• Eating Challenges in Play Therapy

    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.
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) can be a part of growing up. But how can we help turn these obstacles into opportunities for growth and resilience and apply this knowledge to the play therapy process? This course explores how play therapy can be used to help mitigate the effects of ACES. Learn the major categories of ACES, along with protective factors or strategies that have been shown to be helpful both in the short-term and long-term. This course is designed to enhance or increase the professional knowledge of graduate-level counselors.    
  • 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.
  • 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.
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