2025 ArAPT Fall 1 Day Conference

Little Rock

Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025

Cost: $100 Students / $175 Members / $275 Non Members

Location: Our House Little Rock, AR

302 E Roosevelt Road, Little Rock, AR 72206

1 Day Conference / 6 hours CEU

Time/Workshop I: 8:30 - 11:30

Sandtray & Emotional regulation and anxiety in school-age children

Heather Chapman-Henry, LCSW, RPT

Time/Workshop II: 1:00 - 4:00

When the Hero Looks Like Me: Fandom-Based Play Therapy Through a Culturally Affirming Lens

Speaker

Bianca Kisselburg MS, LPC-S, RPT-S™, ICST-P, GTC

Bio on Bianca

Bianca Kisselburg is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist, and Internationally Credentialed Sandtray Therapist- Provider. Bianca has provided individual and family therapy for a little over 7 years. In this time, she has worked alongside children and families to facilitate positive change in their lives and their communities. Bianca focuses on supporting children and families navigating trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD, loss and life transitions.

Bianca’s style of therapy is informal, compassionate, and responsive to each person’s unique needs. She will guide you to explore your concerns and build greater understanding of the different aspects of your experience. Bianca uses a variety of evidence-based techniques including play therapy, theraplay, sandtray therapy, and somatic experiencing to help you or your child re-connect to existing strengths and cultivate additional resources that support progress toward the changes you wish to make. Bianca’s practice is grounded in person-centered, neuroscience, and attachment theories. She frequently uses body-centered, creative and geek therapy influenced interventions. Essentially she brings what you love (movies, tv shows, books, video games, etc) into the therapy room to help you find meaning, healing and hope.

Bianca is also the founder, owner and educator for Playful Connections Sandtray Institute in Texarkana. Through PCSI, she helps grow knowledge of play, sand, and geek therapy in the mental health field both locally and around the world. This includes educating interns from local universities including Texas A&M-Texarkana, Henderson State University and Southern Arkansas University.

When not at work, Bianca enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading or watching the latest movie/tv show about superheroes, wizards, jedis, vampires, elves, or any other fantasy adventure. She also loves attending local Comic Cons as often as possible.

Description: Explore how fandom-based play therapy can become a powerful tool for cultural affirmation, identity exploration, and emotional expression. This training highlights the importance of representation, provides practical interventions using client-identified fandoms, and equips play therapists to integrate geek culture with cultural humility, ethical awareness, and inclusivity across diverse client populations.

Objectives: 

1. Identify at least three ways fandom content can reflect cultural identity and social location within play therapy sessions.

2. Describe the therapeutic importance of representation in fandom-based play therapy for marginalized children and adolescents.

3. Apply culturally responsive interventions using client-identified fandoms in the context of play therapy.

4. Recognize potential ethical and cultural pitfalls when incorporating fandoms across diverse populations in clinical work with children and adolescents.