PRESIDENT

I believe that EVERYONE has the ability to be successful no matter your past or present. I had many struggles growing up. Growing up, loss and death was a common occurrence in my life and as a result, I struggled with my emotions. It was in high school that I began working with a counselor. It was my work with her that I felt heard and validated. That is when I decided that I wanted to give that to others. In learning about WHY play works with individuals, I found my passion in Play Therapy. Play Therapy is an amazing approach to work with individuals and help them define their success and then feel it.

Marie is the owner of Ways of Play Counseling Services LLC and the Co-Founder of the Playhouse Collaborative.

PAST PRESIDENT

Amber began her journey as a therapist in community/agency work in which her primarily population were children in school-based services.

She also co-facilitated a batterer intervention program. Her passion for working with children inspired her to gain more training and skills in play therapy and she is currently working towards her RPT.

She began private practice in 2018 providing trauma informed therapy including TF-CBT, ITCT, and EMDR as well as utilizing CBT and play therapy interventions to individuals, couples, and families. She often works closely with families who have child protective services involvement and provides therapeutic visits. Amber has been in a leadership position with MAPT since 2020. She is a collector of board and card games for both professional and personal use. Outside of her career, she spends time with her two sons, soon to be daughter-in-law, grandson and other loved ones. She is an animal lover and currently has a dog, three cats, and a bearded dragon. Amber loves the outdoors, including walking, hiking, camping, and exploring and plans to do more traveling in the future.

VICE PRESIDENT

Katie Brammer (She, Her, Hers), PhD, LPC, RPT™ is a Counselor Educator with a background in Mental Health Counseling, Play Therapy, and School Counseling. She tailors transformational approaches into her work with the anticipation that the needs of each student and client are met. She is intentional about advocating for systemic change and providing trauma-informed spaces focused on cultural humility—valuing and affirming those who have been historically marginalized, traumatized, and impacted by ecological systems and cultural hegemony. Katie aims to facilitate culturally responsive learning spaces that create future counselors who are change agents able to effectively advocate for clients and support making improvements to the counseling field on local, national, and global levels. As a white cisgender woman, she continues to critically evaluate her privilege and unlearn her own socialized biases, unknown objectives, and stereotypical beliefs. Specifically, Katie’s work with Transgender and Gender Expansive Folx and those whose affectional orientation or romantic attraction defy heteronormativity continues to influence her own personal and professional development as an antiracist, culturally responsive counselor educator, scholar, counselor, play therapist, and supervisor.

TREASURER

Elizabeth Ernest, LMFT, LCSW is a child and family therapist at the Center for Mindfulness and CBT. Elizabeth works with children and families struggling with anxiety and anxiety related disorders, OCD, trauma, and behavioral concerns. She also specializes in working with young athletes.

SECRETARY

Teresa is a licensed clinical professional counselor and a registered play therapist supervisor.  She owns Embark Counseling Services, a group practice in the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area, specializing in working with children and teens, from an attachment informed, family systems lens.  She has extensive experience providing trauma competent clinical services, as well as a board approved clinical supervisor in Missouri and Kansas.  She has completed specialized training in working with children and adolescents, complex trauma, developmental trauma, autism spectrum disorders and anxiety.  She utilizes Play Therapy, Internal Family Systems, EMDR and Psychodynamic approaches in her clinical work.  She is a certified EMDR therapist and an EMDRIA approved consultant-in-training, and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.  She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where she enjoys training and supervising emerging mental health professionals.

Media Support, Committee Chair for Social Media

MEMBER AT LARGE