ASA Therapy, LLC

08/10/2025

I am proud to announce that I am officially a Registered Play Therapist™, which is a credential issued by the Association for Play Therapy (APT). I have been using play therapy in my work with children since 2008 because this credential is not one that is required to do play therapy. APT created this credential so that consumers would be able to identify competent play therapists who have specialized training and experience. I am so happy to join the esteemed group of Registered Play Therapists!

If you are a parent and you're looking for a therapist for your child, especially 12 years old and younger, I highly recommend looking for a play therapist. You can find them in your area by doing a search here:
https://www.a4pt.org/search/custom.asp?id=3571

If you are a mental health therapist who works with children, I highly recommend becoming a Registered Play Therapist. You can go here to find out more: https://www.a4pt.org/page/CredentialsHomepage

06/14/2025

I will continue my discussion of AutPlay Therapy and neurodivergence later this weekend, but I have to post this!

I am so excited to win a book by Liana Lowenstein, another great play therapist and author, at the training with Robert Jason Grant EdD! I won because my birthday was the closest to his of all the attendees. Thank you for a great training and for the book!

06/13/2025

I am learning even more today so I’d like to share more here!

If you haven’t already, read my previous post from yesterday that included some definitions.

So who is neurodivergent? Not everyone agrees on this answer. As a mental health therapist, the neurodivergent children I am most likely to see are represented in this image, shared from the Autplay Therapy website. Out of these, the majority of neurodivergent children I work with are ADHD’ers.

So why am I going to a training specifically learning how to work with these children and families? And why are those terms and definitions I gave you yesterday important? Stay tuned for the next post!

06/13/2025

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm attending Autplay Therapy training to learn new tools to help children and families.

I am excited to share more info with all of you! First, here are some definitions.

Neurodiversity means that all brains are unique, and there is no one "right" way of thinking.

Neurodivergence refers to brains (and the people with these brains) that work differently from society’s standards of what is considered “normal.”

Neurotypical or neuronormative refers to brains that function in a way that is considered “normal” by society.

I'll share more about this topic tomorrow, but it's essential to recognize that societal norms are shared beliefs about what is typical and appropriate. They can be based on misinformation, and they can be discriminatory.

06/12/2025

I’m excited to be attending training today and tomorrow with Robert Jason Grant EdD, learning more about Autplay Therapy! This will give me more knowledge in working with neurodivergent children. Don’t know what that means? Follow along here, and I’ll share more the next two days!

04/13/2025

I am so happy that I was able to attend the Kansas Association for Play Therapy conference last week! Our presenter was Dr. Robert Jason Grant, who is the founder of Autplay Therapy, which is a neurodiversity affirming framework for implementing play therapy. I learned so much in these two days, and I'm already planning to learn more.

09/17/2024

Yes! Let's give kids a break, like we would other adults.

Sarah R. Moore, Dandelion Seeds Positive Parenting 💙

03/29/2024

Great idea!

If you try to teach a child to use self-regulation strategies when they’re already at 100% frustrated and overwhelmed — they cannot learn it. Nobody can. Adults can’t tap into self-regulation when they’re at 100% either.

But adults put *tons* of their focus on what a child should do when they’re already mad, and comparatively little focus on what children should do throughout the day to stay regulated and feeling good.

An easy tip is to figure out what comes naturally when already mad, and use it preemptively in a different form. Here’s what I mean.

If your child (or you) yells and screams naturally when they’re mad, instead, preemptively throughout the day, play some loud music and joyfully shout the lyrics along, or play a loud talking/quiet talking game.

If they slam doors or throw things naturally when they’re mad, instead, preemptively throughout the day, throw a stress ball against the wall and catch it, or throw pillows onto the couch.

If they run away naturally when they’re mad, instead, preemptively, play chase games or run to a targeted area and run back or time them.

Do them at 10%, 30%, 50%, and you may not hit 100%.

[Image description: A picture of me, a person with fluffy blue-and-purple hair wearing a big teal coat, shouting delightedly along with a Barns Courtney song in my car, with my fist clenched enthusiastically.

Next to the picture of me is a big teal square with words on it: “Use sensory strategies to self-regulate when you’re not already frustrated (like by shouting song lyrics in a car) to bring your body to a state where it doesn’t get frustrated and reach for emergency strategies (like shouting at your kids).”

Also, this photo was taken posed while my car was fully parked in my driveway, so don’t be concerned about me taking selfies while driving. :)

End description.]

03/23/2024

I believe this, as well.

Robyn Gobbel - Trauma, Toxic Stress, & Baffling Behaviors 💕
•
I do want your child's behaviors to change- but more than that, I want their hurt to be seen, known, honored, welcomed, and healed.

As that happens, their behaviors will improve.

I'm confident this is true because this is simply how humans work.

♡ If you would like to be kept in the loop on everything Synergetic Play Therapy or get resources to support you on your journey, join us here: https://linktr.ee/synergeticplaytherapy ♡

12/05/2023

Parents… If I have talked to you about this, here is a great explanation for why! If I haven’t talked to you about this, bring it up!

From Dr. Bruce Perry 💕

♡ If you would like to be kept in the loop on everything Synergetic Play Therapy or get resources to support you on your therapist or parent journey, join us here: https://linktr.ee/synergeticplaytherapy ♡

11/03/2023

More about co-regulation! This is important!

10/31/2023

If your child has seen me for therapy, I have probably talked to you about coregulation. So important!