Unicorn Life Play Therapy

05/07/2026

Adultification bias trace back to the era of chattel slavery, where Black children were used for adult labor and were not afforded the protections or innocence typically associated with childhood. This historical context has evolved into modern stereotypes that portray Black youth as aggressive or threatening.

05/04/2026

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Why Play Therapy?

www.blackplaytherapy.com

05/02/2026

We’re SEVEN YEARS in…

At the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium, you're not just an attendee, you're part of the experience. 🖤
Two immersive days disrupting the cognitive biases that fuel the school-to-prison pipeline. For professionals who refuse to stay silent.

Every session. Every breakthrough. Every honest conversation, you're not watching it happen. You're in it.
The 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium is where mental health professional and mental health advocates come together to do the real work of Reclaiming Black Childhood and dismantling the cognitive biases driving the school-to-prison pipeline.

Two experiential learning days.

Where: Hotel Belvoir in Springfield, VA

When: July 10–11, 2026

Seats are limited. Don't be on the sidelines.

Visit blackplaytherapy.com for registration, grievance, and cancellation information.

Unicorn Life Training, #2031, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 01/24/2026 – 01/24/2029. Social workers participating in this symposium will receive up to 12 continuing education credits.

Play Therapy CEs Sponsored by Unicorn Life Training APT Approved Provider 18-532. Play Therapy CEs Available to Mental Health Professionals & Graduate Students in a Mental Health Program.

The 2026 Black Play Therapy Symposium is seeking NBCC credit. Unicorn Life Training is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.

04/28/2026

To everyone who contacted APT asking about continuing education approval for the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium, thank you for your questions!

As a Level I APT Approved Provider, I'm not required to submit individual training events for approval, they just need to meet play therapy continuing education standards. However, your questions mattered, so I chose to submit the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium for review.

I'm pleased to share that it has been approved by APT and is now listed on their training directory: https://www.a4pt.org/general/custom.asp?page=TrainingDirectory

What this means for you:

12 Contact (in person) Play Therapy CEs available.

Sponsored by Unicorn Life Training Institute, which is my play therapy training company (APT Approved Provider 18-532).

Fully meets APT continuing education standards.

Your questions drove this decision, and I'm grateful you spoke up.

Date: July 10-11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

Secure your spot because I can't wait to see you there!

Register: https://blackplaytherapy.com/2026-symposium-agenda/

04/26/2026

Get registered for the 2026 Black Play Therapy Symposium?

Be apart of the Black Play Therapy Experience 💜🖤

The school-to-prison pipeline operates, not through one big decision, but through a thousand small biased moments, each one documented, each one building a narrative, each one stealing a piece of childhood.

This Play Therapy Symposium is where CULTURE leads LEARNING and you’re not just an attendee, you are part of the EXPERIENCE 💜🖤

You'll leave ready to use interventions immediately.

July 10-11 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Black Play Therapy® Symposium | Springfield, VA

Register: www.blackplaytherapy.com

04/25/2026

Are you registered for the 2026 Black Play Therapy Symposium?

The school-to-prison pipeline operates, not through one big decision, but through a thousand small biased moments, each one documented, each one building a narrative, each one stealing a piece of childhood.

This Play Therapy Symposium is where CULTURE leads LEARNING and you’re not just an attendee, you are part of the EXPERIENCE 💜🖤

You'll leave ready to use interventions immediately.

July 10-11 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Black Play Therapy® Symposium | Springfield, VA

Register: www.blackplaytherapy.com

04/13/2026

🖤 Happy National Counseling Month! 🖤

Counselors walk into the hardest rooms, carry the heaviest stories, and still show up the next day with open hearts and open doors. This April, the Black Play Therapy® Foundation is celebrating two licensed professional counselors who embody exactly that, and who will be joining us on the stage at the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium! 💜

July 10–11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

💜 Sean Myers, M.Ed., LPC Sean is a certified school counselor and licensed professional counselor serving students in Harris County, Georgia. From coordinating 504 plans to behavioral management using the therapeutic powers of play. Sean works every day to interrupt the forces that push Black children out of schools and into systems. As a Play Therapist, he is deepening his use of play-based approaches as a tool for healing and resistance.

💜 Audrice Johnson, M.Ed., LPC, LSATP Audrice is a licensed professional counselor and substance abuse treatment provider with 25 years of experience across mental health, social services, and criminal justice. Currently providing crisis intervention and mental health services to incarcerated individuals at a Regional Jail, Audrice brings a striking and essential perspective on what happens when systems fail Black children, and what healing and reclamation can look like on the other side. She too is a Play Therapist integrating expressive modalities into her work as an act of restoration.

Two counselors. Two critical vantage points. One shared mission, to reclaim Black childhood. 🖤 💜

Tag a counselor in your life who deserves to be celebrated this month! 👇🏾

Registration at for the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium!

www.blackplaytherapy.com

04/04/2026

04/01/2026

I’ve always wondered what would be next for me as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.

The NFL is now requiring teams to have a mental health professional on staff🫣

Oh the things I could process with LEGO and Sand Tray💜🖤🙌🏽

04/01/2026

www.blackplaytherapy.com

03/30/2026

SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT

🖤 We are honored to announce Dr. Althea T. Simpson, DSW, LCSW, RPT-S as a featured speaker at the 2026 Black Play Therapy® Symposium! 🖤

Reclaiming Black Childhood: Identifying and Disrupting the Cognitive Biases Behind the School-to-Prison Pipeline, July 10–11, 2026 | Springfield, VA

Dr. Althea T. Simpson is a powerhouse of creativity and a force for healing in the Black mental health community. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, certified PlayMobil Pro Pro.Play facilitator, and certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator and trainer, Althea brings over 22 years of expertise in trauma-informed care, youth mental health, and substance use disorder treatment. She is the founder of Brighter Day Therapeutic Solutions, Unicorn Life Play Therapy (Unicorn Life Play Therapy Academy), and the Black Play Therapy® Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to centering healing in the Black community through clinical support, advocacy, and community programming. She currently serves as Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Supervisor at Child & Family Behavioral Health Services (CFBHS) and is the author of Hurt to Healing: Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence and Their Invisible Injuries. 💜🖤

And she is the visionary founder of the very symposium you're reading about, now in its seventh year. 💜🖤

As both host and speaker, Althea will bring her full expertise as clinician, supervisor, trainer, and systems thinker to the 2026 symposium stage. Her life's work is a living testament to the profound power of play as both a clinical tool and an act of resistance, and her commitment to creating affirming spaces where Black children, families, and clinicians can thrive is the heartbeat of everything this symposium stands for. 💜

Using PlayMobil Pro, arts-based interventions, and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodologies, participants attendng her full day session will develop concrete strategies for bias-resistant assessment, evidence-based intervention, and protective documentation that reclaim childhood through play therapy.

This is more than a conference. This is a movement.
🔗 Register at http://www.blackplaytherapy.com