President’s Message
From the Desk of Dr. Jill Packman:  Hi all and welcome again.  As you can see, the board and I have made a commitment to be in contact often.  We want all of you involved.  We have great things planned for the upcoming months:  two hour and a half meetings on topics YOU requested and our annual conference, again on a pertinent topic with a wonderfully dynamic speaker.  I hope to see many of you there.

I would like to say a special thank you to the board.  They all work so hard to make sure NVAPT is meeting the needs of its members.  Thank you, ya'll!!!

I hope to see you in February, March, and May.  --Jill

Upcoming Meeting
Please join us for our next branch meeting on 2/17/05.  Come hear Amy Chaffin, RN, MS, CS speak about Psychotropic Medications and Children in Play Therapy.  The meeting will be held from 6:30 - 8pm in Raley's Community Room (next to the pharmacy) at 1630 Robb Dr. (on the corner of Mae Anne) in NW Reno.  Send questions or pre-registration to: shawnawillbrandt@aol.com.  For information about CEUs, please go to the NVAPT Calendar at www.nvapt.org/calendar.htm.
 
Article:  Play Therapy in the High School
Reno is a groundbreaking area for the advancement of play therapy!  Currently, Tina Pyatt, MA, has been running several different types of activity groups at Wooster High School including a Special Education Group, a Parenting Group (for students who are parents) and several small groups for students who did not pass their first year of high school.  Students have shown to improve on attendance to group and then in turn improved on attendance to school.  Students have been positively effected by these groups and have come back to show how much they miss group when it is not in session.   

This spring Jill Packman, PhD, and Tina Pyatt, MA, will be researching at Hug and Wooster High Schools.  The research is entitled “The Effectiveness of Group Activity Therapy on the Moral Development and Scholastic Achievement of At-Risk High School Students”.  The purpose of this research is to show that play therapy cannot only be used at the elementary and middle school level but also at the high school level.  This will be a wonderful contribution to the play therapy movement.  If you’d like more information, please contact Tina Pyatt, MA, at tpyatt@unr.nevada.edu.

Book Review
Grief touches people of all ages, including children, yet kids often do not have the verbal repertoire available to them to help them through the grieving process.  The Dougy Center publishes an activity book, Waving Goodbye: An activities manual, that can aid in this process.  It presents a wide variety of activities for children of all ages, designed to be used throughout the healing process.  Activities range from "Drawing what your grief looks like" for all ages, to "Emotion collages" for teens, to "Magic power shields" for ages 6-12.  By engaging in some of the nearly 100 activities, children may learn to identify feelings, allow emotions to be expressed, record memories, create supportive rituals, and say goodbye to their loved one.  This, and other materials, can be ordered directly through The Dougy Center at PO Box 86852, Portland, OR, 97286, (503) 775-5683, www.dougy.org.
 
From the Heart - Our Readers’ Column
Every once in awhile, someone asks me why I decided to work with children.  There are so many reasons, but something that happened this week is a perfect example of why I'm compelled to do this work.  A very young girl, not much more than 3, was exploring toys in the playroom and came across a small packet of diapers.  She took one out, held it up, and said, "I used to wear these."  She continued to say, that it was long ago, "when I was a baby."  She went deep into thought, and then correct herself, "No, I wasn't a baby, I was an almost kid."  I couldn't help but chuckle after hearing that, an "almost kid."  Once again, a child touched my heart.  How fortunate I am to do this work!  --Name withheld
 
Membership
It’s fast and easy to join the NVAPT.  Dual membership in the Association for Play Therapy (national) and the Nevada Association for Play Therapy (state) is required.  Individuals can join the organizations either as a professional or as an affiliate.  APT members receive a quarterly newsletter that contains clinical articles and a semi-annual journal that presents research and case studies.  Professional insurance options, distance learning opportunities, and a free annual membership directory are among the many additional benefits offered to APT members.  Nevada branch members also receive NVAPT newsletters or e-newsletters containing information specifically related to play therapy in Nevada, such as meetings and conferences.  To join, go to:  www.nvapt.org/membership.htm.

2005 NVAPT Annual Conference
Make sure to plan for the upcoming annual conference.  Mark you calendars for May 7, 2005; keep it open for a full day of play therapy information.  Plans are underway now and it promises to be another exciting conference.  Please check the NVAPT Calendar for updated information about this valuable event:   www.nvapt.org/calendar.htm.
 
Contact Us
        NVAPT  www.nvapt.org
        c/o Jill Packman, PhD, NCC, RPT-S  packman@unr.edu
        CEP Dept./Mailstop 281
        University of Nevada, Reno
        Reno, NV  89557
        (775)784-6637 x 2065 phone
        (775) 784-1990 fax