Dr. Mistie Barnes, assistant professor of counselor education at Delta State and director of the Play Therapy Training Institute, was recently honored with the 2014 Play Therapy Professional Education and Training Award.Dr. Mistie Barnes, assistant professor of counselor education at Delta State and director of the Play Therapy Training Institute, was recently presented the 2014 Play Therapy Professional Education and Training Award by the Association for Play Therapy (APT) during its conference earlier this month.
The award acknowledges the member who provided exceptional play therapy education and continuing opportunities to mental health practitioners and students during the past year.
“As an assistant professor, Mistie taught a number of play therapy courses at Delta State University, as well as numerous local community workshops,” said association CEO Kathy Lebby. “In addition, she provided an impressive amount of supervision to mental health professionals wishing to either earn or renew their state licenses or play therapy credentials.”
A licensed professional counselor-supervisor and registered play therapist-supervisor, Barnes also serves as the branch president for Mississippi APT and editor of the APT Mining Report.
Play therapy is an approach favored by many licensed mental health professionals in the U.S. and 25 other nations to therapeutically use play to help clients better describe and resolve their problems.
It is particularly effective with children because they often communicate ideas and feelings through play, just as adults use words.
APT is a national professional society that provides research, training and credentialing programs to assist those professionals. Additional information is available at www.a4pt.org.
