Mollie Painton, Psy.D.

A nationally recognized lecturer on play therapy and the spirituality of children, Dr. Mollie Painton has been in private practice since 1989 specializing in work with children and families. The mother of three lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she is a licensed psychologist, an APT Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor, and an EMDR Level II Trauma Therapist. Dr. Painton spent one year in Arizona studying Ericksonian hypnotherapy, both at the University of Arizona in Tucson and at the Erickson Center in Phoenix. For three consecutive years, she wrote a bi-monthly Family Upbeat column in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, and has written several articles for the Rocky Mountain Parent Magazine ("Inner Worlds, Nurture the Emotional and Spiritual Growth of Your Child," September, 2007, and "Feeling the Connection, Spiritual Children Express Deep Compassion for Others, February," 2009).

She has had the opportunity to teach and supervise play therapy with doctoral students at the University of Northern Colorado. Her twenty years of experience as a children’s entertainer with puppets and stories have enhanced her ability to be a privileged visitor in the invisible worlds of spiritual children.   Dr. Painton has dedicated her life to children as a spiritual partner. Over the past thirty years, children from diverse populations have inspired her with their invaluable lessons in compassion and love. These boys and girls come with varying life experiences: those with Cerebral Palsy and ADHD; the intellectually gifted; kids distressed by worrisome adjustment issues and traumatic life events, such as the death of a parent or a divorce; and youngsters who have ample support for growth in their lives.

Dr. Painton, a spiritual child herself, founded and directs The Interplay Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, dedicated to the recognition, understanding, support, enrichment, and nurturance of children and their families. Her goal is to offer these children an environment in which they can thrive emotionally and spiritually. Through the Center, she works individually on a daily basis with children and their adult spiritual partners, helping them to accept and love who they are while strengthening their identities as people with incredible potential as spiritual beings, healers, and peacemakers. Her ongoing groups work effectively to accomplish these goals in an environment of safety, understanding, love, and acceptance by peers and supportive adults.