Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) in Play Therapy
Lived Insights and Clinical Tools for Neurodivergent Kids and Their Families
Friday, November 20th, 2026
9am-12pm PDT
Non-Contact (Online)
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) can trigger extreme emotional pain, sudden behavioral shifts, and intense dysregulation in neurodivergent children.
This 3-hour training bridges professional play therapy clinical frameworks with practical applications to provide an authentic approach to managing RSD in child play therapy.
Course Description
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) can trigger extreme emotional pain, sudden behavioral shifts, and intense dysregulation in neurodivergent children—often presenting in play therapy as abrupt aggression, shutdown, or perfectionistic distress over minor mistakes. Because young clients rarely have the vocabulary to articulate perceived rejection, play therapists must learn to identify the implicit signals of RSD early within the play therapy process.
This 3-hour training bridges professional play therapy clinical frameworks with practical applications to provide an authentic approach to managing RSD in child play therapy.
Participants will learn how to identify masked RSD responses during play therapy sessions, implement real-time co-regulation strategies utilizing the therapeutic powers of play, and adapt play therapy techniques to reduce perceived evaluative threat.
Additionally, the session covers psychoeducation frameworks for parents, helping play therapists guide parents to spot RSD triggers at home, shift away from punitive responses, and create environments that support the play therapy treatment process.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this three-hour training, participants will be able to:
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Identify the verbal, behavioral, and somatic presentations of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) within a play therapy setting.
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Apply play therapy intervention techniques to de-escalate acute RSD reactions and minimize perceived evaluative pressure in the playroom.
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Formulate play therapy-informed psychoeducational strategies to assist parents in recognizing and co-regulating their child's RSD triggers at home.
Primary Areas:
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Play Therapy Theories
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Play Therapy Skills & Methods
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Play Therapy Special Topics
3 APT and NBCC CE credits available to mental health professionals & graduate students in a mental health program. Choose the CE track of your preference when registering.
Presented by Heather Fairlee Denbrough, LCSW, RPT-S
The Redwood Center for Children and Families, APT Approved Provider 26-820
And in partnership with Cascadia Training, NBCC ACEP No. 6475
All payments are final and non-refundable. If an unexpected emergency prevents you from participating, you may email us at trainings@theredwoodcenter.org to request an exception. If a program is canceled by The Redwood Center, participants will receive a full refund. For our complete cancellation and refund policy, click the link below.
Meet Your Trainer
About Heather
Heather FD of Playful Integration is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, and Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Supervisor.
Heather spent a long and wonderful portion of her career bringing the power of play therapy and sand therapy to community mental health as a therapist, teacher, and clinical supervisor.
Heather’s therapeutic home is located at Portland Queer Healers’ Collective in Portland, Oregon, where she offers a tender space for adults ready to explore the deeper stories that shaped their lives.
Through play, sand therapy, and deeply witnessed relational work, Heather supports clients in understanding their stories and transforming the patterns they don’t want to carry forward.
Heather additionally works with neurodivergent teens and adults seeking an intuitive therapeutic space where creativity, special interests, and authenticity are welcomed.
Heather also supports therapists seeking consultation in play therapy and sand therapy as they integrate these approaches into their clinical practice, and has a special interest in “self of the play therapist” work.