Authenticity in the Playroom
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S “I assure you that it’s okay to be yourself in the playroom. In fact, it’s necessary if you’re going to help a child regulate through […]
Beyond Words: A Story of Connection
I sat down in the middle of the room and waited. I wondered which child would come to me? She came. She was about 6 years old and I don’t […]
Don’t Expect to Stay Calm – Stay Connected!!
Many leaders, gurus, even health “experts” are telling us to stay calm. I understand their intention but it’s impossible to ‘stay calm” in these turbulent times. ‘Staying calm” is not […]
When a Child’s Nervous System is in Collapse Response / SHUT DOWN
Collapse (also called “hypo-arousal”) is a response like fight-or-flight, but we shut down instead of jump into action. It is a survival response that causes us to shut down as […]
Neuroception of Safety: Not Always What We Think
Creating a neuroception of safety inside the playroom is something that we, as therapists, strive to do. But what, exactly, does this mean? Does it mean knowing how to support […]
Five Out-of-the-Box Ways to Connect With Your Child
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S We know our children – we raise them, we love them, we struggle with them, we grow with them. But, as the years go by, […]
Teaming with Teachers – Working With a Client’s School
Have you tried working with a client’s school and found it challenging? If so, you are not alone; this is often the case. While everyone may want to work together […]
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 […]
Be Yourself – Therapist Authenticity in the Playroom
We intuitively understand that it is important to be authentic with our clients, but do we understand why authenticity is actually crucial according to our client’s brains? Did you know […]
Balancing the Left Brain & the Right Brain in Play Therapy
Play therapy is very much a right-brain experience. When a child is playing, their right brain is actively engaged, and the sensations and emotions stored in their implicit memory circuitry […]
The Significance of Neuroscience in Play Therapy
It’s crucial to bring the brain and neuroscience into the play therapy process if we really want to understand what is happening in the mind and bodies of a child […]
Authenticity: The Playroom Is The Place To Be You
It happened again. I was wrapping up my two-day conference teaching play therapists all about Synergetic Play Therapy, and I cried. I cry almost every time. The tears seem to […]
The Most Important Toy in the Playroom
This is such an important question because the field has overemphasized the child’s process and has not emphasized the therapist’s process enough or the roll the therapist plays in the […]
Breaking Out of the “Shoulds”
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S I once worked with a nine-year-old client named Joey*. He really struggled in school. He had a very focused interest on one thing/task, and everything […]
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 […]