Child and Family Therapy

This specialized one-year certificate program is designed to provide a comprehensive foundation in treatment of children within a family context. Participants will gain skills in understanding and working with pre-adolescent children using a range of interventions such as play therapy, age-specific therapeutic games, and art activities. At the same time, students will learn to comprehend and work with the family dynamics that frequently underlie or exacerbate a child's distress.

“This certificate provides a comprehensive spectrum of courses for clinicians interested in expanding and deepening their understanding of work with children ages pre-school through latency. In addition to play therapy, the curriculum includes courses in child development, attachment, parenting, diagnosis of disorders of childhood, and child-focused family interventions. This course utilizes a focus on practice with children and families in a range of settings, including treatment strategies for children who have been traumatized, as well as those seen in schools and family service agencies.”

-Theresa Aiello, PhD, LCSW
-Judith Siegel, PhD, LCSW, Co-Director

"What I appreciated most about this program was the bounty of real-life experience that the faculty brought to the classroom. Faculty covered a lot of different perspectives on child development, various family structures, and issues occurring mostly during adolescence. Faculty were thus able to show the many facets of a fascinating and equally complex field, and the classroom and case discussions helped us translate those perspectives, theories, and concepts into our own work environment. This is a great program to receive a lot of up-to-date information, based on sound studies and superb applicability in a short amount of time."

-Dr. Beatrice Kraemer, Clinical Psychologist, President and Founder of Parenting At Its Best

This program will meet weekly (excluding holidays) for 32 weeks for a total of 85 class hours. Classes are offered in trimesters, from September through June.

85 NASW-approved CEUs will be awarded for completion of the full certificate program. Individual courses can be taken with approval. Thirty-six hours are approved by the Association of Play Therapy, APT Provider 09-244.

Applicants may choose between two sections of this course: Monday evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:40 pm; or Friday mornings between 9:15 am and 11:50 am.

Download the program brochure (PDF).