• A Synergetic Approach to Education (A Synergetic Education Institute Program)

    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
    "This course has been life-changing for me personally and for so many of the clients and families I work with! I love that your class applies to clinical practice as well! Judith has a brilliant mind and it was an honor to learn from her. I am so grateful. There are moments in your life that are pivotal and I know my Synergetic Play Therapy (SPT) and SPT in schools are one of those pivotal moments for me as a professional and a mom." - Chey Cochran, LPC Check out the clip below for a sample of what you can expect during live webinars!
    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: If you have not yet completed one of the above programs, you now have the opportunity to meet the prerequisites for A Synergetic Approach to Education by taking the new Fundamentals Course through the Synergetic Education Institute!* *The Fundamentals Course has been created specifically for individuals who wish to take a Synergetic Approach to Education but have not yet completed a Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program. This course will take you through key Synergetic Play Therapy® principles, creating a foundation on which to build. Please note: This course has been paired down to focus on specific concepts to prepare students for A Synergetic Approach to Education, and, therefore, is not a full replacement for the Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program.  Should your goal be to apply for the Synergetic Play Therapy Certification program, you must complete the entire Introduction program.
    Buy product Details

  • Aggression in Play Therapy: A Synergetic Approach

    $65.00
    Aggression and death are common parts of the play therapy process, yet many therapists don’t have a clear understanding of what to do and how to facilitate intensity. This can lead to inadvertently promoting aggression and low brain disorganization. It can also lead to the therapist feeling beat up, exhausted, and hyper-aroused, ultimately impacting their ability to stay attuned, remain present, and find inspiration in this field. Enter Synergetic Play Therapy! Through an SPT lens, and a heavy dose of neuroscience, this 2-hour course helps therapists learn how to use play in a way that supports regulation – their own and their client’s! See course details below.
    Add to cart Details

  • Becoming an External Regulator for Trauma Integration in Play Therapy

    $99.00
    Research in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology sheds light on the need for the play therapist to act as the external regulator supporting the child to move towards the intensity they are experiencing allowing for integration. This 3 hour video course explores this need during trauma integration for two primary reasons: 1) The child need to borrow the play therapist’s regulatory capacity as they work through their traumatic thoughts, feelings and sensations in play therapy and 2) The play therapist’s ability to regulate themselves during the intensity increases the capacity for presence and attunement with the child, while simultaneously supporting the health and longevity of their own nervous system. Without the ability of the play therapist to become the external regulator for the intensity that arises during trauma integration, both the child and the play therapist are at risk for emotional flooding and high levels of dysregulation in their nervous systems. Over time, this can significantly impact a play therapist’s longevity in the field, as well as the ability to stay attuned and present to a child in sessions. This course is a recording of a 3 hour live webinar with Trusted Provider Network. See course details below.
    Add to cart Details

  • Book Study – Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity

    $60.00
    *This is NOT a course. Earn non-contact continuing education credit by completing a quiz based on the book.  Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity offers a way to work with aggressive play that allows children to learn how integrate the intensity they are experiencing from their thoughts, emotions, and sensations while simultaneously supporting regulation in the therapist's nervous system. These will help therapists understand the neurobiological processes that lead kids to dys-regulation, and help them facilitate emotional healing in their clients.  Topics Covered Include:
    • What Regulation Really Means
    • Making Aggressive Play Therapeutic
    • Authentic Expression
    • Setting Boundaries
    • Hyper-Aroused Play
    • Observing Play
    • Hypo-Aroused Play
    • Working with Parents
    • Developing Yourself as the External Regulator
    Note: Test fee does not include publication material. Purchase book prior to completing online tests. If you have not read this book or need to purchase it, please scroll down for the Amazon link.  *For additional class details and objectives, please see below.
    Add to cart Details

  • Conceptualizing Cases from a Synergetic Play Therapy Lens

    $35.00
    The Synergetic Play Therapy Institute in collaboration with PIP Solutions presents “Conceptualizing Cases from a Synergetic Play Therapy Lens”. Translating a right brain play experience into a left brain conceptualization is not an easy task.  Play therapists often grapple with a sense of uncertainty when trying to comprehend a child’s unique therapeutic progression and assessing whether goals are being achieved. This course, led by Lisa Dion, aims to address this issue by introducing a structured framework derived from Synergetic Play Therapy. Students will gain insights into how to conceptualize cases effectively and apply this framework to enhance the efficacy of their therapeutic interventions.
    Add to cart Details

