A tradition of excellence in play therapy and child psychotherapy training.
Our Mission and Vision

To promote the value and understanding of play, play therapy, and credentialed play therapists. To promote the effective practice of play therapy and child psychotherapy through advocacy, research, and training.

Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars LLC advances play therapy and child psychotherapy, as well as the means by which licensed mental health professionals use play-based treatments, to better communicate with and help clients.

Meet Our Founder

Sonia Hinds

Sonia Hinds, APRN, PMH-BC, RPT-S

Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars LLC is the brainchild of Sonia Hinds, APRN, PMH-BC, RPT-S, under the wings of her mentor and supervisor, Margaret Drury, LCSW-C (retired).

Born and raised in Panama, Central America, she migrated to the US after graduating from high school to study nursing. She is a graduate of Wagner College on Staten Island and later received her graduate degree from Howard University. Ms. Hinds served as an Officer in the US Army Nurse Corps and later in the USPHS as a Commissioned Corps Officer.

Her mental health training was obtained at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC, where she brought play therapy to the in-patient acute psychiatric children’s unit. In 2019, she was awarded the Outstanding Service Award by the Association for Play Therapy Maryland/DC.


“There will always be a warm place in my heart for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital because it is there that I fell in love with play therapy. Dr. Eliana Gil, Ph.D., RPT-S was the guest speaker at our first Track A RPT graduation and has been very supportive of our efforts. The rest is history!”

Our History
Since 1997, we have been providing play therapy and child psychotherapy training nationwide and internationally. Because of our efforts, there are significantly many more Registered Play Therapists today.

Our founding faculty includes Margaret Drury, LCSW, RPT-S, Carlton Munson, Ph.D., LCSW, Peggy Kolodny, ATR-BC, LCPAT, Marianna Bongiovanni, Ph.D., RPT-S, Dottie Ward-Wimmer, LPC (retired), Stephanie Saunders, LCSW (retired), and many others.

We have had the pleasure of having distinguished faculty such as Helen Benedict, Ph.D., RPT-S, Violet Oaklander, Ph.D. (retired), Garry Landreth, Ed.D, LPC, RPT-S, and many others.

We have had the pleasure of welcoming participants as far away as Alaska, Singapore, Mexico, Israel, and Botswana, Africa.

We have also been invited to conduct training in Turkey (2003) and Jamaica, West Indies (2012 & 2015).

Learn More
Feel free to contact us at 240-535-1433 for more details.