June 2023 Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy®

Description

Course Details: 

This six-month online course includes three, one-hour LIVE webinars with Lisa Dion, six 2.5-hour recorded videos, and monthly one-hour group consultations with a Synergetic Play Therapy Consultant.

*Please note that consultation is a mandatory part of the course to help you integrate what you are learning. *Consultation is provided to accommodate ALL time zones.  After registration is confirmed, student will be able to pick their consultation group times.

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: June 27th, 2023 – November 17th, 2023

Important Class Dates:

• • June 27th, 2023 webinar: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver)
  • June 27th, 2023: 1st video course released – Welcome & Understanding the Projective Process
  • July 21st, 2023: 2nd video course released – Exploring the Nervous System in the Playroom
  • August 8th, 2023: BONUS VIDEO released – Synergetic Play Therapy® and Teletherapy 
  • August 25th, 2023: 3rd video course released – Regulation: What It is & What It Isn’t
  • September 12th, 2023: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver)
  • September 15th, 2023: 4th video course released – Working with Caregivers
  • October 20th, 2023: 5th video course released – Understanding Attachment & the Self-Object in Synergetic Play Therapy®
  • November 14th, 2023: One-hour LIVE Webinar (2pm MT, Denver)
  • November 17th, 2023: 6th/final video course released – Sand, Art, & Aggression in Synergetic Play Therapy®

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 a bonus recorded webinar just for you and to support you during these times – SPT in Teletherapy.

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 Spanish. 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.

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 Synergetic Play Therapist accesses (his/her/their) authentic self and deepens the child’s therapeutic process in play therapy

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 play therapy sessions
• Demonstrate how the therapist can become the external regulator so that the child can begin to learn how to regulate in play therapy
• Explain what the concept “rocking the baby” means in Synergetic Play Therapy®

Bonus Video – Synergetic Play Therapy® and Teletherapy

• Explore how to become the client’s external regulator while facilitating a telehealth play therapy session
• Identity at least 3 ways the 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 in play therapy
• 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 when 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 in play therapy

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 in play therapy sessions
• Describe the link between a child’s attachment styles and their nervous system states in play therapy

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

• Explain how to use regulation as a way to help integrate aggressive energy during play therapy sessions
• 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 play therapy for both the therapist and the child and list ways to create a neuroception of safety