Ashlea Smith PhD

About:

Dr. Smith has been a university professor for 18 years and has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Smith has served as a Subject matter expert for CACREP accredited graduate courses in Assessment, Child and Adolescent Counseling, Trauma, and Play Therapy. Dr. Smith is a past Board Member for the Arizona Association for Play Therapy and is currently an Editor for the Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Smith brings over 16 years of clinical work in trauma as a Certified EMDR Therapist and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant in Training. Additionally, she has both clinical and research interests in play therapy as a Registered Play Therapy Clinical Supervisor. Dr. Smith has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2010 and a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor since 2014. Dr. Smith is passionate about her work using EMDR and play therapy to help train and mentor future counselors to provide trauma informed care and developmentally appropriate interventions for youth.

Education:

Ph.D., Counselor Education and Clinical Supervision with concentrations in Neurofeedback, Play Therapy, Rehabilitation Counseling, and Relational Cultural Theory, St. Mary’s University, 2008

M.A. Rehabilitation Counseling, University of Arizona, 2005

B.S. Recreational Therapy, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2002

Classes Teaching:

Human Growth and Development I

Human Growth and Development II

Couples, Families, and Systems Counseling I

Couples, Families, and Systems Counseling II

Publications:

Jett., E., Numbers, M., & Smith, A. R. (submitted April, 2026). TBH. It’s Giving Healing:  Using Trauma-Informed Play Therapy w/ Teens IRL and Online. Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Practice of Play Therapy, Special Issue of the International Journal of Play Therapy.

Smith, A. R. & Davenport, B. R. (2012). An evaluation of body image assessments in Hispanic college women: The multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire and the appearance schemas inventory-revised. Journal of College Counseling, 15(3), pp. 198-214. DOI:  10.1002/j.2161-1882.2012.00016.x\

Presentations:

2026 Jett, E., Numbers, M., & Smith, A. R. (accepted, May 2026). CTRL+ALT+HEAL:  Play therapy for teens in a digital world. The Association for Creativity in Counseling Annual Conference, November, 2026.

2026 Smith, A. R., E. Jett, & M. Numbers. (2026). The Association for Child and Adolescence Counseling 2026 Conference. TBH, It’s Giving Healing: Using Trauma-Informed Play Therapy w/ Teens IRL and Online.

2025 Licensed Clinical Counselors of North Carolina (LCCNC) Presentation training Virtual from Scottsdale, AZ, training session: Trauma, EMDR, and Play, Oh My! (Feb, 7, 2025).

2022 Arizona Association for Play Therapy Scottsdale, AZ, education session:  A review of Play Therapy Clinical Supervision Utilizing Popular Children’s Movie Characters.

Professional Associations:

American Counseling Association

Association for Counselor Educations

Western Association for Counselor Educators

Association for Play Therapy

Arizona Association for Play Therapy

EMDRIA