364 | CCPT Gamechangers: How to Handle Children Who Dart Out of the Playroom

Play Therapy Podcast: A Master-Class in Child-Centered Play Therapy

In this Game Changers episode, I address one of the most stressful moments for play therapists: children who dart out of the playroom. I explain why "runners" are not a failure of the model and why a child leaving the room is sometimes developmentally, emotionally, or practically driven—not always resistance or defiance. Before jumping to limits, I emphasize the importance of understanding the why behind the behavior and responding thoughtfully rather than reactively.

I also walk through concrete, practical strategies to increase safety and containment without trapping the child or violating child-centered principles. From using a spinny rolly chair and strategic positioning to recognizing when a child needs accommodation versus a limit, this episode focuses on creating barriers to unsafe behavior—not barriers to autonomy. Managing runners is about safety, attunement, and clinical judgment, and when those pieces come together, children gradually no longer need to escape the playroom.

CCPT: The Field of Dreams | Live Training Event at Steinbrenner Field More Info. & Registration go to https://corewellceu.com/tampa. For more information and to register for this LIVE training event in Tampa, FL on Saturday Jan 31, 2026.

PlayTherapyNow.com is my HUB for everything I do! playtherapynow.com. Sign up for my email newsletter, stay ahead with the latest CCPT CEU courses, personalized coaching opportunities and other opportunities you need to thrive in your CCPT practice. If you click one link in these show notes, this is the one to click!

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If you would like to ask me questions directly, check out www.ccptcollective.com, where I host two weekly Zoom calls filled with advanced CCPT case studies and session reviews, as well as member Q&A. You can take advantage of the two-week free trial to see if the CCPT Collective is right for you.

Ask Me Questions: Call ‪(813) 812-5525‬, or email: brenna@thekidcounselor.com Brenna's CCPT Hub: https://www.playtherapynow.com CCPT Collective (online community exclusively for CCPTs): https://www.ccptcollective.com Podcast HQ: https://www.playtherapypodcast.com APT Approved Play Therapy CE courses: https://childcenteredtraining.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/playtherapypodcast

Common References: Cochran, N., Nordling, W., & Cochran, J. (2010). Child-Centered Play Therapy (1st ed.). Wiley. VanFleet, R., Sywulak, A. E., & Sniscak, C. C. (2010). Child-centered play therapy. Guilford Press. Landreth, G.L. (2023). Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (4th ed.). Routledge. Landreth, G.L., & Bratton, S.C. (2019). Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT): An Evidence-Based 10-Session Filial Therapy Model (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315537948 Benedict, Helen. Themes in Play Therapy. Used with permission to Heartland Play Therapy Institute.

2025-12-23 11 min Transcript

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Transcript

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You're listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks,

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your source for centered and focused play therapy coaching.

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Hi,

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I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks,

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The Kid Counselor.

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This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get

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a master class in child-centered play therapy

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and practical support and application for your

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work with children and their families.

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In today's episode,

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we are continuing with the Game Changer series

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and we are going to talk about runners.

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i.e.,

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kids that dart out of the room.

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My,

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my name for them is runners,

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you may call them something else.

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Kids that

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will just

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in one split second,

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disappear from your playroom and you're chasing them

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down the hallway into the parking lot,

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wherever.

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But before we get there,

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I want to say a couple of things.

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For those of you that have been

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curious about the live event.

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We're actually putting together a curriculum video for you.

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So,

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if you want to know what you're going to learn,

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we're gonna have that out soon.

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So,

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I wanted to make you aware of that.

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And if you can't come in person,

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please do the webinar or the on-demand.

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It's gonna give you 12 CEs

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and it's nothing but CCPT.

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And so,

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I hope that that would be important to you.

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I hope that even if you can't come and hang out with me in person,

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that you would want to have those CEs and the CCPT training.

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So,

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make sure you get that before the end of the year.

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The prices will go up after the early bird pricing through December.

