As a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (RPT-S) I’m qualified
to help children far beyond a general child therapist. RPT-S is the highest certification
to provide play therapy in the United States. Certification as a Registered
Play Therapist requires a Master's or Doctorate degree with considerable
general clinical experience and advanced, specialized training, experience, and
supervision, and a mental health professional license. I’ve been serving
families professionally since 2000, and research shows that the education,
training and experience of the therapist has a direct impact on the outcomes
of treatment.
Some of my sub-specialties include anxiety, trauma, neurodiversity,
highly sensitive temperament, childhood depression and others.
About Kimberly Bartlett, LCSW, RPT-S
I've been endlessly moved by the healing young people and families achieve. I feel honored to have worked alongside them since 2000 in many roles including as a non-profit therapist and supervisor, Wilderness Therapist, and managing therapeutic programs for high-risk youth in outpatient mental health settings.
I value my role as a helper and specialist. I recognize how critical Registered Play Therapists are to a community as there are very few
in Orange County and that’s mainly due to the difficulty
to obtain and maintain the credential. I've also learned that I can offer my best professional self when I am selective in accepting new clients and maintain a small caseload. I give freely of my heart to my clients and I am very invested in them, which means identifying parents/caregivers that are interested in a collaborative therapeutic relationship is critical for me.
About Kimberly's Treatment Approach
My approach comes from acknowledging that people have the power
within to make the changes to live healthy lives. I adjust my role in helping
children and families based on their strengths, needs, style, and development.
I utilize a methodical and reflective approach as an Integrative Play Therapist
to individualize my treatment in a systematic way. This allows me to help each
family in the most efficacious way and track progress. It’s important that
parents are part of the overall treatment and I discuss how parents will play a
role which often includes providing education and strategies to help at home. My
aim is to help children and families develop new strategies to manage the
difficulties they come to therapy with and be able to maintain their progress
upon leaving. I help by discussing our exit plan from the beginning because I
want families to move out of therapy as soon as they’ve reached their treatment
goals and can maintain them.
There are more than 25 types of play therapy. It’s important
that I draw from more than one approach to best treat children and families.
Some play therapy models I draw from include but are not limited to:
Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy
Filial Play Therapy
Child Centered Play Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Theraplay
Hours
Currently ONLY telehealth options are available. There are no longer in-person appointments available.
