4-Day Play Therapy Supervisor Training

This competency-based play therapy supervisor training program prepares those who wish to supervise play therapists with the necessary foundations for effective supervision in this unique field of practice.

This play therapy supervisor training program meets the supervisor training component which forms part of the requirements for those wishing to become a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor with the following Play Therapy Associations (as at 3/9/25):

• Australasia Pacific Play Therapy Association (APPTA)

• Australian Play Therapists Association (APTA) or

• Play Therapy Practitioners Association of Australia (PTPA)

The other additional requirements for registration as Registered Play Therapy Supervisor vary between associations, so please check with your relevant association for details of all the components required for the supervisor membership category (e.g. play therapy experience, supervision hours etc.)

As a competency-based training program, LIVE attendance is required for ALL 4 days of the training and successful completion of assessment activities in order to fulfil the certification requirements.  Summative assessment activities will be undertaken during the LIVE training and Formative assessment activities afterwards.

This event is limited to 20 participants only to ensure a safe, intimate, and connected personal and professional experience.

Play Therapy Supervision During Times of Change

This Play Therapy Supervisor Masterclass is designed for all Registered Play Therapist Supervisors.

Additionally, this training meets the specific requirements for those wishing to renew their Registered Play Therapist Supervisor membership with the Australian Play Therapists Association (APTA).

Play Therapy finds itself in significant times of change in Australia…

Changes to Federal and State government policies and funding models in mental health, disability and education sectors…

Changes to Federal government regulatory frameworks and national standards, particularly for play therapists whose primary professions are psychology or counselling…

Changes to play therapy association membership requirements.

Supervisees are stressed.

Supervisors are stressed…and doing their best to support their supervisees, but often without any formal training in change management to anchor to.

This unique play therapy supervisor masterclass is so very timely!

Join our Director, Katherine Olejniczak, one of Australia’s leading play therapist supervisors and supervisor trainers. With 25 years of management and leadership experience in the field navigating government policy changes across the private, government and non-government sectors, she will support you in supervising and leading through these times of change.

And of course, play-based learning experiences will be included!

Child at the Centre: Supervision for Working with Children

Working with children and families presents unique complexities for clinicians, supervisors and managers.  Children grow, develop and heal in the context of their primary relationships within which they live, learn and play.  This means that when working with children we are also working with the adults and systems around them.

This PsyBA-approved Master class provides participants with essential knowledge and skills in supervising child psychology practice. Applying a competency-based, child-centred, and systemic model of supervision practice that holds the child at the centre, supervisors will strengthen their capacity to support supervisee competencies and navigate legal and ethical issues that commonly arise.

Of particular focus is a framework for conceptualising the child’s needs within the context of their system, supervisor techniques for responding to common challenges raised by supervisees working with children, assessing supervisee competencies working with caregivers/systems, identifying and managing transference, countertransference and parallel process that occurs in the supervisory relationship, and supporting supervisee wellbeing associated with the impacts of working with children and families.

This Master class employs a range of experiential and reflective activities specifically designed for both supervisor development and for use with supervisees.  The nature of this approach intentionally draws on the parallels that occur naturally across the child and their system to provide embodied experiences for supervisors, and which they can harness in their own supervisory processes. 

This is an AHPRA PsyBA-Approved Supervisor Master Class.

Master class (Part 4) has been developed for psychologists who want to maintain their status as a Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA)-Approved supervisor (Principal or Secondary).  Completion of this training will meet the requirements to maintain supervisory status for a further five years. 

Balancing the Tightrope: A Brain-Based, Relationship-Oriented Approach to Supervision

This masterclass explores beyond the surface of competence and confidence, enhancing supervisors’ capacity to balance on the tightrope of the supervisory relationship to promote safety for deep learning while ensuring competency-based practice.

Of particular focus is a model of supervisory practice based in the neuroscience of leadership, seeking to understand the factors that activate both reward and threat neural circuitry of the supervisor and supervisee in their work, and in supervisory relationships and processes.  This approach recognises the brain’s limbic system as fundamental to learning and works with supervisees to expand their vulnerability to effectively engage in the learning process.

This brain-based, relationship-oriented approach to supervision will be considered in the context of developmental models of professional development and therapist identity.  An example of its application will be offered through research of what works in supervision in the child protection field.

This Masterclass employs highly reflective and experiential activities designed to deep dive into the intricacies of supervisory relationships and processes.  Activities build on each to enhance supervisors’ knowledge and skills of supervision practices, evaluating and managing supervisory relationships and processes, and developing approaches that promote competency-based learning plans highly individualised to the unique needs and strengths of each supervisee.  Role plays will also be used to integrate learnings into practice.

This masterclass is  particularly ideal for those leading a group private practice or managing a team within an NGO.

This is an AHPRA PsyBA-Approved Supervisor Master Class. 

Master class (Part 4) has been developed for psychologists who want to maintain their status as a Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA)-Approved supervisor (Principal or Secondary).  Completion of this training will meet the requirements to maintain supervisory status for a further five years.