Filial Family Therapy Skills Training

What if your greatest therapeutic impact came through the parent, not just the child?
As Play Therapists, we know the power of one therapeutic hour in the playroom.
But imagine if parents had the knowledge, skills and confidence to continue that healing relationship every day at home.
Filial Family Therapy is a highly effective evidence-based family therapy model that equips parents to become therapeutic agents in their child’s life through Child Centred Play. Rather than working with the child alone, you’ll learn how to coach and support parents to facilitate therapeutic play sessions that strengthen attachment, emotional regulation, resilience and family connection.
Join Helen Younan-Barrett—Certified Filial Family Therapist, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, Systemic Play Therapist and Accredited Mental Health Social Worker—in Melbourne for our 3-Day Filial Family Therapy Skills Training and learn how to confidently integrate this powerful systemic approach into your clinical practice.
Over three immersive days you’ll learn to:
✨ Teach parents the core skills of Child Centred Play Therapy.
✨ Coach and support parents as they develop confidence in therapeutic play.
✨ Integrate an evidence-based family therapy model into your existing practice.
✨ Extend the impact of your work far beyond the therapy room.
✨ Create deeper and more sustainable change by working with the whole family system.
If you’re ready to move beyond working with the child alone and empower parents as active partners in the therapeutic process, we’d love to welcome you.
Want to know more about this Family Therapy model?
Filial Therapy is a highly effective play based and relationship focused intervention that integrates family therapy and play therapy to address a wide range of presenting child and family problems while strengthening family relationships. The methodology is empirically supported and focuses on reducing child symptoms, enhancing the parent-child relationship, boosting child competence and self-esteem, and expanding parenting knowledge and skills. It is structured and straightforward and can be learned in a relatively short period of time.
What to expect over the three days?
Over the course of three days, this training is specifically tailored for those who already possess prior training in Child-Centered Play Therapy. Its aim is to offer a thorough introduction to the Filial Family Therapy model, teaching the principles and techniques for conducting all aspects of Filial Family Therapy (FFT) with parents, from intake to termination.
The training places a strong emphasis on cultivating participants’ therapeutic skills, employing various teaching methods such as lectures, video examples, live demonstrations, and supervised skills practice. Through engaging in role plays, participants will actively learn the methods of training, supervising, and supporting parents as they learn to conduct therapeutic play sessions with their children.
Who should attend?
This course is designed for qualified play therapists, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, psychiatrists, educators, family therapists, school counsellors, and other experienced professionals who work with children and families, AND who meet the Prerequisite Training (see below).
To gain the maximum benefit from this training, participants must already possess:
+ a deep understanding of child centred play therapy/non directive/humanistic play therapy OR
+ in-depth clinical play therapy training and supervised practice specifically in child centred play therapy/non directive play therapy/humanistic play therapy OR
+ a minimum of 150 hours training in Child Centered Play Therapy