07/23/2025 11:49:36 AMHannah Van SickleKatie Thomas, Assistant Director of Field Education with her father, David Thomas at the Work of Fred Rogers Conference

Growing up on Cape Cod with educators for parents gave Katie Thomas, MS, LMHC a unique perspective on summer vacation. Given there were caregivers home during the day, attending camp didn’t make good financial sense for the family—so their youngest child got creative. “In the summer of 1998, I suggested going to work with my dad,” recalls Thomas who, then 11 years old, was drawn to her father’s work with young children. One year prior, David Thomas—a seasoned early childhood education administrator—launched the Barnstable Early Learning Center, a self-correcting environment for children aimed at integrating Head Start with public school for the mutual benefit of participants in both programs. A decade’s worth of summers spent as an unofficial classroom assistant proved a launch pad into the field of child-centered play therapy, expertise Thomas willingly shares with students engaged in work with kids at a wide range of internship sites.

In the CommunityIn the Community