Unlocking the Fortress: Play Therapy at the Gates of Adolescence

Adolescents often construct formidable emotional fortresses - walls of silence, sarcasm, defiance, and disconnection - designed to protect vulnerable parts of the self that feel too raw for the adult world. Traditional talk therapy frequently bounces off these defenses, leaving both therapist and teen stuck at the gates.

This dynamic full-day training invites play therapists into the metaphorical courtyard of the adolescent fortress, where symbols, metaphors, games, art, and sand become the master keys that open heavy doors without triggering alarm. Drawing from developmental, attachment, and...Read more neurobiological perspectives, participants will learn how to transform resistance into engagement and chaos into co-regulation. Through experiential exercises, case studies, and live demonstrations, clinicians will gain practical, evidence-informed play therapy interventions that speak the native language of guarded teens—without ever forcing the drawbridge down.

Whether the fortress manifests as explosive anger, withdrawal, self-harm, substance use, or digital avoidance, this training equips therapists to meet adolescents exactly where they are and guide them toward greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and relational trust. Less...

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the adolescent brain’s developmental mismatch between limbic hyperactivity and prefrontal immaturity creates the metaphorical “fortress” of defensiveness, and articulate why play is uniquely suited to bypass these defenses.
• Analyze how developmental, relational, and neurobiological factors contribute to guarded, resistant, or reactive play patterns in teens.
• Describe at least three neurobiological and attachment-based reasons why non-directive and directive play therapy techniques lower adolescent threat responses and increase therapeutic alliance.
• Identify six common “fortress defenses”and match each with at least two developmentally appropriate play-based interventions that transform the defense into a portal for deeper therapeutic work.
• Evaluate cultural, social, and systemic influences that shape adolescent “fortress” behaviors, ensuring interventions remain culturally responsive and ethically aligned.
• Develop individualized play therapy treatment plans that integrate the Therapeutic Powers of Play with theory-specific, measurable goals for emotional regulation, identity integration, and relational repair, while meeting ethical and cultural competence standards when working with diverse adolescent populations.

Friday, March 20, 2026

09:00 AM CDT - 04:00 PM CDT