New Course — Now Enrolling

Introducing...

The EQ Advantage

Emotional Intelligence Course for Pediatric Therapists

Strengthen Your Clinical EQ and Transform the Way You Support Children.

A practical, evidence-based course for OTs, PTs, SLPs, and school-based providers who want to learn evidence based emotion coaching techniques to help children navigate emotion dysregulation & challenging behaviors — gain confidence as you learn how to give children the social emotional tools they'll carry for life.

For OT Practitioners & Pediatric Therapists
7 Evidence Based Modules
Certificate of Completion (AOTA CEU Approved)
Bonus: 16 instant downloadable Checklists, Scripts & Templates
Bonus: 50 page "EQ Advantage Conpanion Workbook"

What you'll gain

Clinical tools you can use in your very next session

7 Modules

6+

Hours

1 yr

Access

CEU

Credits

Course Instructor: Jessica McMurdie, OTR/L

Pediatric Occupational Therapist 25+ years

Does any of this sound familiar?

Challenging behaviors and emotional meltdowns are getting in the way of therapy progress.

You got into this work because you love helping kids. But some days, the emotional weight in the room makes it feel impossible to move the needle.

01 Dysregulation derails your sessions

You arrive prepared — and within minutes everything goes sideways. Tantrums and meltdowns leave your planned intervention on the shelf.

02 You're improvising in the moment

Nobody gave you a clear, evidence-based framework for working through a full dysregulation episode. You're figuring it out in real time.

03 You're starting to feel the burn

Managing big emotions all day takes a toll. You're leaving sessions depleted — and the joy that brought you to this work is harder to find.

04 The team doesn't speak your language

You can see the emotional regulation picture clearly. Getting parents, teachers, and colleagues on the same page feels like an uphill battle.

05 You worry about the long-term impact

Lagging social-emotional skills affect relationships, school success, and the whole arc of a child's life. The stakes feel higher than anyone acknowledges.

06 You're looking for new SEL tools

You need a new resilience plan & quick social emotional learning strategies so you can teach kids how to better manage feelings of frustration, disappointment, anxiety and overwhelm.

"What if frustration and dysregulation aren't obstacles in your session — but become the foundation for building healthy emotion regulation?"

The EQ Advantage was built for pediatric clinicians who are already skilled in their discipline — and are ready to add the emotional intelligence layer that transforms good therapy into exceptional therapy.

This isn't a course about managing children. It's about understanding the neuroscience of emotion, co-regulating with confidence, protecting your own wellbeing, and ultimately giving kids tools they'll carry for the rest of their lives.

What you'll walk away with

Concrete skills.

Immediate application.

Emotion Regulation Skills for Life

Teach children how to tolerate frustration, recover from mistakes, handle disappointment, adapt to change and keep trying when something is difficult.

🗣

Emotion Coaching That Comes Naturally

Weave specific Emotion Coaching prompts into your sessions without interrupting the work or the therapeutic relationship.

Your Personal Burnout Prevention Plan

Discover the 5 step framework, to build a self-care plan that identifies your specific workplace triggers and equips you with proactive, emotionally intelligent responses.

📋

Advocate for Your Role

Reframe behavioral observations to communicate the true impact of emotional dysregulation on occupational performance — elevating OT's role in mental health.

🧠

7+ Evidence-Based Strategies

Cognitive redirection, mindfulness techniques, deep breathing, literacy tools, and technology — a full emotion regulation toolkit for treatment sessions, at school, or at home.

💡

A Raised Clinical EQ

Start with a self-assessment, understand your own emotional patterns, and discover why your EQ is the most powerful co-regulation tool you'll ever use.

meet Your Instructor

Jessica McMurdie, OTR/L

Jessica has spent more than two decades doing the real work of pediatric OT — in clinics, schools, and homes — and along the way, she noticed something that changed everything about how she practiced.

No matter how skilled she became in fine motor interventions, sensory processing strategies, or ADLs, the kids who struggled the most needed something else first. Their emotional dysregulation and behavioral challenges had to be addressed before anything else could stick. Once she leaned into using an emotionally intelligent approach to treatment, her sessions transformed — and she knew that she had to share these EQ techniques with other clinicians and caregivers.

