A Hero's Welcome Podcast
A Hero’s Welcome Podcast
Hosted by Maria Laquerre Diego, and Liliana Baylon, both LMFT-S and RPT-S
A Hero’s Welcome is a podcast for mental health professionals committed to culturally responsive care. Each episode features in-depth conversations with clinicians, supervisors, and consultants who bring diverse perspectives to the forefront.
We discuss mental health topics including psychotherapy models, clinical interventions, trauma-informed practices, and the role of cultural humility in therapeutic work. Our guests share their experiences serving children, families, and communities impacted by systemic stressors, offering insights and practical tools for fellow practitioners.
Whether you're looking to deepen your understanding of culturally competent care or seeking a community that values diversity and inclusion, A Hero’s Welcome offers a space for reflection, learning, and growth.
Hosts:
Maria Laquerre-Diego
maria@anewhopetc.org
Liliana Baylon
liliana@lilianabaylon.com
A Hero's Welcome Podcast
SITH Conference 2025 - The Force Within the Family with Jen Shivey
We delve into the upcoming SITH Conference (Supportive Innovations for Therapeutic Heroes) taking place October 9-11 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a special focus on court-involved cases and family systems work in play therapy.
• Jenny discusses her conference session "The Force Within the Family" focusing on family dynamics in play therapy
• Importance of working with the entire family system rather than just the child in therapy
• How to engage with the trifecta of home, school, and therapy for lasting change
• Special focus on LGBTQ+ affirming approaches to family therapy
• Discussion of chosen families and support systems beyond biological relationships
• Conference will include experiential learning in a courthouse with mock testimony practice
• Event features southwestern cuisine and networking with play therapy professionals
• Registration still open with conference swag and meals included
Join us at the SITH Conference this October to enhance your skills working with families and court-involved cases. Registration information is available in the episode description.
Registration: https://www.anewhopeacademy.org/sith25
A Hero's Welcome Podcast © Maria Laquerre-Diego & Liliana Baylon
Welcome listeners for a special episode of a Heroes Welcome podcast. I'm here with my co-host.
Speaker 2:That's me, liliana Balan, and we are here for a special episode, maria, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we are talking about the SIFT Conference that I host here in Las Cruces, new Mexico. The SIFT Conference is an in-person conference. This will be our fourth year offering it and if you've listened before, you know I'm a bit of a nerd, so SIF might not be a complete surprise to you, but it stands for, in this case, supportive Innovations for Therapeutic Heroes.
Speaker 1:And what it is is my attempt to make in-person learning fun again, and this year I have got the absolute pleasure of inviting some of my favorite people to come and hang out with me for a weekend, which means that Jenny's here with us because Jenny's one of our favorite people.
Speaker 2:Do not complain. All of you who are out there saying like how come I'm not your favorite people. This is about Sith. Okay, that's what we're saying. So, Jen, tell us about your session. What is the title? What can listeners who have not registered yet can pay attention to and hurry up and go and register for your session?
Speaker 3:Got it. So thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be a part of this conference. So my session is the force within the family and so in this session we're going to be talking about all of the ins and outs of family dynamics and how do we, especially as play therapists and not, you know, just treat the child but really like, look outward and what all is going on this year with the Guardians of the Galaxy theme, I got to thinking about the characters in that movie, which is movies, sorry which is like my favorite movie and, coincidentally, my favorite Disney ride, and thinking about how, you know, what does that family look like? So there's different. There are different like, I guess, biological family units, but really they have a chosen family, right? So, looking at that and the whole system and how does that work? Where are the pieces that kind of collide with that? So, yeah, we're going to be talking about, kind of, all the different parts and how do we wrap that into what we're doing therapeutically?
Speaker 3:Because I think so often again, when you're working with kids, the focus is on the child, right? So you know, and I tell parents, there's nothing magical I can do with your child in an hour a week, like there's just I feel like I'm good at what I do, but I'm not that good. Let me just second. So, um, like I don't have a wand, I've got some toys and stuff. So, um, you know it really has to, like you have to take the pieces of that and then, um, you know it has to radiate out.
Speaker 3:So sometimes you know, some children do they just need a space, like their support system's pretty good. They need a space where they can process and work some stuff out. And you pull the family in and sometimes it is much more focused on the child. You pull them in as needed, but more often it's you know you're going to work on some things with a child, but you have to change the entire system around them or else it doesn't really make sense.
