October 2023 Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® (Level 1)

Description

Course Details: 

This six-month online course includes three, one-hour LIVE webinars with Lisa Dion, six 2.5-hour recorded videos, two additional video lessons, a Book Review, and monthly group consultations with a Synergetic Play Therapy Consultant, adding up to about 32 hours of engagement! 

*Please note that consultation is a mandatory part of the course to help you integrate what you are learning, however, the hours spent in consultation do not qualify for CE credit.

Consultation is provided to accommodate ALL time zones. Students will be provided with a questionnaire to select their group consultation times via email before the start of the course. Group consultation assignments will be first come, first serve.

Course Pre-Requisites (if seeking APT/BCPTA/APTA credit*):

• Completed or enrolled in a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) program in counseling, social work, education or another profession specializing in work with children
• Previous experience working with children and families 
• Basic understanding of play therapy skills 

When: October 17th, 2023 – March 15th, 2024

Important Class Dates:

• • October 17th, 2023 webinar: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver)
  • October 17th, 2023: 1st video course released – Welcome & Understanding the Projective Process
  • November 17th, 2023: 2nd video course released – Exploring the Nervous System in the Playroom
  • November 17th, 2023: Video Lessons released – Synergetic Play Therapy® and Cultural Humility & 4 Threats and the Set Up Through a Cultural Lens
  • December 15th, 2023: 3rd video course released – Regulation: What It is & What It Isn’t
  • January 9th, 2024: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver) + BONUS VIDEO: Synergetic Play Therapy® & Teletherapy
  • January 19th, 2024: 4th video course released – Working with Caregivers
  • February 16th, 2024: 5th video course released – Understanding Attachment & the Self-Object in Synergetic Play Therapy®
  • March 12th, 2024: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver)
  • March 15th, 2024: 6th/final video course released – Sand, Art, & Aggression in Synergetic Play Therapy®
  • March 15th, 2024, Book Review: Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity

Where: Learn from anywhere! No commute required!

What You’ll Learn: Special topics such as tracking the play, attachment, facilitating sand, art, trauma, and aggressive play are covered from the perspective of nervous system regulation, attunement, mindfulness, and authenticity. Participants will also learn how to track their client’s changes for caregivers, teachers, agencies, and themselves. And, we’ve added two additional video lessons – Synergetic Play Therapy® and Cultural Humility & 4 Threats and the Set Up Through a Cultural Lens!

Mandatory Book: Please purchase this required book before your training. Lisa will be using it as a reference to provide supplemental readings: Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity by Lisa Dion. The book is also currently available in Audio format and two translations: Spanish and Japanese!

If you have not already purchased the required reading, you can get it at a 25% discount. This only applies for purchase made in the U.S. Go here to redeem: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393713190. Use coupon code LDION21 or https://WWNorton.com/rd/LDION21.

Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® Course Objectives by Class:

Module 1 / Webinar 1 – Understanding the Set Up / Offering

• Describe how Synergetic Play Therapy® was inspired, the tenets, the history, and its main play therapy influences
• Explain how children use The Set Up/Offering in play therapy to set the toys and the therapist up to feel how they feel
• Describe how children are looking for templates to help pattern and re-pattern their states of activation

Module 2 – Understanding States of Activation

• Explain the link between nervous system states and the symptoms that show up in the playroom
• Describe the importance of regulation in the playroom
• Explain what regulation is and isn’t according to Synergetic Play Therapy®

Video Lesson – Synergetic Play Therapy® and Cultural Humility 

• Identify the importance of differences in how a child approaches play therapy depending on an individual’s culture
• Explain what it means for play therapists to have “done the work” to become curious with their clients in play therapy using a cultural approach
• Understand the term “microaggressions’ and how to apply Synergetic Play Therapy® concepts in the play therapy process

Video Lesson – 4 Threats and the Set Up Through a Cultural Lens 

• Explain why culture is important when considering the 4 Threats in play therapy
• Understand how culture impacts the Set Up and Offering in play therapy
• Demonstrate ways that as a therapist culture can be considered in the play therapy process

Module 3 / Webinar 2 – Becoming an External Regulator

• Explain the “funnel analogy” as a way to understand what children are attempting to integrate in their play therapy sessions
• Describe how Synergetic Play Therapy® approaches boundary setting
• Describe what it means to become the external regulator in a session to help a child integrate their challenges

Module 4 – Partnering with Caregivers / Tracking the Play

• Discuss the implications for caregivers being in their own grief process when they bring their children to play therapy
• Describe what it means to become a caregiver’s external regulator
• Discuss the importance of setting goals and speaking in terms of what is important to the caregiver when partnering with them in therapy
• Describe the Therapeutic Stages in Synergetic Play Therapy®

Module 5 – Understanding Attachment & Emotional Age

• Discuss Synergetic Play Therapy®’s perspective on attachment
• Explain why interoception is the pre-req for the ability to regulate and co-regulate and why this is a key focus in a Synergetic Play Therapy® session
• Describe the difference between a child’s emotional age and their chronological age

Module 6 / Webinar 3 – Sand, Art, & Aggression in Synergetic Play Therapy®

• Explain how to use regulation as a way to help integrate aggressive energy in the playroom
• Describe how to facilitate the use of sand from a Synergetic Play Therapy® perspective in the playroom
• Explain how to facilitate the use of art from a Synergetic Play Therapy® perspective in the playroom

Book Review: Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity 

• Develop an understanding of aggression and death play that is based on brain function and neuroscience in the play therapy process.
• Explain the four threats to the brain that activate a fight/flight/freeze/collapse response and why this is so important to know when working with children in play therapy.
• Assess the concept of “one foot in and one foot out” and its impact on the play therapy process.
• Understand the practical ways to authentically work with the intensity of aggression and death play, without causing compassion fatigue or burnout in play therapy.
• Develop an understanding of how to set boundaries without shaming or shutting the child down in the play therapy process.
• Identify ways to regulate yourself in the midst of an intense play therapy session so as to model to the child client how to do the same, thereby enhancing the child’s capacity for self-regulation.