As the Founder of Play It Forward Therapy, Jessica has mentored thousands of OT practitioners and educators, helping them feel more confident, effective, and genuinely excited about their work again. She's known for her playful, fun approach to therapy — and for teaching ideas that are quick to learn, easy to implement, and designed to fit right into the sessions you're already providing.

The EQ Advantage is the course she wished existed when she was starting out. It's built on the latest research, grounded in the realities of everyday practice, and packed with emotion coaching strategies you can start using immediately — so the kids you work with build skills that stay with them for life.

Experienced OT with 25+ years in pediatrics
Former Owner & Clinical Director at Stepping Stones Therapy Network
AOTA Approved CEU Provider since 2019

The Curriculum

7 Modules: Foundational to Clinical Application

From the neuroscience of emotion and the "why" of pediatric mental health, to a full toolkit of practical strategies you can use immediately.

1 Pediatric Therapist's Role in Supporting Pediatric Mental Health

Are children at a higher risk now for mental, emotional and behavioral health problems? Understand the key factors contributing to the current youth mental health crisis and how you can help bridge the gap.

35 min

Foundation

Dysregulation derails your sessions

You arrive prepared — and within minutes everything goes sideways. Tantrums and meltdowns leave your planned intervention on the shelf.

35 min

Foundation

2 Raise Your Own EQ: Be the Best Version of Yourself

Discover how your emotional intelligence impacts your clinical practice and therapeutic relationships. Take a personal EQ self-assessment and learn why your own self-care is a necessary prerequisite before emotion coaching with children.

60 min

Self-Assessment Included

Burnout Prevention

3 The Essential Building Blocks of Empathy & Emotion Regulation

The biological foundations of empathy, how early attachment shapes development, key social-emotional milestones, and the nine dimensions of temperament — all studied as skills that can be strengthened through therapeutic intervention.

90 min

Neuroscience

Developmental Framework

4 The Arc of the Tantrum & Co-Regulation Skills

Learn how dysregulation episodes follow a predictable structure. Identify the five phases of a tantrum and match the right co-regulation strategies to each phase — learn the clinical framework that can change the outcome of your therapy sessions.

60 min

High Impact

In-Session Tools

5 Mindset, Resilience & Adaptability

How growth mindset shapes emotional resilience, the do's and don'ts of verbal praise, and how to use Emotion Coaching to support mental flexibility in your sessions.

40 min

Growth Mindset

Emotion Coaching

6 The RULER Framework for Emotional Intelligence

Learn how to identify and apply the 5 emotion regulation strategies within the RULER framework in clinical practice. A structured, step-by-step approach for implementing these concepts with pediatric clients and families — including your personal Self-Care Plan.

25 min

Family Engagement

RULER Framework

7 Evidence-Based Tools & Strategies for Emotional Intelligence

Your full clinical toolkit: cognitive strategies, language tools, mindfulness, deep breathing, literacy resources, and technology. Practice clinical problem-solving by reflecting on your current clients and applying interventions through case study scenarios.

60 min

7 Lessons

Case Studies

Resources, Strategies & Pro Tips for Immediate Use

Bonus

Resource

Bonus

Resource

Complete Course Workbook

The EQ Advantage Course Companion is a comprehensive workbook accompanying the full curriculum — for note-taking, self-reflection, and applying concepts directly to your current caseload. Think of it as your personal reflection space— a place to get curious, get honest, and get growing!

Complete Course Workbook

A comprehensive workbook accompanying the full curriculum — for note-taking, self-reflection, and applying concepts directly to your current caseload.

Free Bonus

What clinicians are saying

Real results from real therapists

"I just finished watching the course and loved every minute of it. Jessica has a way of making complex concepts feel immediately usable in session."

Sabrina

COTA/L

"The course made me feel more positive and comfortable. Practical and actionable — I took Jessica's suggestions into my very next session."

Kelli

OTR/L

"Jessica made this topic feel accessible and human. I finally have a real framework for the moments that used to completely derail my sessions."

Stephanie

OTR/L

"Jessica is a great speaker with easy to follow information and she explained everything in an easy way to understand and gave helpful strategies to use in the future. She is very knowledgeable, engaging and easy to relate to."