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And

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we're trying to make this an annual event.

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And so,

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hopefully,

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if you can't come this year,

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we would love to have you plan for

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next year,

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2027.

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OK,

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let's talk through runners.

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And

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really what I'm trying to do with this episode is equip you with strategies.

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There's never a way to completely prevent

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A child from leaving the playroom.

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And

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we set limits

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and we do things strategically so that it makes it

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a little more tricky for the child to leave.

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But a part of CCPT is that a child is going to leave the playroom at times.

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So,

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before I dive into

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strategies,

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we're going to talk about the why,

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cause that's all I ever want to talk about.

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I think that when we see a child

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asking to leave or trying to leave or leaving.

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We sometimes react

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and we're sometimes quick to

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Say something,

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set a limit

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where we feel like there's pressure to do something.

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I think one of the most important things that we can do

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is to

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Comment about the fact that the child is over at

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the door or opening the door or trying to leave

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and pseudo limits it.

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Oh,

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you're opening the door,

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but you know that our special playtime is just for the playroom.

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And see

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what it's all about,

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because sometimes it's,

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oh,

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I just forgot my water.

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Or,

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oh,

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I just have to give mom my blah blah blah,

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it's in my pocket and it's bothering me.

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Or

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I need to go to the bathroom.

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Or I'm just trying to go fill this cup so that I can make paint.

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Whatever

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the reason is,

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often

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it is not

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to be resistant,

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to be avoidant,

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to challenge limits and boundaries.

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Many times,

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it's a legit reason.

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And in those scenarios,

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we have to make a judgment call.

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How can I remain CCPT

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but honor the child's needs?

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If a kid,

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for this is for me,

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I'm not saying this is universal,

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but

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if a kid needs to go get water,

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if a kid wants to have snack early

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and they choose to get snack mid-session instead of

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at the end of the session because they're hungry,

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obviously the bathroom.

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If they choose to.

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Take their jacket off and go give it to mom.

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If it is a legit reason,

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and you don't perceive the why

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to be related to limits

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or boundaries or avoidance or resistance.

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In my

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practice.

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I say,

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oh,

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you're choosing to go give that to mom,

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and then the child gives it,

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comes right back.

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It's not disruptive.

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It's not prohibitive.

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It doesn't cause any issues.

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There are absolutely times

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when I know,

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I don't even think I know

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that a child is

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resistant,

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avoidant,

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pushing limits,

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testing boundaries,

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whatever.

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In those scenarios,

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I would immediately go to,

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oh,

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but you know that the playroom's not for leaving.

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Because those are the kids that are not going to come back in.

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Those are the kids that are not going

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to abide by a limit,

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because here's what often happens.

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Oh,

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you'd really like to go out and give that to mom,

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but you know that our playtime is just for the playroom.

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If you choose to go out and give that to mom,

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You choose to come right back into the playroom.

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Yes.

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Then they go out to the lobby,

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then they sit down,

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they curl up on mom's lap,

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and they never leave that lobby for the remainder of the

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35 minutes that you still hadn't finished in the session.

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Those are the kinds of kids that you have to recognize it for what it is,

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and you change your tactic a little bit.

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As far as strategies for in the playroom.

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Unequivocally you need a spinny rolly chair.

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It can be a stool.

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It can be a chair.

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It can have a back,

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no back,

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whatever you want it to be,

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but a spinny rolly chair.

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And you remain within 2 to 3 ft of the child

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in the playroom.

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So as they're navigating the playroom,

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You roll and spin yourself wherever you need to be.

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If there is a child that has already darted out

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in earlier sessions or an earlier part of that session,

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if they are prone to be a runner,

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if you know that they're testing boundaries,

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if they're wild and crazy and they're doing all kinds of things,

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and you think this is a kid that would probably

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just open that door and run out into the hallway.

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You strategically position yourself in front of the door.

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Not the whole time,

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but,

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OK,

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look,

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let's be real.

