Learn about ACT and bonus material from Child Teacher Relationship Training. Learn a few of the didactic lessons from the filial therapy model developed by Dr Garry Landreth and Dr Sue Bratton from the Center for Play Therapy. Christy Graham teaches this at conferences for child care professionals to deep their skills and help them join to lead the children they love.

2. Counseling
• Adult Counseling
 Marriage Counseling
 Individual
• Filial Counseling
• Play Therapy
• Referral Counseling
Community
• Professional Networking
Education
• Nutrition
• JuicePlus+
• Skills Training
• More To Come

3. Clinical Director, President of Acorn Counseling

4.  Get out your phones, open Facebook, and search
for Acorn Counseling Education Services.
 Join Event:
 Feel free to make comments, ask questions, etc. I
will ask you to give specific feedback throughout.
 At the end of the presentation, I will upload to
this even more pertinent information that you can
access for a while. It will also be easy to share
with others who ‘need it more than me.’

5.  Denton Born, Denton Studied
 Center for Play Therapy is creating a certification
program for training professionals in this
modality.
 CDC is close to identifying this as an Evidence
Based Intervention for children.
 Studies show it is more effective than Conscious
Discipline AND PLAY THERAPY in several areas.
 Taught in 10 sessions. COST EFFECTIVE
 Developmentally and culturally sensitive
intervention
*Parent or Teacher

6. Didactic Teaching of Skills
• Active Listening Skills
• ACT before its too late!
• Choice Giving
• Encouragement VS Praise

7. Experiential Teaching of Skills
• Includes a group dynamic
• In the group dynamic, there are role playing, modelling
exercises.
• Practicum portion:
 Child of Focus
 Videotaped Special Play Time
 Group Supervision
THIS IS THE GAME CHANGER!!!

8. When you accurately reflect someone’s
feelings:
• You join with them.
• They do not have to demonstrate their feelings as
much. They know you ‘get it’.
• It may solve the problem right there.

9. Video

10. Check his face!

11. Group up!
Each table has handouts. We will go through a
practice one as a large group.
Then your table will practice together.

12. Child: Adam is telling you all the things he’s going to show Grandma and
Grandpa when they get to your house.
Child Felt: Excited, Happy, Glad
Adult Response: You’re excited that Grandma &Grandpa
are coming .

13. Child: Sally gets in the car after school and tells you that Bert, the
class pet hamster, died—and then tells you about how she was in
charge of feeding Bert last week and how he would look at her and
then get on his wheel and run.
Child Felt: Sad, Disappointed
Adult Response: You're sad that Bert died.

14. Child: Andy was playing with his friend, Harry, when Harry grabbed
Andy’s fire truck and wouldn’t give it back. Andy tried to get it back
and the ladder broke off. Andy comes to you crying and tells you what
happened and that it’s all Harry’s fault.
Child Felt: Mad, Angry, Upset
Adult Response: You’re really mad at Harry.

15. Child: Sarah was playing in the garage while you were cleaning it out, when a
big box of books falls off the shelf and hits the floor behind her. She jumps up
and runs over to you.
Child Felt: Scared, Surprised (depends on child ’s facial expression)
Adult Response: 1)That (scared, surprised ...) you!

16. When we acknowledge the feelings of others
• they no longer have to use their behavior to convince
us or show us their feelings.
• they feel cared for, understood. They join with us.
• we honor them.
• we give ourselves time to figure out the next step.

17. Fill in the blank:
I learned about me:
I learned about my tablemates:
This is both more simple than it seems and
harder than it seems.

18.  There are specific limits in every relationship.
• Everyone must be safe
• Everyone must be respected
• Everyone takes care of our stuff
 Be clear
 Use the same ones over and over so that it trains
their brains to think the limit before the behavior.
 It takes 40 to 50,000 repetitions to automate
something in muscle memory. We want these
limits to be concrete in their thinking!

19. It’s probably not a good idea to paint the wall.
Message: I’m really not sure whether or not it’s
okay to paint the wall. It might be okay or it
might not.

20. You can’t paint the walls in here.
Message: You might be able to paint the walls in
the other room.

21. I can’t let you paint the wall.
Message: What you do is my responsibility and
not your responsibility.

22. Maybe you could paint something else other
than the wall.
Message: Maybe you can paint the furniture.

23. The rule is you can’t paint the wall.
Message: How you feel about it doesn’t matter.

24. The wall is not for painting on.
Message: You’re not bad for wanting to, it’s just
not for anyone to paint on.

25. Turn to your group and talk about limits you
set on a daily basis at school or work.
Role Play ACT with a partner while the others
watch.
Watchers-Encourage them! Whoop when they
acknowledge a feeling, give them an shout if
they state a clear limit, and high five if they
give alternatives that would be acceptable to
all.

26. Fill in the blank:
I learned about me:
I learned about my tablemates:
This is both more simple than it seems and
harder than it seems.

27. “You can take the medication with orange juice
or apple juice.”
Give options that all can live with
Give alternatives that are not punishments
Do not give alternatives you don’t want the
person to choose.

28. Children choose not to comply with us
sometimes. What happens then is Crucial!
Providing children with age appropriate
choices :
• empowers them
• provides opportunities for decision-making/problem-
solving
• reduces power struggles

29. Choices are equally acceptable to all
• Does not include manipulations to get them to choose
what you want them to have.
Little Choices for Little Kids, Big Choices for Big
Kids

30. Oreo Cookie Theory: Sara, you can choose to
keep one of the cookies to eat and put the rest
back, or you can choose to put all the cookies
back—which do you choose?
Hint: use “choose” lots of times.

31. “We are about to institute a new and
significant policy within the confines of this
domicile! When you choose to pick up your
toys before dinner, you choose to watch 30
minutes of TV after dinner. When you choose
not to pick up your toys before dinner, you
choose not to watch TV after dinner.
• Warn them 10 minutes before dinner: Dinner will be
ready in 10 minutes. Its time to pick up your toys.

32. They are NOT picked up.
• Don’t say anything right away. Have dinner, then
announce, “It looks like you have chosen not to watch
TV for this night.”
• DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO WATCH TV and reiterate
their choice using ACT: You want to watch TV, but
when you chose not to pick up your toys, you chose
not to watch TV tonight. You can choose to pick up
your toys tomorrow and watch TV tomorrow.

33. They have picked up most of their toys.
“Its time for dinner. It looks like you have
chosen to watch TV tonight after dinner.

34. You have walked through Acknowledging
Feelings, Communicating Limits, and Targeting
Appropriate Alternatives.
IT DID NOT WORK.
• Think about what didn’t ‘work’.
 Discipline is not about controlling behavior. It is about
training a child to be an effective adult.
 There isn’t just a button we can press for compliance. They
aren’t robots.

35. If you choose, fill out the Acorn specific
feedback sheet. Choose to fill out the non-
private section and choose to enter a drawing
for a wonderful book!
If you choose to learn more about CTRT, to
engage in our coaching/mentoring program,
choose to email me and set up a call. Then you
will choose to change your life and the life of
the children around you.

36. Acorn loves to educate
• Parents
• Caregivers
• Professionals
Acorn creates community
• Network with great professionals
• Connect to professionals thru good continuity of care
• Create lasting relationships with caregivers,
professional and personal, that benefit client for years

37. Check in on Facebook to get a list of studies
that show CTRT and CPRT’s effectiveness.
Fill out your evaluation cards, tear them apart
and put one in the green bag [for the raffle]
and one stacked on the table
Call us! We can help you over the barriers that
keep you from doing what you know you
should do.