- Have previously enrolled or are currently enrolled in an SPT course and want ongoing support to continue to learn and grow in your application of Synergetic Play Therapy®;
- Have taken any of our 1-hr, 2-hr, 3-hr courses and would like consultation from an SPT lens;
- Have ever attended an event or 2-day training with Lisa Dion and would like consultation to continue to integrate what you learned into your practice;
- Or have never taken a course through the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute® and would just love consultation support from an SPT lens!
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You've landed in the right place! Whether you've had Synergetic Play Therapy® training and are searching for ongoing support in its application OR you're new to Synergetic Play Therapy® and would like to receive consultation through an SPT lens, we've got you covered! This is for you if you: -
This program is for you if you work IN SCHOOLS (as a school counselor, social worker or psychologist, or a school-based mental health professional) or if you COLLABORATE WITH educators or schools!
**For all program details and dates of when this program is offered, please visit the Synergetic Education Institute's website**
A Synergetic Approach to Education (formerly One Foot in Education: Exploring Education Through an SPT Lens) offered by our sister institute, the Synergetic Education Institute, is a distinct and transformative approach to learning and teaching, working at the intersection of education and mental health! Synergetic educators recognize that the collaborative efforts of educators, students, classrooms, and educational systems produce a more substantial impact than individual contributions. This approach spans the landscape of working with students and perceived challenges and barriers, considering all aspects of learners and the learning environment. It incorporates neuroscience and nervous system regulation research with empowerment practices to create positive change within the immediate environment while maintaining a broader perspective using integrated and differentiated approaches. You will delve into strategies designed for educational settings that promote trauma-informed, social-emotional support within schools. You'll learn to implement these strategies as well as understand the neuroscience behind them, empowering you to support others in deepening their knowledge and awareness. You will also learn how to...- Implement approaches based on neuroscience that support the development of self-regulation skills, including critical skills that are often missing from SEL programming.
- Support educators in understanding how to prepare brains and bodies to learn, including articulating the links between neurophysiological states and classroom behaviors
- Identify the dynamics behind complex student-adult relationships and how to shift these challenging interactions.
- Increase feelings of safety and belonging for students and adults
- Implement small shifts in daily routines that include explicitly teaching critical skills using both "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches.
- Reframe “resistance” to meeting educators at their level of readiness.
- Embody Synergetic Play Therapy® principles and collaborate with teachers to empower them and shift their perceptions of students
Program Prerequisites: This program requires that you have taken a Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program. This includes the completion of one of the following:- Online or In-Person Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program
- Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy® Intensive Training (no longer offered)
- Synergetic Play Therapy® Supplemental Course (no longer offered)
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Join us for this NEW Advanced-Level Program! Registration closes May 26, 2026, at 12pm Mountain Time (Denver)
After completing the Synergetic Play Therapy Certification program, many clinicians begin asking how to embody cultural humility and systemic awareness while honoring the model’s neurobiological and relational foundations. This advanced two-part experiential training takes that question to the next level. Building on the reflection series "Synergetic Play Therapy and Cultural Humility" and the "4 Threats and the Set Up Through a Cultural Lens", this program supports Certified Synergetic Play Therapists and Providers in expanding their application of SPT to include cultural, collective, and systemic processes that shape the playroom. During this program, participants will explore how privilege, identity, language, migration histories, and power influence the relational field and the nervous systems of both therapist and client. Through interactive experiential exercises and case-based discussions, therapists will practice tracking their own embodied responses to cultural difference, systemic tension, and moments of misattunement. This training emphasizes identifying cultural ruptures in real time, initiating culturally grounded repair using SPT’s regulation and attunement principles, and engaging the therapist’s authentic self as a culturally responsive instrument of change! By the end of the series, clinicians will hold deeper skills for promoting safety, connection, and repair with greater presence, humility, and leadership. *This program assumes a solid understanding of core SPT concepts/tenets and focuses on translating that understanding into embodied cultural engagement. As participants integrate SPT concepts/tenets with lived experience, they will strengthen their clinical presence, deepen their supervisory and teaching practices, and refine their ability to navigate cultural and systemic complexity through a culturally attuned SPT lens. Why This Training Matters Culture lives in the nervous system. Identity, stories, privilege, and systemic experiences shape how clients regulate and how therapists attune and respond. For Certified Synergetic Play Therapists/Providers, true cultural humility requires more than cognitive insight; it requires embodied awareness. This advanced-level program helps therapists integrate cultural and systemic understanding directly into the moment-to-moment attunement that defines SPT. You will learn to track cultural dynamics, recognize and repair misattunements, and strengthen safety across cultural differences. The result is a more grounded, responsive presence that honors the nervous system as both biological and cultural and expands your capacity to support healing in every playroom. 2-Part Live Webinar Series Dates: (Full attendance at both live webinars is required.)- Part 1: June 2, 2026, 2-5 PM Mountain Time (Denver)
- Part 2: June 16, 2026, 2-5 PM Mountain Time (Denver)
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Join us for an opportunity to go back to the basics AND meet full Recertification requirements for your Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential!
Registration deadline is June 22, 2026, 12pm Mountain Time (Denver)
Renewal of the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential is required every 3 years. In order to renew, students must demonstrate that they have remained engaged in the study of foundational Synergetic Play Therapy teachings through identified courses/programs. This program meets the full requirement for renewing the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential. Students who do not complete recertification requirements can no longer use the title of Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider until renewal occurs. During the Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy Recertification program, you will have the opportunity to go back to the foundational understandings and tenets of Synergetic Play Therapy. Likely, the first time you took your Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy program, you spent the majority of your time trying to orient towards a new way of being in the playroom while grabbing ahold of some of the details of the Synergetic Play Therapy philosophy. This is why it is so important to go back to the basics every few years, to fill in the missing details in your understanding and to also confirm what you have fully integrated, plus the teachings are always being updated with new research and nuance!Click here to learn more about how the program has changed over the last few years!
