About Roadblocks in CBPT with children course
Facing the world of Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy with children often feels like charting a path through unmarked territory. In this course, we’ll explore the unexpected twists and turns that can arise at every stage—from that first moment when a shy child refuses to let go of a parent’s hand, to the delicate balance of protecting a child’s confidentiality while still collaborating with their caregivers. You’ll discover how to read between the lines when a child’s story doesn’t match the adults’ version, and how to validate a young client’s inner world without dismissing the realities they face.
As we move through real-life scenarios, you’ll learn to transform resistance into engagement. We’ll delve into practical strategies for encouraging nonverbal or minimally verbal children to express themselves, and we’ll examine techniques that help children transfer the coping skills they build in your office to their everyday lives. You’ll also gain insight into supporting imaginative play for those who struggle to step beyond functional activities, and you’ll develop a roadmap for prioritizing interventions when multiple diagnoses or parental mental health challenges come into play.
Roadblocks in CBPT Course Objectives
At the end of this module, participants should be able to:
- Identify common pre-treatment roadblocks in CBPT—such as separation anxiety and mismatched child–parent perceptions—and apply shaping strategies to foster engagement.
- Navigate confidentiality challenges and children’s distress when therapists meet with parents, using transparent communication and validated scripts.
- Implement evidence-based techniques to manage non-compliance, aggression, and refusal to leave the playroom, including limit-setting, positive reinforcement, and planned ignoring.
- Support nonverbal or minimally verbal children by assessing communication needs, creating nonverbal response opportunities, and gradually scaffolding verbal expression.
- Encourage imaginative play in children who only engage in functional activities, using predictability, relationship-building, and targeted play invitations.
- Promote generalization of therapeutic gains to home, school, and community settings, partnering with caregivers to reinforce adaptive behaviors and problem-solve barriers.
- Make clinical decisions for children with multiple diagnoses or parental mental health challenges, determining when to focus on CBPT, parent referral, or a combined treatment approach.
- Adapt CBPT techniques for virtual delivery—leveraging teleplay tools, environmental planning, and digital engagement—to maintain therapeutic alliance and intervention fidelity.
Roadblocks in CBPT
Course Requirements
The course is aimed at:
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Clinical Social Workers Or Licensed Independent Social Workers
- Licensed Professional Counselors
- Licensed Marriage And Family Therapist
- Licensed Mental Health Clinical Nurse Practitioner
The delivery of the certificate of attendance at the conclusion of the course will be tied to the evaluation of the participants' requirements. In the absence of the requirements, the course hours will not be certified.
Roadblocks in CBPT Course Curriculum
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Your CBPT Instructor
Susan M. Knell, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor in the department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. She received her undergraduate degree Magna Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College, and graduate degrees from the Ohio State University (M.A., Developmental Psychology) and Case Western Reserve University (Ph.D., Clinical Psychology). She did pre- and post-doctoral training at the Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA. At Case Western Reserve, she teaches and supervises doctoral students. In addition to research, training and teaching positions, Dr. Knell has maintained a private practice for over 40 years, where she has provided assessment and therapeutic services to children, adolescents, and adults. She authored the book Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy (1993) which has been translated and published in Italian (1998) and Turkish (2021). Dr. Knell is known for her groundbreaking work integrating Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Play Therapy as a developmentally sensitive approach to psychotherapy with young children. She has written numerous chapters on CBPT in edited books, lectured throughout the United States and internationally, and served as a manuscript reviewer for peer revied journals. She co-founded the CBPT Institute in Rome, Italy.