidence, in transitions, and in the volume and intensity of big feelings that can catch everyone off guard. Kylie gently and thoughtfully unpacks what we know, drawing on Australian and global data, emerging research, and her own clinical experience, to help us understand this generation not through a lens of deficit or alarm, but through one of context, compassion and genuine curiosity. This conversation is not about blame. It is not about catastrophising. It is about helping the adults in these children's lives to understand what they are seeing, to feel validated in their observations, and to know that there is a path forward. Kylie also explores how Child-Centered Play Therapy can offer children in this cohort something profoundly important: a safe, consistent, developmentally appropriate relationship and space in which to process their experiences, practise mastery and competence, build internal safety, strengthen emotional expression and experience the kind of warm, attuned co-regulation that helps a nervous system learn that the world is okay. Play therapy does not require children to have the words. It meets them exactly where they are. For parents and caregivers, this episode is an invitation to exhale. What you are experiencing with your child is real. The challenges are real. And they make sense when we understand the context in which your child's earliest years took place. With the right support, connection, understanding and time, children are remarkably resilient — and they can absolutely be helped to feel safer, more settled, more confident and more ready to engage with the world around them. For therapists and educators, this episode is a reminder of why the work you do matters so deeply right now and why meeting this cohort with patience and perspective is one of the most powerful things you can offer. Because, as always, play is the way. New to The Play Therapy Circle? Start here, and then explore Kylie's training programs at playtherapytrainingaustralia.com.au

Episode 42- You Are Not Doing It Wrong- The COVID Generation, the Exhaustion, and Permission to Be Good Enough

Kylie dives deep into the science behind the COVID generation - what the research is now telling us about children born between 2019 and 2022, why so many kids are struggling right now, and why that is absolutely not a reflection of your parenting. From maternal prenatal stress tripling during the pandemic, to MRI findings showing differences in brain development, to the speech delays, separation anxiety, and social-emotional gaps we're seeing play out in classrooms and therapy rooms across the country - the data is real, and so is the grace that comes with understanding it. She also unpacks why traditional behaviour strategies like sticker charts and reward systems aren't the answer for this generation of kids, and what children actually need right now: consistency, predictability, and repeated co-regulation with a calm adult over time. Not a quick fix. Not a perfect parent. You. She also takes on the myth of the Instagram parent - that curated, polished, cropped-out-the-chaos version of family life that has so many of us silently measuring ourselves against an impossible standard - and gives you full, unapologetic permission to put it down. Drawing on the work of Donald Winnicott and his concept of the good enough parent, Kylie reminds us that children don't need perfection. They need someone who gets it right most of the time, apologises when they don't, and stays in the relationship even when it's hard. That's it. That's the work. This episode is for the parents. It's for the practitioners sitting with exhausted families every day. And it's for anyone who needs to hear that the fact that you're still showing up - still trying, still caring - means you are already doing more than enough. Come as you are. You belong here. Kylie Ellison is a Counsellor and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor who has been working in CCPT for over a decade. Her vision is to see a community of play therapists supporting and encouraging each other. Join the circle for FREE - Community Circle - Circle Subscriptions - Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training •Ching, B. C. F., Parlatini, V., Zhang, S., et al. (2024). Impact of the Covid pandemic on the mental health of children and young people with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions: a systematic review andmeta-analysis. European Psychiatry.•Hossain, M. M., et al. (2022). Long-term physical, mental and social health effects of COVID-19 in the paediatric population: a scoping review. Italian Journal of Pediatrics.•Panchal, U., Salazar de Pablo, G., Franco, M., et al. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child and adolescent mental health: systematic review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.•Stefanatou, P., et al. (2023). Play as a stress-coping method among children in light of the COVID-19 pandemic: a review. Cureus.•Vasileva, M., Alisic, E., & De Young, A. (2021). COVID-19 unmasked: preschool children's negative thoughts and worries during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Psychotraumatology.•Hashempour, N., et al. (2024). Prenatal maternal psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and newborn brain development. JAMA Network Open, 7(6).•Manning, K. Y., Long, X., Watts, D., et al. (2022). Prenatal maternal distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and associations with infant brain connectivity. Biological Psychiatry.•Lu, Y.-C., Andescavage, N., Wu, Y., et al. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 related maternal stress on fetal brain development: a multimodal MRI study. Communications Medicine.•Landreth, G. L. (2023). Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (4th ed.). Routledge.•Association for Play Therapy. (2024). Evidence base for play therapy. www.a4pt.org

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Episode 41 - Reflections on the Road - Come with Us!

