Nature Nurtures: Why the Great Outdoors are Good for Kids
From tree forts to snowball fights, playing outside is a rite of passage for children. They wear skinned elbows, burnt noses, and dirt between their toes like badges of honor. […]
Absorbing Sponge Bob: Does Childhood Have Space for Technology?
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Technology in childhood is an often debated subject with the pro Pac-Man crowd facing off against those who suggest shutting down the iPad and turning […]
Discussing the Subject of Violence with Children
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Talking to kids about violence is an unfortunate necessity of parenthood. School violence, in particular, is extraordinarily frightening: not every child loves school, but they […]
How a Parent’s Value of Play Therapy Can Influence Their Child’s Value of Play Therapy
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Working with parents in the playroom is an important topic. Parents, after all, are the ones who usually initiate play therapy – they schedule the […]
From Kids to Animals: The Power of Play
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S In many ways, it’s easy to see why children play. It’s fun, it makes them happy, and it allows them to imagine possibilities real life […]
Keeping the Connection When a Child Wants to Leave
From frogs inside of pockets to the darndest things they say, children are full of surprises. In many ways, this is wonderful: they make us laugh and smile and see […]
The Forgotten Ones: Perfect Children Need Play Therapy Too
When it comes to play therapy, the acting out, aggressive, non-compliant, anxious child typically gets referred. Even the sad, depressed, withdrawn child finds a way onto an adult’s radar and […]
What Does it Really Mean to Go Home?
It’s my last night in Melbourne, Australia. My bags are packed. My boarding pass is in hand. My alarm is set to make sure I get to the airport on […]
The Long Goodbyes: Giving Children Permission to Feel During Loss
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Change surrounds us. The leaves fall from trees, animals go extinct, birthdays come and go, people leave and people die. Saying goodbye is part of […]
Emotions from the Inside Out, Part 2
“It takes courage to let go of the familiar and embrace the new.”-Alan Cohen By Kelly Miller, LCSW, RPT Everybody has emotions and feelings, but not everybody feels or expresses their […]
Emotions From the Inside Out, Part 1
Recently I was meeting with a new client’s parents for the first time. We were discussing their desired outcome for their child’s engagement in play therapy. “We just want him […]
An Antidote to Anxiety? Predictability
One of the main sources of heightened anxiety in all of us is our unknown futures. Of course we can’t predict our futures, but most of the time we can predictably […]
Attunement: Two Hands as One
In Zen Shiatsu, a form of body work based on energy meridians in the body, the practitioner uses two hands on the client’s body: one hand, which holds the original […]