  • Developing Interoception: The Pre-Req for Co-Regulation & Self-Regulation in the Playroom

    $65.00
    Helping children learn how to regulate is essential, but without first strengthening the child's interoceptive sense, regulation may not be successful. This experiential workshop offers various opportunities to explore how play can develop this fundamental part of the sensory system. As play therapists, there is an understanding that regulation and co-regulation are essential skills that must be developed in order to have successful relationships and manage emotions, and are essential for trauma integration; however, what many play therapists may not fully understand is that there is a prerequisite that needs to be in place for regulation skills to be effective.  What has been understood for years in the world of Occupational Therapy is now becoming a primary focus of education for play therapists. This important understanding is that the child’s interoceptive sense, the 8th sensory system that is responsible for letting the brain know how the body is doing, must be developed first before a child can successfully regulate and co-regulate.   Without the development and strengthening of the interoceptive sense, a child may have all kinds of regulation knowledge and tools but will not be able to read their own body cues to know when to use any of them. Examples such as knowing when to use the bathroom, when to take a deep breath, when to ask for help, the ability to read non-verbal cues, knowing when emotions are feeling overwhelming, etc. all rely on interoception.   This playful workshop is designed to help play therapists learn what the interoceptive sense is and how to use play to develop interoception in their child clients setting the stage for successful regulation and co-regulation. Play therapists will have fun experientially exploring this fundamental part of the sensory system! (This course is a recording of a 2 hour live webinar held in November 2023) See course details below.
    Add to cart Details

  • Eating Challenges in Play Therapy

    $35.00
    Eating challenges in children can show up in many ways. From the refusal to eat to eating too much, underneath often lies the need for perfectionism and control. Helping kids take these challenges off their plates involves offering choices and uncovering co-existing issues, as well as providing parental support. This course takes a look at this important struggle.
    Add to cart Details

  • Engaging the Resistant Child in Play Therapy

    $35.00
    Every therapist has been there – in a session with a child who doesn’t want to come in the room, a child who doesn’t want to do the task, a child who only wants to avoid the issue.  This course explores what to do when a child client’s language and behavior say “no.”  Join us as we explore resistance- what it is and what it is not.  This course will further explore emotional avoidance and flooding as components of resistant behaviors.
    Add to cart Details

  • Explore FREE Webinars to Support Your Journey

    From: $0.00
    In response to COVID-19, the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute began offering free webinars to address the challenges, stress and impact that therapists, teachers, parents, and those on the frontlines were facing. Since then, we've continued to offer free webinars to support you on your professional and personal life's journey. Please enjoy free access to these very special webinars. You may view and share it with as many people as you feel it would help.
    Select options Details

  • Helping Children through Divorce and Separation

    $35.00
    Divorce. The “D” word. The end of the marital road. A happily ever after run amok. It’s something that often gets a bad rap, especially when we think of the children stuck in the middle. But divorce, while it can be devastating to some kids, can also be a relief for others. Children’s perceptions are not all the same. This course explores how to support children in play therapy when they are experiencing divorce and separation.
    Add to cart Details

  • How to Have a Successful Intake

    $35.00
    Embark on an enlightening journey with Lisa Dion as she delves into strategies for optimizing the intake process! In this course, you will gain insights into how the foundation of a therapeutic relationship is laid during the intake session and how this extends throughout the entire intake and into the clinical engagement. Lisa will impart valuable lessons on structuring the intake, commencing from the initial point of contact all the way to the conclusion of the session. Witness how Lisa skillfully incorporates key themes from Synergetic Play Therapy®, such as the regulation of the nervous system and a nuanced understanding of how the brain functions, into the intake process. We will also explore the pivotal and validating role of the therapist in the playroom, emphasizing how their presence can significantly influence the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship with the client, family, and beyond.
    Add to cart Details

  • Managing Screen Time In & Out of the Playroom

    $35.00
    We live in a technological age: there is no pacifying Pac-Man, no axing Apple. But screen time doesn’t always mean zoning out. In moderation, Mickey Mouse and Mario can be our allies, helping children better connect to the world around them. This webinar explores the therapeutic value of screen time and how to use it as part of a play therapy process. Learn how to recognize when a child is using it to avoid and when a child’s use of technology is the perfect entry into the therapeutic alliance.
    Add to cart Details
Go to Top