Isabel

OTR/L

"Jessica presented an incredibly well-organized training on Emotional Intelligence that provided our OT/PT team with invaluable, research-backed insights. She's a dynamic and engaging speaker and paired excellent visuals and printable resources with actionable strategies we could immediately use with our students. Each module built perfectly upon the last, and our staff repeatedly shared how relevant the information was to our practice. I highly recommend this training for all school professionals—including teachers, therapists, and paraeducators—looking to better engage their most challenging students!"

Amy

OTR/L

"This course is excellent because it combines clear neuroscience, the RULER emotional intelligence framework, and concrete co‑regulation strategies into a practical, compassionate approach to pediatric behavior. It directly addresses real clinical pain points—frequent dysregulation, room clears, derailed sessions—and gives clinicians usable tools to time interventions, support parents, and redefine success as helping children leave more regulated than when they arrived.!"

By Member

"This interdisciplinary course is was well organized and presented with good research based strategies to help pediatric clinicians. I feel it's also helpful for those of us who sporadically work with this population to help us feel better equipped to assist them and adults who struggle emotionally to manage their emotions. Thanks again!"

By Member

Everything included

Designed for the way therapists actually learn

▶

Self-Paced Video Modules

Learn on your schedule. Return to any module anytime for refreshers.

📘

Full Course Workbook

Structured exercises and reflection prompts tied to each module.

🏅

AOTA CEU Credits

Earn CEUs toward your professional development requirements.

✓

Certificate of Completion

Pass module quizzes to earn your completion certificate.

🔬

Case Study Practice

Apply frameworks to real clinical scenarios before you're in the room.

📅

1 Full Year of Access

No pressure. Revisit the material on your timeline, as often as you need.

Earn Continuing Education Credits

Play It Forward Therapy is an Approved Provider of professional development. Course approval ID#16506. This distance learning-independent course is offered at .6 CEU/6 Contact Hours, introductory level for occupational therapy service delivery. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products or clinical procedures by AOTA.

Enrollment

Join The EQ Advantage

One investment. Lifetime tools for you and every child you serve.

Complete Course — Individual Access

The EQ Advantage

For OTs and pediatric clinicians

$247

one-time · or 2 monthly payments of $125

Everything Included:

7 self-paced video modules (6+ hours of content)
Certificate of Completion for 6 CEU hours
Case study practice scenarios & emotion coaching strategies
Personal EQ self-assessment tool
16 PDF checklists, templates & treatment plan activities
Evidence-based strategy toolkit (7+ strategies)
1 full year of course access
BONUS: EQ Advantage Companion Workbook

Or interest-free payments as low as $62/mo · Group rates available for teams of 5+

Common Questions

Everything you need to know

Ready to make dysregulation your superpower?

Give Your Kids the EQ Advantage.

Is this course just for occupational therapists?

Not at all. While the course is anchored in an OT perspective, it's designed for all pediatric clinicians — physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, school-based providers, and anyone who works with children and wants stronger tools for navigating emotional dysregulation.

Will this work if I'm school-based rather than clinic-based?

Yes. The content and strategies are designed to apply across settings — clinic, school, home visits, and community-based care. The co-regulation and Emotion Coaching frameworks have been field-tested in both environments.

How long does it take to complete the course?

You have one full year of access and can move at whatever pace fits your schedule. Most participants complete the core curriculum in 2–4 weeks, though many return to specific modules before challenging cases.

How do the CEU credits work?

Play It Forward Therapy is an AOTA Approved Provider (ID #4159028). Emotional Intelligence AOTA Course ID#16506. Upon passing the module quizzes, you'll receive a certificate documenting your contact hours for submission toward your professional development requirements. Please verify your state board's specific requirements.

I know a lot about sensory processing. Is there new material here?

Absolutely. This course focuses on the emotional intelligence and co-regulation layer that sensorimotor training doesn't typically address. Frameworks like the RULER model, the tantrum arc, and Emotion Coaching complement and significantly extend what you already know.

Is there a group enrollment option?

Yes — group pricing is available for teams of 5 or more. A great option for therapy departments, school teams, or practices that want to build a shared clinical language around emotion regulation. Contact us for group enrollment details.

The children you work with need you at your most emotionally intelligent. This course gives you the framework, the tools, and the confidence to show up that way — every single session.

Questions? Visit [email protected]

The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.