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The Play Therapy Circle

Hosted by Kylie Ellison, therapist, clinical supervisor, and play therapy trainer, this podcast invites you into a nurturing circle of reflection, curiosity, and growth. Each episode offers thoughtful, soulful conversations about the power of play-based therapy, attachment, emotional regulation, and therapeutic presence.

Whether you’re a practicing therapist, student, or simply passionate about the healing power of play, The Play Therapy Circle offers heartfelt insights, real-world wisdom, and gentle encouragement for showing up with compassion for your clients, and for yourself.

New episodes drop regularly, weaving together clinical expertise with soulful connection.

Please note that this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not provide therapeutic advice, and listening does not create a client–therapist relationship. All views expressed are my own, and any case examples shared have been de-identified to protect privacy.

If you’re seeking personal support, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional in your area.

Big Feelings, Small Bodies: What Emotional Dysregulation Is Really Telling Us | Ep. 38

When a child explodes, shuts down, bolts from the room, or cries at everything, what is their nervous system actually communicating?

In this episode, Kylie Ellison breaks down the neuroscience of emotional dysregulation in children, unpacking the four key presentations play therapists and caregivers see most: the fight response, the flight response, emotional flooding, and the freeze shutdown. Kylie explores what each behaviour is communicating at a nervous system level, why consequences and logical reasoning fail when the thinking brain is offline, and how child-centred play therapy is designed by its very nature to meet these unmet needs.

This episode connects the nervous system content from last week's episode into a practical, science-backed framework for understanding children's big behaviours — and responding in a way that actually works.

In this episode:

Why dysregulation is not a choice, and why it's not misbehaviour
The four dysregulation expressions and what each one is communicating
What children need in each state (and what makes it worse)
Why the CCPT playroom is a regulation environment before anything else
Practical takeaways for play therapists, parents, and caregivers

Whether you're in the playroom, the classroom, or the living room, this one is for anyone who wants to understand what children's big feelings are really trying to say.

Play Therapy Circle is hosted by Kylie Ellison, play therapist and clinical trainer at Kylie Ellison Therapy & Training. New episodes drop weekly.