Kylie checks in live from Mildura - exhausted, dinner-less, and fresh off one of her most chaotic travel days yet (yes, there was an emergency Kmart suitcase run). But between the laughs, she unpacks the big takeaways from a massive week of Child-Centred Play Therapy training across Victoria, connecting with close to 70 practitioners in Bendigo, Ballarat, Wyndham Vale, and beyond. The conversation this week kept coming back to one powerful idea: stop talking to kids, and start understanding their play. Kylie explores why asking children questions often misses the mark, how behaviour is always a form of communication, and why the practitioners of Victoria are on the frontline of some of the most important research emerging around the mental health impact of COVID-era lockdowns on children. She also teases next week's deeper dive into understanding what kids are really communicating through play - and puts out the call for listener questions for an upcoming Q&A episode. Raw, real, and full of heart - this one's a quick but meaningful check-in. Got a CCPT question for Kylie? Email us hello@playtherapycircle.com. Join the free Circle community | Find us on Facebook, Instagram & TikTok

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Episode 40- More Than Mess Limit-Setting as Clinical Intervention in CCPT

Is mess in the playroom always therapeutic? In this milestone 40th episode, Kylie challenges some of the assumptions that can creep into Child-Centred Play Therapy practice - specifically around permissiveness and what it really means when a child tips into chaos and destruction during a session. Kylie unpacks why limit-setting isn't a restriction on a child's freedom - it's one of the most empathetic, clinically informed things a play therapist can offer. Drawing on Landreth's ACT model, Dr. Bruce Lipton's research on relational template-downloading in the first five years of life, and the psychoanalytic roots of CCPT through Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, and Virginia Axline, Kylie makes the case that mess is communication and our countertransference is the clinical data we can't afford to ignore. In this episode, Kylie explores: Why non-directiveness is not the same as the absence of structure How children unconsciously download their understanding of relationships — and what that means when we allow chaos to go uncontained Why countertransference is your richest clinical tool when mess shows up in the playroom How empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard all actively support, not undermine, therapeutic limit-setting The difference between unconditional regard for the child and unconditional tolerance of every behaviour If you've ever felt frustrated, overwhelmed, or depleted after a session where the playroom became a free-for-all, this episode is for you. That feeling? That's information. The Play Therapy Circle is hosted by Kylie Ellison — therapist, clinical supervisor, and play therapy trainer. New episodes drop weekly. Want to be part of the circle - join our FREE Community Circle here Circle Subscriptions - Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training.

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Episode 39- Finding Your People: Imposter Syndrome, Trusting Your Gut, and the Community That Makes You Whole

Ever had that nagging feeling that you're not quite good enough - even when the evidence says otherwise? This week, Kylie gets honest about something that came up in real time: imposter syndrome in the helping professions. And if you've ever quietly wondered whether you truly belong in this work, this one is for you. Imposter syndrome isn't new - the term emerged in the 1970s, originally observed in high-achieving women - but its grip on those in caring and helping professions runs especially deep. Unlike a builder who can point to a house they've constructed, therapists and practitioners can't always show tangible proof of their work. The work lives in the room, in the relationship, in the story of a child who finally feels safe enough to play. That invisibility, combined with the deeply personal nature of the work, creates the perfect conditions for self-doubt to take root. Kylie unpacks two distinct voices that fuel imposter syndrome: the inner critic - that familiar, often long-standing voice that whispers you shouldn't be here and the outer chorus, the hum of external expectations, comparisons, and professional pressures that can quietly shape how we see ourselves. Both feel real. Both can be damaging. But here's the thing: neither of them gets to be the final word on who you are. Drawing from her own 11 years in child-centered play therapy, Kylie walks through what it actually looks like to move through imposter syndrome - not by silencing the doubt, but by getting crystal clear on your values. What do you genuinely believe about how children heal? What do you want to be known for at the end of your career? What makes you feel most alive in this work? When you lead from those answers, the outer chorus starts to lose its power. And then there's community. Kylie makes the case - strongly - that finding your people is one of the most protective factors in your entire career. Isolation feeds imposter syndrome. Connection quietens it. Whether you're just starting out and feeling overwhelmed, or you're further along and still navigating moments of self-doubt (because yes, it doesn't just go away), your community exists. The practitioners who see you, believe in you, and want you to flourish. they're out there, and often, they're looking for you too. This episode is a little different in flavour. It's reflective, honest, and came straight from the heart. But sometimes the unplanned episodes are the ones that land the hardest. If today has been a tough one, if you've been questioning where you belong or whether you're enough, this episode is your reminder that the answer is yes. You are enough. Your path is valid and your community is waiting. In this episode: What imposter syndrome is and where the term originally came from Why the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to self-doubt The inner critic vs. the outer chorus and how to tell the difference Why your values are your most powerful anchor Reflective questions to help you get clear on what matters most to you Why community is your greatest professional protective factor against burnout and imposter syndrome How to recognise the right community when you find it A reminder for every early-career practitioner feeling lost: your people exist Play Therapy Circle drops every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen. Follow along so you never miss an episode, and come find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. If you're looking for your community, Kylie's free Circle community is open - check the socials for details.

