Mary Ring

is a Certified Theraplay Practitioner and Trainer. She received a B.S. in Special Ed. with Emotionally Disturbed Children from University of Houston in 1973. She taught school for various ages and grade levels during 1976 to 1981, before earning her Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling. Mary worked as a marriage and family therapist with the Union Baptist Association for 7 years and since 1999, has worked as a Marriage and Family counselor for The Juliana Poor Memorial Counseling Center at Houston’s First Baptist Church. She is clinical coordinator of the family team and guides 8 therapists through the process of a structured family treatment program developed over the last 10 years. The work of the team has expanded to include hosting family camps (both biological and foster/adoptive). This has extended into a ministry of providing training for those going on mission from Houston’s First Baptist Church to support orphan care all over the world. Mary is trained in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and took training under Drs. Karyn Purvis and David Cross in Trust-Based Relational Intervention. Mary has led workshops for parents and therapists using Theraplay, Play Therapy and Play Parenting materials here in the United States as well as overseas in Latvia, United Kingdom and South Africa. She will soon complete the certification of Theraplay Supervisor. Mary has completed Basic EMDR training and is now in the process of being certified. She is in the certification program for Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. Most important of all, she and her husband Earl, married for forty-three years, have three grown children, two of whom are married. They thoroughly enjoy the times they get to spend with their six grandchildren.