My name is Whitney Roban and I am a new blogger and consultant for Childswork/Childsplay. For my first blog entry, I would like to give you an idea about who I am, both professionally and personally. I hope we get to know each other and share our thoughts on the exciting world of children and play therapy. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University. During graduate school I worked as a child development clinician in individual and group settings. After graduation, which was over 15 years ago, I went to work for Childswork/Childsplay. I worked with the founder, Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, creating psychoeducational games for use in child psychotherapy. Ever since my original tenure at Childswork, my career path has been quite diversified. I followed my time at CWCP working at the Girl Scout Research Institute in NYC as an applied social researcher in the youth market. I authored national research studies focused on preteen and teenage girls. It was during my time working at the Girl Scouts that I found out that I was pregnant with my first child. That particular day coincided with the fateful day of September 11, 2001, in which I stood on my street corner in downtown Manhattan and watched the towers burn and then fall. Although my road to pregnancy was long and bumpy, nothing could have prepared me for the mixed emotions I felt when finding out my world would be forever changed due to my pregnancy on the exact same day that our world was forever changed due to 9/11. During my pregnancy, the President of the Girl Scouts left her position to head the Red Cross in the 9/11 aftermath. After I gave birth I, too, decided it was time for a change. I made the difficult decision to take a professional break and stay home with my son full time. Two and a half years after giving birth to my older son, I gave birth to another amazing little boy. During this time as a stay-at-home mom, I became fascinated with the field of pediatric sleep, particularly behavioral sleep problems in children. I successfully sleep trained both my children and became committed to helping end this epidemic of childhood sleep deprivation. When my younger son turned 6 months old I started my own pediatric sleep consultancy, SLEEP-EEZ KIDZ. I have been a sleep consultant for the past 7 1/2 years and I love every minute of helping families get well rested. Just recently, I was asked to work in a consultancy position at Childswork/Childsplay. My wonderful memories of my years working at CWCP and my strong belief in childhood psychotherapy and in the CWCP products, lead me to excitedly take on this new role. I feel as though I can now offer a different perspective on childhood issues than I could 15 years ago, as I am now a parent. Furthermore, my older son, who is now 10 years old, was diagnosed 2 years ago with ADHD and LD. Having been through assessment, diagnosis, treatment and the elusive special education system in the public schools, I now carry with me true to life experience, knowledge and empathy for parenting and working with children who struggle with various childhood issues. I even more strongly value the effectiveness of childhood psychotherapy and the use of play therapy techniques and products when working with children. I hope you return to this blog to read more about what’s going on in my world, the world of play therapy and the world of Childswork/Childsplay. I am eager to share and learn from each other.
My name is Whitney Roban and I am a new blogger and consultant for Childswork/Childsplay. For my first blog entry, I would like to give you an idea about who I am, both professionally and personally. I hope we get to know each other and share our thoughts on the exciting world of children and play therapy. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University. During graduate school I worked as a child development clinician in individual and group settings. After graduation, which was over 15 years ago, I went to work for Childswork/Childsplay. I worked with the founder, Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, creating psychoeducational games for use in child psychotherapy. Ever since my original tenure at Childswork, my career path has been quite diversified. I followed my time at CWCP working at the Girl Scout Research Institute in NYC as an applied social researcher in the youth market. I authored national research studies focused on preteen and teenage girls. It was during my time working at the Girl Scouts that I found out that I was pregnant with my first child. That particular day coincided with the fateful day of September 11, 2001, in which I stood on my street corner in downtown Manhattan and watched the towers burn and then fall. Although my road to pregnancy was long and bumpy, nothing could have prepared me for the mixed emotions I felt when finding out my world would be forever changed due to my pregnancy on the exact same day that our world was forever changed due to 9/11. During my pregnancy, the President of the Girl Scouts left her position to head the Red Cross in the 9/11 aftermath. After I gave birth I, too, decided it was time for a change. I made the difficult decision to take a professional break and stay home with my son full time. Two and a half years after giving birth to my older son, I gave birth to another amazing little boy. During this time as a stay-at-home mom, I became fascinated with the field of pediatric sleep, particularly behavioral sleep problems in children. I successfully sleep trained both my children and became committed to helping end this epidemic of childhood sleep deprivation. When my younger son turned 6 months old I started my own pediatric sleep consultancy, SLEEP-EEZ KIDZ. I have been a sleep consultant for the past 7 1/2 years and I love every minute of helping families get well rested. Just recently, I was asked to work in a consultancy position at Childswork/Childsplay. My wonderful memories of my years working at CWCP and my strong belief in childhood psychotherapy and in the CWCP products, lead me to excitedly take on this new role. I feel as though I can now offer a different perspective on childhood issues than I could 15 years ago, as I am now a parent. Furthermore, my older son, who is now 10 years old, was diagnosed 2 years ago with ADHD and LD. Having been through assessment, diagnosis, treatment and the elusive special education system in the public schools, I now carry with me true to life experience, knowledge and empathy for parenting and working with children who struggle with various childhood issues. I even more strongly value the effectiveness of childhood psychotherapy and the use of play therapy techniques and products when working with children. I hope you return to this blog to read more about what’s going on in my world, the world of play therapy and the world of Childswork/Childsplay. I am eager to share and learn from each other.
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