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If the kid's on the other side of the playroom,

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nowhere near the door,

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you don't need to be in front of the door.

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But if the child

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is testing boundaries

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and is dysregulated and is trying to break as many limits as possible,

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because they don't have any self-control at this moment,

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and

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you think this kid could just dart out that door.

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Roll yourself over

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in front of the door if the child is close to the door.

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If they're over behind the puppet theater,

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obviously you can be over by the theater.

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So I wanted to make that really clear.

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I actually watched a coaching video

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last week or so,

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and

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I had just,

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I don't think I'd been clear enough that you don't

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have to position yourself by the door the whole session.

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It's just for kids that you think might

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run out.

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And the goal is

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barriers

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to.

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The disregulated behavior.

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In other words,

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the child is still going to want to break limits and test things

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and avoid compliance

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and be all over the place.

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We're not

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doing anything about that.

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We're not even stopping the child from leaving.

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But if we are positioned in front of the door

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and they fling the door open and it hits the back of our chair.

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They can't just dart out into the hallway and run.

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So it's just one extra barrier.

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We're not trapping the child in there,

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we're not insisting that they stay,

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we're not

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tying their hands and saying you're never going

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to leave this playroom until time is up.

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This is just

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a physical barrier

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to them opening the door and darting,

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because many of you,

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I watch enough play sessions,

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many of you.

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Don't have a lobby.

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Many of you

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have stairs or elevators

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or all kinds of other colleagues' therapy rooms that are not seeing children,

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you know,

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there's a couple meeting next door

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and the kid runs out and flings open that door,

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runs into an elevator,

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up a stairwell,

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out into a parking lot.

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I've watched plenty and had plenty of discussions about sessions where the kid

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opens the door and is outside before the therapist can blink an eye.

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So there are safety concerns,

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there are liability concerns,

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there's all kinds of stuff.

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You're just trying to make sure that it's not quote,

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easy

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to

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run out of the playroom.

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And the hope is that over time,

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You continue to set neutral limits,

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you continue to give appropriate choices.

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You continue to reflect feelings.

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And the child no longer needs or wants to test boundaries,

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no longer needs or wants to escape the playroom.

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And everything is more settled,

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but until we get there,

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we're just trying to accommodate

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for the need that some children have

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to escape.

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So my hope is that that encourages you,

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we all have kids that are prone to

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dart out.

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The why matters though.

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Because

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if a child

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opens the door

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to look down the hallway

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because they're playing

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espionage

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and all they want to do is pretend like they're

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checking to see if anyone's out in the hallway,

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and as soon as the door opens,

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we're like,

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Oh,

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you really want to leave.

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They may not really want to leave.

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Having their hand on the handle,

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opening the door a crack,

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all of those things,

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we don't want to presume intent.

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We don't want to immediately go to,

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they're trying to leave the playroom.

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Often they're not.

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And even if they do leave the playroom,

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often there's a valid reason.

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And

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in my practice,

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I

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am OK

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with them doing those things

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when I understand what the child's needs are

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and the why.

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There are other times when I'm going to immediately set

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a limit because I know where the child is.

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This is a clinical instinct issue as well.

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So it's strategy and skill.

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It's also clinical instinct.

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And when those all come together,

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we can better manage kids that want to run.

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So,

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hopefully that gives you some hope.

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If,

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if you've had kids that are darting out of your playroom,

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maybe that gives you some marching orders.

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Also,

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Merry Christmas.

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I hope that you all have a wonderful time.

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If you're celebrating Christmas,

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I hope that you have a wonderful time with your family and your friends.

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And that you enjoy just taking a moment to pause

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and recognize the gifts that we've been given.

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And

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from my family to yours,

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I hope that you have a really merry Christmas,

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and I'm looking forward to

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kicking off the new year

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really soon.

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Love y'all.

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We'll talk again soon.

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Bye.

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Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks.

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For more episodes and resources,

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please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.

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