The Ethics of Touch in Child Psychotherapy & Play Therapy

Janet Courtney, PhD, LCSW Related seminars and products

Janet A. Courtney, PhD, LCSW, is Founder of FirstPlay Therapy®, an Infant Mental Health & Developmental Play Therapy model and Founder and Editor of FirstPlay® Café: An e-magazine for parents (womb to six Years). She is a Registered Play Therapy Supervisor, TEDx Speaker and presently Chair of the Association for Play Therapy Ethics and Practice Committee and past President of the Florida Association for Play Therapy and former Chair of the Viola Brody Award Committee. Awarded Third Place overall in the Best Practices Showcase for FirstPlay Therapy at the First 1000 Days Infant Mental Health Summit (Sept, 2018) along with the Children’s Healing Institute.

She is author and editor of Infant Play Therapy: Foundations, Programs, Models and Practice, and Healing Child and Family Trauma through Expressive and Play Therapies: Art, Nature, Storytelling, Body & Mindfulness, and Touch in Child Counseling and Play Therapy: An Ethical and Clinical Guide. New York, NY: Routledge, and her research into practitioner experiences of training in touch and Developmental Play Therapy is published in the American Journal of Art Therapy and the International Journal of Play Therapy. She is a contributing author for the chapter, “Touching Autism through Developmental Play Therapy” inthe book, Play-based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders; and has a chapter in the book, Environmental Expressive Therapies (2017), titled: “The Art of Utilizing the Metaphorical Elements of Nature as ‘Co Therapist’in Ecopsychology Play Therapy.” She is also published in the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture. She offers a certification in FirstPlay Therapy® (including FirstPlay® Infant Massage Storytelling) and provides training to professionals in the Ethical and Clinical Competencies of Touch, FirstPlay® Therapy, Ericksonian-based StoryPlay®, Expressive Therapies, and Ecopsychology Play Therapy.

She has been invited to speak nationally and internationally including Bali, Indonesia, theCayman Islands, England, Ireland, Morocco, Russia and the Ukraine. She is a provider through the Florida state boards of Mental Health and Massage Therapy, and an approved provider through the Association for Play Therapy. She specializes in Infant Mental Healthand Infant Play Therapy, Attachment, and Trauma related issues. Dr. Courtney’s new form of Kinesthetic Storytelling® can be found in her children’s book, The Magic Rainbow. Website: www.firstplaytherapy.com and www.firstplaycafe.com

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Janet Courtney is the founder of FirstPlay Therapy®, the FirstPlay Café Podcast, and the founder and editor of FirstPlay® Café. She receives royalties as a published author. Janet Courtney receives a speaking honorarium and product royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Janet Courtney is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the World Association for Infant Mental Health. She serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Play Therapy and USABP: International Body Psychotherapy Journal.