Recertification Program Requirements:- Attend all 3 live webinars (see dates below) and take notes on the provided handouts
- Complete each video module and take notes on the provided handouts
- Complete an Integration assignment to help you reflect on your learning
- Email all notes to the Institute to confirm completion of the program and to receive your CE Certificate
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Registration closes July 9th, 2026, at 12pm Mountain Time (Denver) (or until groups are full!)
This consultation group is designed for Certified Synergetic Play Therapists and Providers seeking continued growth, connection, and integration of the Synergetic Play Therapy model in their clinical work! This group will meet once a month for six months, each for 90 minutes, and will be led by a Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Supervisor and Synergetic Play Therapy Consultant. Each group consultation offers an opportunity to…- Bring clinical cases and questions for discussion and reflection through an SPT lens
- Deepen your understanding of the therapist’s/provider's use of self and how your internal state impacts the therapeutic process
- Explore themes of activation, regulation, and authenticity in your work with children, caregivers, and systems
- Strengthen your capacity to conceptualize through nervous system awareness and energetic attunement
- Receive support, feedback, and inspiration from a community of fellow Certified SPTers, dedicated to ongoing professional and personal evolution!
- GROUP A - Wednesdays at 9 AM Mountain Time (Denver) with Polly Douglass
- GROUP B - Thursdays at 5 PM Mountain Time (Denver) with Katherine Eastlake
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Welcome Back Certified SPTer!
Deadline to Register for the 3.5 Day Online Learning Retreat is June 30, 2026. Deadline to Register for the 4.5 Day Learning Retreat is November 30, 2026.
Did you know that as an esteemed alumnus of the Synergetic Play Therapy Certification program, you have the opportunity to return to the online learning retreats and join new cohorts of the Certification program - eager, possibly terrified, and ready to be inspired? (Remember that?)Why Come Back?As part of the ongoing commitment to keep the teaching of Synergetic Play Therapy ever-evolving, we continue to update the Certification program content. By returning to the online learning retreats, you will:- Be reminded of the power of the SPT Tenets
- Receive some of the most up-to-date and current understanding of interpersonal neurobiology and SPT theory
- Practice your Synergetic Play Therapy skills with play, sand, and art
- Have the opportunity to do your own personal work toward growth and transformation
- "Come home" to yourself and find even more ways to be fearlessly authentic
- Inspire the new cohort of aspiring Certified SPTers and share your own genius
- AND, meet FULL SPT Credential/Recertification requirements!
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Space is Limited! Sign Up TODAY to Reserve Your Spot!
Renewal of the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential is required every 3 years. In order to renew, students must complete an approved program focused on principle SPT concepts and submit a CE Verification Form to the Institute as confirmation. This program meets FULL SPT Credential Renewal/Recertification requirements for the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist/Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential! During the 3-Day In-Person Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy program, you will have the opportunity to go back to the foundational understandings and tenets of Synergetic Play Therapy. Likely, the first time you took a Level 1 Introductory course/program, you spent the majority of your time trying to orient towards a new way of being in the playroom while grabbing ahold of some of the details of the Synergetic Play Therapy philosophy. This is why it is so important to go back to the basics every few years, to review and stay up to date on the most current information. Now you have the opportunity to do so and fill in the missing details in your understanding IN PERSON! Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy Recertification Program Requirements:- Attend and participate fully in 3 days of in-person training in Boulder, Colorado
- Complete additional online video lessons
- Complete an Integration Assignment to help you reflect on and demonstrate your learning
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Space is Limited! Sign Up TODAY to Reserve Your Spot!
Renewal of the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential is required every 3 years. In order to renew, students must complete an approved program focused on principle SPT concepts and submit a CE Verification Form to the Institute as confirmation. This program meets FULL SPT Credential Renewal/Recertification requirements for the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist/Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential! During the 3-Day In-Person Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy program, you will have the opportunity to go back to the foundational understandings and tenets of Synergetic Play Therapy. Likely, the first time you took a Level 1 Introductory course/program, you spent the majority of your time trying to orient towards a new way of being in the playroom while grabbing ahold of some of the details of the Synergetic Play Therapy philosophy. This is why it is so important to go back to the basics every few years, to review and stay up to date on the most current information. Now you have the opportunity to do so and fill in the missing details in your understanding IN PERSON! Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy Recertification Program Requirements:- Attend and participate fully in 3 days of in-person training in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Complete additional online video lessons
- Complete an Integration assignment to help you reflect on your learning
- Email all notes to the Institute to confirm completion of the program and to receive your CE Certificate
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Applications have closed! Thank you to all who applied!
Becoming a Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Supervisor isn’t just about offering guidance—it’s about embodying the core tenets of Synergetic Play Therapy and creating an environment where growth and transformation can happen for both you and your supervisees. In this program, you will:- Learn to establish strong, trusting supervisory relationships using SPT principles, understanding how to assess supervisees at different stages of their development and guide their growth.
- Explore complex ethical dilemmas, including how to manage dual relationships, maintain authenticity, and apply legal and ethical considerations in the supervision process.
- Master cultural awareness and humility by applying SPT tenets through a cultural opportunity lens, supporting therapists in navigating diversity in their clinical work.
- Enhance your supervisory skills by using reflective practice to empower supervisees to explore their therapeutic work and personal development, while also reflecting on your own patterns as a supervisor.
Applications have closed! Please contact the Institute with any questions.
For full program details including program prerequisites, program cost, live webinar dates, and CE Credit Hour information, keep scrolling!