Speaker 3:So if you think about what are the biggest parts of a child's day, it's with, you know, with their family, with their home unit, probably at school, and then some kids like, maybe they have I don't know if they're really into an extracurricular or something like that maybe they spend time there, but those are the big chunks of their day. So again, the hour a week that we spend with them. It's cool, but, like we need to like, kind of tap into those other areas and so if we can hit, you know, connect therapy with, maybe school and home, then you have that whole trifecta that's going to make, you know, change more lasting and probably more effective. That's what we're going to be talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, if you're not familiar with Jen and Jen's work, Jen, you're an advocate and a lot of the training and education you do comes through an LGBTQ trans firming lens. Yes, and I'm, I mean, I can say I'm assuming, but I know because I saw all of your stuff like this this workshop is also through that lens.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's hard for me to like look through another lens at this point, so, but it is, and, and I think you know, looking at dynamics within our queer families, I mean, there's there's so many different layers.
Speaker 3:There's like, yeah, you know, are there portions of the family, the you know the biological family, that are not actually in the family unit anymore, where there you know was, are there pockets of support that are no longer there? And you know, again, family this isn't, this isn't just, you know, maybe grandparents who you know, you don't want no longer talk to, um many kids when they, you know, do transition and whatever that looks like. Um, even if their family, like their immediate family, is supportive, there are other people that they may lose, like nannies, um, I know families who have lost nanny and you know a nanny that has been there with them since birth and has always been around, no longer is cause, you know that reasons, um, you know um family friends, close family friends. So, again, that's that's why, when, when I talk about family, I'm I don't just mean like the biological family unit, it's more kind of like a, like your support system. Who are, who are the people around you?
Speaker 1:So found family like you talked about with the guardian example.
Speaker 2:yeah, and I think also right, like this topic in regards to family. Most of us who are play therapists do not get proper training, if any, in regards to how to work with systems and therefore we're really good about working with one nervous system in the room and we had to learn a whole language about in regards to the play therapy world, in regards to what we witnessed and how we translate that to notes, but to do that with the whole system, the feedback that I get from most play therapists is that I do not know how to do it or it's very intimidating. So I think your topic not only through the lens that you are seeing everything, but also the systemic point that you're bringing is going to be really important for everyone to go and learn from you.
Speaker 3:I am excited to talk about it.
Speaker 1:I just yeah, I think it's. I'm so appreciative because this is, you know, this year, sits. We're focused on court-involved cases, which are often family dynamics are at play, which is why Jen's workshop is so important for our time together and it is something unless you've gone. Like you know, liliana and I are very vocal about being MFTs, and so we're trained to work with systems. Social workers are trained to work with different systems and in different ways, but if you're going through the play credential, there isn't a lot of focus on working with systems or the family system in particular through the play therapy lens. So I am so appreciative of your voice and your unique lens because when I think about families and queer families and LGBTQ clients looking for play, you are one of my go-to resources for that, and so, yeah, I'm super excited that you're going to come to New Mexico and that we get to hang out for a couple of days and kind of geek out about things you're passionate about.
Speaker 3:I can't wait. I really am so excited.
Speaker 2:So Maria. What are the dates of the conference?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's this October. It's going to be the 9th through the 11th, so it's a Thursday, friday, saturday we're actually going to spend half a day in the courthouse. We actually have a local judge that's going to come out and talk to the group for a little bit and we're going to do some mock testifying. For those that want to be brave in the courtroom, we're going to have some fantastic food for you guys now that you're visiting the Southwest. Yeah, so we'll have all of that. We'll put the registration link below with all of our information. There's still time to register and come and hang out in the Southwest In the fall. It's actually really pretty and it's not as hot as it is right now. I can't promise it won't be hot because it's the desert.
Speaker 2:She's talking to me, since I have hot flashes.
Speaker 3:So it's going to be great.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we're going to be in the. We're actually going to be in just inside Mesilla, which is one of our oldest little towns here, at a very adorable venue. But we promise to have. I mean, if you've been to any of my things, you know I like to have a good time. So we're going to have a great time and do some learning along the way.
Speaker 2:As if you need any more reasons to come in. You just heard they're going to feed us, so that's huge for me. That's my love language.
Speaker 3:I've seen previews of the swag also, so yeah, they're so fun.
Speaker 2:Right, and then again, the focus is on systems and we're going to be able to play at a court so that you can have the experiential piece which is helpful for all of you. So please come and join us, jen, thank you for coming and talking to us about your session and thank you Welcome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do you want to know a fun random fact? Yeah, you two know this, I think. So before I was a therapist I was a litigation paralegal. So stuff with the court. I love it so much. I like to talk about families in the court a little bit too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:So thank you everyone. Please go. If you have not registered, go register. We're going to have the information below the video, I'm sorry, below the podcast. And come and hang with us until next time. Bye.