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Episode 38- Big Feelings, Small Bodies: What Emotional Dysregulation Really Looks Like

Big Feelings, Small Bodies: What Emotional Dysregulation Is Really Telling Us | Ep. 38 When a child explodes, shuts down, bolts from the room, or cries at everything, what is their nervous system actually communicating? In this episode, Kylie Ellison breaks down the neuroscience of emotional dysregulation in children, unpacking the four key presentations play therapists and caregivers see most: the fight response, the flight response, emotional flooding, and the freeze shutdown. Kylie explores what each behaviour is communicating at a nervous system level, why consequences and logical reasoning fail when the thinking brain is offline, and how child-centred play therapy is designed by its very nature to meet these unmet needs. This episode connects the nervous system content from last week's episode into a practical, science-backed framework for understanding children's big behaviours — and responding in a way that actually works. In this episode: Why dysregulation is not a choice, and why it's not misbehaviour The four dysregulation expressions and what each one is communicating What children need in each state (and what makes it worse) Why the CCPT playroom is a regulation environment before anything else Practical takeaways for play therapists, parents, and caregivers Whether you're in the playroom, the classroom, or the living room, this one is for anyone who wants to understand what children's big feelings are really trying to say. Play Therapy Circle is hosted by Kylie Ellison, play therapist and clinical trainer at Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training. New episodes drop weekly.

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Episode 37 - The Nervous System and the Play Room

In this episode, Kylie breaks down polyvagal theory and its three key nervous system states - safe and social, fight or flight, and freeze/shutdown and explores what each one actually looks like when a child walks through the playroom door. Because understanding which state a child is in changes everything about how you respond to them. From neuroception (that unconscious, automatic threat-scanning happening in every child's nervous system, every moment of every day) to the neuroscience of co-regulation, Kylie unpacks why you simply cannot reason, teach, or connect with a child whose thinking brain is offline and what to do instead. Spoiler: it starts with you. One of the most powerful ideas in this episode is this - your regulated presence as a therapist isn't just good practice, it's the actual mechanism for change. The nervous system is a social organ, designed to be regulated by another nervous system. Which means a calm, warm, attuned adult can literally help a child's nervous system return to safety in real time. That's not a metaphor. That's neurobiology. Kylie also shines a light on the children who often get missed, the quiet ones, the compliant ones, the ones flying under the radar in the classroom and why a child in freeze or shutdown can actually be more concerning than the one having the explosive meltdown. And for the parents listening? There's a whole section for you too. Why talking to your child mid-meltdown doesn't work (and never will), what co-regulation actually looks like in practice, and why your number one job in those hard moments is to regulate yourself first. Whether you're a seasoned play therapist, a student just starting out, or a parent trying to make sense of the big behaviours happening at home, this episode offers a new lens for understanding what children are really communicating and why the playroom might just be the most neurologically sophisticated therapeutic environment we have for children. In this episode: The three states of the nervous system and what they look like in the playroom Why the quiet, withdrawn child can be more concerning than the explosive one Neuroception — why children can't simply choose their reactions The neuroscience behind co-regulation and why it's biological, not optional Why your own regulation as a therapist is a clinical skill, not a nice-to-have Practical guidance for parents navigating dysregulation and big emotions at home Why CCPT isn't "just play" it's the most neurologically aligned therapeutic approach we have for children The Play Therapy Circle is now listened to in 55 countries. Wherever you are in the world — welcome to the Circle. 🎙️ Play Therapy Circle | Hosted by Kylie Ellison Free community forum: ⁠JOIN OUR FREE COMMUNITY HERE⁠

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Episode 36- Holding Hope | Play Therapists in Times of Global Uncertainty

Holding Hope in the Playroom | Play Therapy Circle In one of her most personal episodes yet, host Kylie Ellison pauses to name what so many play therapists are quietly carrying, the weight of showing up for children and families during a time of profound collective anxiety and global uncertainty. This episode is for you, the therapist in the trenches. Kylie explores how the state of the world filters into the playroom - from children presenting with themes of chaos and loss of control, to parents arriving more activated and depleted than ever. She unpacks the very real psychological labour of holding hope when that hope feels genuinely hard to access, and what it means when hope is part of your professional identity. In this episode: Why children are neurologically wired to track caregiver anxiety and what that means for what you're seeing in sessions right now The difference between burnout and compassion fatigue, and how to recognise the signs in yourself The compassion satisfaction, fatigue continuum, and why collective global stress shifts the whole scale Vicarious anxiety: the less-talked-about cousin of vicarious trauma Practical anchors for holding hope, supervision, containment rituals, community connection, and returning to your why A gentle reminder that the therapeutic relationship itself is one of the most radical acts of hope that exists right now This one's raw, honest, and a little bit like a therapy session - and that's exactly the point. You matter. What you do matters. And you are not alone. 🎙️ Play Therapy Circle | Hosted by Kylie EllisonFree community forum: JOIN OUR FREE COMMUNITY HERE

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