In an understanding of brain development, it was previously believed that if an injury happens to one area of the brain, then that function is gone forever. We now know that the brain’s capacity for adaptability is far greater. That quality, known as brain plasticity, means that given the right opportunities for neuronal growth, one area of the brain can take over the functioning of an area that had previously been damaged or delayed. For this new neuronal growth to occur, experiences and especially emotional experiences full of affective co-regulated opportunities needs to happen. We will explore together how DIR/Floor Time helps children impacted by developmental delays and regulatory concerns, like autism spectrum disorder, tolerate new emotional experiences so that new brain pathways leading to higher developmental capacities can become possible.

This course will offer a theoretical, conceptual, and practical understanding of the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with interactive disorder, regulatory challenges, and developmental delays through the developmental relational technique known as DIR/Floor Time. Adaptations of clinical play therapy techniques utilizing Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s s Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based Model (hereafter to be known as DIR) will be examined for uses with these children and adolescents in individual, family, and group therapy contexts as the primary area of focus.

Using the DIR/Floor Time approach, you will also learn the importance of an interdisciplinary collaboration that includes mental health, occupational therapy/physical therapy, education, speech, language therapy, and medicine, all working together to help promote optimal developmental growth. Participants will better understand relationship-based intervention to guide their practice in the home, clinic, school-based, and workplace setting. Video case studies and participants’ own clinical practices will be discussed to create an interactive ‘ hands-on’ medium to illustrate practical solutions to complex developmental problems.

Course Length: 6 Hours

Esther B. Hess, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist and executive director of a multidisciplinary treatment facility in West Los Angeles, CA, Center for the Developing Mind. The Center specializes in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of developmental and regulatory disorders including childhood depression and anxiety disorder. In addition, Dr. Hess is an author and a national and international speaker on DIR/Floor Time: A Developmental/Relational Treatment Approach of ASD and Sensory Processing Disorder in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults. Dr. Hess can be reached through the Center’s website, www.centerforthedevelopingmind.com.

This webinar offers 6 NYS ED Contact Hours/APA