Send us Fan Mail
Free Podcast Training for Play Therapists: How the Brain Constructs "Explosive" Emotions in Kids
Join Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training with Cathi Spooner, LCSW, RPT-S podcast as we go beyond simple redirection strategies to explore how the brain actually constructs emotional experiences in dysregulated children and why it matters for play therapists.
If you're a child and adolescent therapist working with kids who have "explosive" emotions — the "angry tornado" in your playroom, or desperate parents asking "what do I do when this happens at home?" —
This weekly podcast episode gives you a fresh clinical lens for nervous system regulation, grounded in the Theory of Constructed Emotions and Attachment Theory.
In this episode, we cover:
🧠 Developmental Expectations — Why a child's developing neural circuitry matters for self-regulation (and why "just calm down" doesn't work).
🌪️ Constructed Emotions — How the brain uses interoception and environment to construct emotions that predict what needs to happen next.
🔗 Attachment as Bio-Regulation — Exploring attachment as a bioregulatory system, and the brain as a "prediction machine."
🎭 Play Therapy Application — Why emotion vocabulary is the key to building true resiliency, and how to use play therapy with intention.
👨👩👧 Caregiver Co-Regulation — How to teach parents to model regulated states so kids can borrow their calm.
💬 Drop a comment: what's the hardest "explosive" moment you've navigated in the playroom or with a caregiver?
References mentioned:
- Dr. Pascal Vrticka (Substack article #36): The Bioenergetic Map of Social Connection
- Hoemann, Xu, & Feldman Barrett (2019): Emotion Words, Emotion Concepts, and Emotional Development in Children
Attachment Insights #36 (https://pvrticka.com/attachment-insights/#36), and the full version on Substack is available here: https://pvrticka.substack.com/p/the-bioenergetic-map-of-social-connection.
Website: https://pvrticka.substack.com/p/attachment-and-caregiving-as-social-allostatic-inference)
#PlayTherapy #ChildTherapist #NervousSystemRegulation #AttachmentTheory #EmotionRegulation
Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.
Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.
I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.
Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills
