Circus Arts Therapy® Level 3: Incorporating More Advanced Hooping & Ball Juggling Exercises into your Practice - 4.5 hours

To access the discount form for registering for multiple workshops or participants, please click here.

• CE Hours Included: 4.5 (see below for more information)
  
• Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”) ~ At your leisure to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint and references. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and required by all CE approval organizations.
  • NOTE: Your certificate will be dated when you complete the course - Click here for more detailed information on the best way to do this: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/help
• Investment: $114 (provides lifetime access!)
• Presented by: Carrie Heller-Altfield, LCSW (see bio below)
• Date of Recording: February 12, 2026
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists, Athletic Trainers
• Instruction Level: Advanced
  
• Required Prerequisites: Circus Arts Therapy® Level 1: Introduction to Adaptive Apparatus & Juggling in Therapy AND Circus Arts Therapy® Level 2: Introduction to Incorporating Hooping, Sensory-Based Exercises, & Additional Juggling into Your Practice
• To register for the discounted bundle of all three Circus Arts Therapy on-demand workshops, please click here!

Learning Objectives:

After completing this workshop in its entirety, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate how to integrate advanced hula hooping and ball juggling exercises into your practice and discuss their therapeutic application.
• Apply executive functions to Circus Arts Therapy®.
• Assess the primary learning modalities used and discuss examples of evidence-based interventions and their application in the Circus Arts Therapy® room.
• Discuss Circus Arts Therapy® in a Social Circus setting.
• Utilize tools for empowerment and their application in Circus Arts Therapy®.
• Outline marketing tips for growing your practice, incorporating Circus Arts Therapy®.

Course Description:

During Circus Arts Therapy® Training Level 3, we will discuss executive functions, learning modalities, evidence-based teaching, and tools for empowerment as they apply in the Circus Arts Therapy® room. Therapists will be introduced to the term ‘Social Circus,’ and we will review some marketing tips for growing your practice, incorporating Circus Arts Therapy®.

This course will introduce you to more advanced hula hooping and ball juggling exercises that you can incorporate into your practice in the Circus Arts Therapy® room. You can add these new additions to your toolbox and use them in sibling, partner, family, and group sessions.

Circus Arts Therapy®Training Level 3 is based on the publication, Circus Arts Therapy® Fitness and Play Therapy Program Shows Positive Clinical Results, which can be found in the International Journal of Play Therapy, April 2018 edition, here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pla0000068.

Equipment needed for this workshop: 2 juggling balls & 1 hula hoop. Links to purchase these can be found here.

Workshop Agenda:

• Welcome and Introduction to the Six Learning Objectives (5 min)
• Learning Objective 1: Introduce more advanced hula hooping and ball juggling exercises into your practice and discuss their application (40 min)
  • Introduction and goals (1 min)
  • Therapeutic applications of hooping (4 min)
  • Individual and group warm-up (20 min)
  • Knee hooping (3 min)
  • Application of adaptive methodology of juggling (1 min)
  • Therapeutic applications of juggling (2 min)
  • Juggling review and warm-up (6 min)
  • Application of adaptive methodology with juggling (3 min)
• Learning Objective 2: Apply executive functions to Circus Arts Therapy® (56 min)
  • Introduction and goals (1 min)
  • Definition and three key areas (1 min)
  • Inhibition (10 min)
  • Brain break: Juggling (5 min)
  • Working Memory (18 min)
  • Brain break (6 min)
  • Flexibility (7 min)
  • Stress, sleep, and executive functions (2 min)
  • Brain break (6 min)
• Learning Objective 3: Identify the primary learning modalities and discuss their evidence-based application in the Circus Arts Therapy® room (42 min)
  • Introduction and goals (1 min)
  • Learning modalities versus learning styles (2 min)
  • Research: Multi-modal learning (3 min)
  • Using multi-modal approaches in a therapeutic setting (2 min)
  • Visuo-spatial (2 min)
  • Auditory (2 min)
  • Reading and writing (2 min)
  • Kinesthetic (1 min)
  • Sequential and concurrent integration of modalities (1 min)
  • Session examples (6 min)
  • Warm-up and brain break: Hooping (20 min)
• Learning Objective 4: Discuss Circus Arts Therapy® in a social circus setting (60 min)
  • Introduction and goals (2 min)
  • Definition and key concepts (3 min)
  • Research supporting social circus (3 min)
  • You are planting seeds and being undercover peacemakers (4 min)
  • Your roles (7 min)
  • Observation checklist (1 min)
  • Issues and strategies (9 min)
  • Language (1 min)
  • Navigating resistance (3 min)
  • Show-off day (11 min)
  • Safety (5 min)
  • Self-care (3 min)
  • Brain break: Hooping (8 min)
• Learning Objective 5: Utilize tools for empowerment and their application in Circus Arts Therapy® (40 min)
  • Introduction and goals (1 min)
  • Definition (1 min)
  • Exercise and nutrition (11 min)
  • Adaptive/accessible trapeze: Relation to S client (5 min)
  • Empowering your clients (17 min)
  • Brain break: Hooping (5 min)
• Learning Objective 6: Explain some marketing tips for growing your practice, incorporating Circus Arts Therapy® (28 min)
  • Introduction and goals (1 min)
  • Marketing: Big picture (4 min)
  • Recruitment: Suggested approach in 7 tips (13 min)
  • After recruitment: 6 tips (10 min)
• Wrap Up, Next Steps, and Thank you! (5 min)

Presented by: Carrie Heller-Altfield, LCSW

Carrie Heller-Altfield is the Founder and Executive Director of the Circus Arts Institute in Atlanta, GA. Carrie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist and professional aerialist. Since 1972, Carrie has been in the circus ring mastering an array of ground and aerial skills in the circus arts beginning with the Florida State University Flying High Circus. She then moved on to become a circus teacher, performer, and choreographer; complementing circus training with the study of dance, yoga, and martial arts.
Carrie received her Masters in Social Work from Tulane University in 1987. After graduating, she founded Atlanta’s first circus school and opened her classes to families. Carrie began observing the unique benefits of circus when combined with therapeutic language. At the same time, she served as Director of Clinical Services at The Bridge Runaway Shelter in Atlanta. Shortly thereafter, Carrie went into private practice and founded Circus Camp, serving thousands of children before selling the camp in 2003 to focus on her seminal work combining circus and therapy. After researching and studying with a Dance Movement therapist, Carrie began to integrate what is now Circus Arts Therapy® into her private practice. Her research began in 2007.
Combining Carrie’s background as a social worker, play therapist, and circus artist, Carrie served as a Trainer of Trainers for Cirque Du Monde, a Cirque Du Soleil Outreach Program that uses circus arts to help youth around the world. Carrie has also been involved with the American Youth Circus Organization (AYCO) since its inception. AYCO has since expanded to include the American Circus Educators (ACE) and Carrie had the honor of serving on the Board of Directors for AYCO/ACE and is now serving on the Legacy Advisors Committee. Carrie is the author of the industry’s first Aerial Circus Training and Safety Manual. She is passionate about passing on her experience in both adaptive and typically developing circus arts in her trainings.
In conjunction with Dr. Lauren Taglialatela, Carrie co-authored the article Circus Arts Therapy® Fitness and Play Therapy Program Shows Positive Clinical Results, which can be found in the International Journal of Play Therapy, April 2018 edition: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pla0000068.

4.5 "Asynchronous" CE Hours Included - Details by License Type Below

• PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
• COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Please click here for more detailed information.
• SOCIAL WORKERS: This workshop is approved for 4.5 Core CE hours through the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work (GSCSW), approval #033926. If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.
• MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: This workshop is approved for 4.5 Core CE hours through the Georgia Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (GAMFT), approval #060-2026. If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

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