Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® -*For Renewal of SPT Credential* (January 2023)

Renewal of the Certified Synergetic Play Therapist® or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential is required every 3 years. In order to renew, students must earn at least 18 hours of CE credits specific to SPT. Excess hours may not be rolled over into the next 3 year cycle. If CE credits are not submitted, students will no longer be able to use the title Certified Synergetic Play Therapist® or Certified Synergetic Play Provider until renewal occurs. This course meets the full requirement of renewing your Certified Synergetic Play Therapist™ or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential.  

During your Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® course, you will have the opportunity to go back to the foundational understandings and tenets of SPT.  Likely the first time you took your introduction to SPT course (whether it was this course or an intensive), 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 SPT philosophy.  This is why it is so important to go back to the basics every few years (and the information gets updated too!) and now you have the opportunity to do so and fill in the missing details in your understanding and to also confirm what you have fully integrated!  

SPT is the missing piece in play therapy. I gained an understanding of who I am in the playroom – a humanness that wasn’t there before.” -Frances Donohue

Renewal Program Requirements: 

  • Attend and take notes at all 4 webinars
  • Complete each video module and take notes on the provided handouts, indicating the date you watched each module. 
  • Upload all of your course notes to a shared Google Drive folder, provided by the Institute.

*For class details and objectives, see below.

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Description

This six-month online course includes FOUR, one-hour LIVE webinars with Lisa Dion, and six 2.5-hour recorded videos.

We understand that life can throw us curve balls sometimes, so should you need to miss a live webinar you will have the opportunity to view a recording of the session and upload notes in order to receive credit.

*Please note: Attendance at the May 2nd, 2023, one-hour Live Webinar with Lisa is required as this webinar will not be recorded.*

When: January 24th, 2023 – June 16th, 2023.  Students will have access to the course until August 31st, 2023 at which time all notes and completion of modules are due.

Important Class Dates:

    • January 24th, 2023 webinar: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2 p.m. Mountain Time, Denver) 
    • January 24th, 2023: 1st video course released – Welcome & Understanding the Projective Process
    • February 17th, 2023: 2nd video course released – Exploring the Nervous System in the Playroom
    • March 7th, 2023: BONUS VIDEO – SPT in Teletherapy released
    • March 17th, 2023: 3rd video course released – Regulation: What It Is & What It Isn’t
    • April 11th, 2023 webinar: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2 p.m. Mountain Time, Denver) 
    • April 21st, 2023: 4th video course released – Working with Caregivers
    • May 2nd, 2023: One-hour LIVE Webinar – Students Renewing SPT Credential Only (2 p.m. Mountain Time, Denver)*
    • May 19th, 2023: 5th video course released – Understanding Attachment & the Self-Object in Synergetic Play Therapy
    • June 13th, 2023 webinar: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2 p.m. Mountain Time, Denver) 
    • June 16th, 2023: 6th/final video course released – Sand, Art & Aggression in Synergetic Play Therapy

What You’ll Review: 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 a bonus recorded webinar just for you and to support you during these times – SPT in Teletherapy.

Mandatory Book: Dig out your copy of Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity by Lisa Dion  The book is also currently available in Audio format and Spanish.

Intro Objectives by Class:

Class 1 / Webinar 1 – Welcome and Understanding the Projective Process

  • Describe the basics of Synergetic Play Therapy® including the tenets, the history, and the main play therapy influences
  • Explain how children use the projective process in play therapy to set the toys and the therapist up to feel how they feel
  • Assess and explain the significance of why authenticity is so important in the playroom
  • Describe how a SPT Therapist accesses (his/her/their) authentic self and deepens the child’s therapeutic process

Class 2 – Exploring the Nervous System in the Playroom

  • Explain the link between nervous system states and the symptoms that show up in the playroom
  • Describe the importance of regulation in the playroom
  • Demonstrate how the therapist can become the external regulator so that the child can begin to learn how to regulate
  • Explain what the concept “rocking the baby” means in Synergetic Play Therapy

Bonus Video – SPT and Teletherapy

  • Explore how to become the client’s external regulator while facilitating a telehealth play therapy session
  • Identity at least 3 ways the play therapist can regulate during a teletherapy session to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout
  • Explore how the Synergetic Play Therapy concept of “The Set Up/The Offering” applies in a telehealth play therapy session

Class 3 / Webinar 2 – Regulation: What It Is and What It Isn’t

  • Explain what regulation is and what it isn’t according to Synergetic Play Therapy®
  • Discuss what it means to “overcome a challenge” in the play therapy process
  • Describe what it means to become the external regulator in a session to help a child integrate their challenges
  • Explain why you, the therapist, are the most important toy in the playroom

Class 4 – Working with Caregivers

  • Discuss the implications for caregivers being in their own grief process whey they bring their children to play therapy
  • Describe how to have a successful play therapy intake
  • Discuss the importance of setting goals and speaking in terms of what is important to the caregiver

Live webinar with Lisa –  Exclusive webinar for students renewing their Certified Synergetic Play Therapist™ or Certified Synergetic Play Provider credential only.  

  • Bring your questions and have direct conversation with Lisa about what you are learning as she clarifies and continues to deepen your understanding

Class 5 – Understanding Attachment & the Self Object in Synergetic Play Therapy® 

  • Discuss Synergetic Play Therapy®’s definition and perspective on attachment
  • Explain and demonstrate how to use the self-object as a way to support the client attaching to self
  • Describe the link between a child’s attachment styles and their nervous system states

Class 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
  • Explain the concept of flooding in the playroom for both you and the child and list ways to create a neuroception of safety

Credits: 19 Non-Contact CE credits* (19 hours – Suggested APT Category: “Play Therapy Skills & Methods”)

*If you are a mental health professional and are interested and qualify for CE credits, you’ll have the opportunity to print out a CE certificate at the end of the course after meeting all course requirements. You’ll need this certificate when you submit your SPT CE recertification/renewal form.

*Synergetic Play Therapy Institute, APT Approved Provider 09-264**
*Australian Play Therapists Association (APTA) Approved Provider
*British Columbia Play Therapy Association (BCPTA) Approved Provider

For an understanding of which credits can be used towards your RPT or continuing education, please contact the association for the most updated requirements.

Please remember that play therapy CE credit may not be awarded to non-mental health professionals. If you are not a mental health professional and would like a certificate of completion, please contact the institute.

Cost: $400.00 (USD). 

**Please note that monthly group consultation is not part of your renewal. If you’d like consultation with an SPT consultant to support you in further integrating SPT into your practice, you can purchase individual consultation or form a group for a discount.

Refund Policy: Cancellations received before 4-weeks from the start date will receive a full refund minus a $150.00 USD administrative/processing fee. Cancellation after this time and once the class begins will forfeit the entire payment of the course. However, payment can be applied towards a future Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy Renewal course (within one year). If an emergency arises, please contact us to discuss.

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