Let’s Not Forget “The Perfect Child”
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Have you ever noticed that the children who tend to make their way to your office are the ones that are acting out, aggressive, non-compliant, and anxious? [...]
Resources and Links to Advance Your Practice
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S It may not come as surprise that the most requested topics people asked me to talk about last year was why regulation doesn’t mean “calm” and how [...]
Spring Cleaning Your Playroom: Don’t Throw Away the Broken
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S Spring (or even Fall if you reside in a country in the Southern hemisphere 😉) comes with many things - longer days, warmer weather, blooming trees and [...]
When a Child’s Nervous System is in Collapse Response / SHUT DOWN
By Heather Fairlee Denbrough, LiCSW, RPT-S, Certified Synergetic Play Therapist 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 [...]
Neuroception of Safety: Not Always What We Think
By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S 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 [...]
An Examination of Child-Centered Play Therapy & Synergetic Play Therapy
By Bethany J. Townsend, Ph.D., Lindsay Ishman, Lisa Dion & Kara L. Carnes-Holt Abstract: Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) and Synergetic Play Therapy (SPT) are theories used in the counseling profession to promote [...]
Body Image: How You Can Help Your Child Develop a Healthy Relationship with Food
By Chelsea Hester In a world that is populated with diets, food advertisements, and models of only certain shapes and colors, children of all ages are being bombarded by external messages about [...]
Teaming with Teachers – Working With a Client’s School
Teaming with Teachers - Working With a Client's School By Judith Norman, MA, MS, LPC, RPT-S Have you tried working with a client’s school and found it challenging? If so, you are not [...]
Help Your Child Overcome Nameless Anxiety
Help Your Child Overcome Nameless Anxiety By Annie Brook, Ph.D. Children share their emotional and body-based experiences in an attempt to integrate life events; including experiences in utero, at birth and post birth. These [...]
An Antidote to anxiety? Predictability
An Antidote to anxiety? Predictability By Jessica Schaffer 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 [...]