Australian Childhood Foundation International Speaker Tour - Adelaide
2019-06-24 - 2019-06-25
Lisa Dion is the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy – a researched-informed model of play therapy based on nervous system regulation, interpersonal neurobiology, physics, attachment, mindfulness, and therapist authenticity. It aims to replicate the delicate dance of attunement that occurs between a caregiver and an infant. It focuses on ensuring that the practitioner’s verbalizations and non-verbal activity are congruent during the play therapy sessions in order to transmit trust and safety. In doing so, the approach maximizes right-hemisphere to right-hemisphere communication and acts as an external regulator for children’s dysregulated states as they arise in the therapeutic process.
Lisa defines the therapist as the most important toy in the playroom. Her approach is applicable to all children, as the basis for her theory is rooted in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology. Her work is also effectively applied to work with children and young people who express aggression in their behavior during the therapeutic process. This is a vital new area that has rarely been conceptualized. Lisa’s approach highlights how a compassionate and relational orientation is critical to gaining awareness of the multiple layers of meaning that occurs in the exchanges between therapist and child/young person.
Using hands-on and practical techniques, Lisa will assist the group to trace the moment by moment shifts in regulation between therapist and child, providing a level of insight which supports the transformation of aggression into ways of connecting and mutual trust.
Register here.

Australian Childhood Foundation International Speaker Tour - Melbourne
2019-06-27 - 2019-06-28

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive - Littleton, Colorado
2019-07-13
July 13th – 19th, 2019 (day off in middle)
The Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive allows you to jump in and really experience the magic of Synergetic Play Therapy! We hold these intensives regularly throughout the year, limiting this program to four people in order to permit extensive skill practice with individualized coaching and feedback. Each participant will be paired with a child client with whom they will work every day during the training under direct supervision as part of a therapeutic observation team. Dive into SPT and see if it’s right for you!
Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive Prerequisite Training:

Participants should have completed or be enrolled in a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) program in counseling, social work, or education.
Previous experience working with children and families is also required.
A basic understanding of play therapy and play therapy skills is required.

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive objectives:

Understand some of the neuroscience behind identifying a child’s states of dysregulation and how these influence the symptoms and play in the playroom
Learn how Synergetic Play Therapy tools such as the Nervous System Chart, The Process of Change, and explaining the Synergetic Play Therapy Stages can help a parent understand the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Begin to understand how to identify a child’s emotional age in their play
Understand how mindfulness and self-awareness in the playroom is an essential component to helping widen a child’s emotional window of tolerance
Understand how to work with parents in the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Understand how to use boundaries to help reduce emotional flooding and overwhelm in both the child and the therapist, as well as how to set them without shaming or shutting down the child’s play
Understand the projective process and how children engage in “The Set Up” as a way to integrate their perceptions of what is challenging them
Understand how the therapist’s authenticity and attunement supports the attachment process in play therapy
Understand the importance of being regulated in the midst of challenging play as an essential component of becoming the child’s external regulator in the playroom
Understand how to use regulation to support a child’s ability to learn how to regulate during play therapy sessions

For availability and registration details, please contact the Institute at 720-458-9597 or email info@playtherapycolorado.com.

Lessons from the Playroom Webinar - Perfection in the Playroom: Working with OCD in Play Therapy
2019-07-17 14:00 - 15:30 UTC
The Lessons from the Playroom Webinar is a series of 75-minute LIVE webinars designed to further explore what is truly happening in the play therapy process. Interact with Lisa Dion and special guests around the world for an hour of power, purpose, and perspective. Curious what these webinars are about? Click here for a sample!
This webinar occurs four times a year and includes a 15-minute Q&A period. Past topics covered include games in play therapy, the neuroception of safety, working with siblings, resistant children, the power of play, working with teachers, and more!
Join us on July 17 for Perfection in the Playroom: Working with OCD in Play Therapy.
Register here.

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive - Fort Collins, Colorado
2019-07-27 - 2019-08-02
July 27th – August 2nd, 2019 (day off in middle)
The Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive allows you to jump in and really experience the magic of Synergetic Play Therapy! We hold these intensives regularly throughout the year, limiting this program to four people in order to permit extensive skill practice with individualized coaching and feedback. Each participant will be paired with a child client with whom they will work every day during the training under direct supervision as part of a therapeutic observation team. Dive into SPT and see if it’s right for you!
Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive Prerequisite Training:

Participants should have completed or be enrolled in a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) program in counseling, social work, or education.
Previous experience working with children and families is also required.
A basic understanding of play therapy and play therapy skills is required.

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive objectives:

Understand some of the neuroscience behind identifying a child’s states of dysregulation and how these influence the symptoms and play in the playroom
Learn how Synergetic Play Therapy tools such as the Nervous System Chart, The Process of Change, and explaining the Synergetic Play Therapy Stages can help a parent understand the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Begin to understand how to identify a child’s emotional age in their play
Understand how mindfulness and self-awareness in the playroom is an essential component to helping widen a child’s emotional window of tolerance
Understand how to work with parents in the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Understand how to use boundaries to help reduce emotional flooding and overwhelm in both the child and the therapist, as well as how to set them without shaming or shutting down the child’s play
Understand the projective process and how children engage in “The Set Up” as a way to integrate their perceptions of what is challenging them
Understand how the therapist’s authenticity and attunement supports the attachment process in play therapy
Understand the importance of being regulated in the midst of challenging play as an essential component of becoming the child’s external regulator in the playroom
Understand how to use regulation to support a child’s ability to learn how to regulate during play therapy sessions

For availability and registration details, please contact the Institute at 720-458-9597 or email info@synergeticplaytherapy.com.

Pilina in the Playroom- Oahu, Hawaii
2019-07-29 - 2019-08-02
Pilina in the Playroom: Neurobiology and Attachment in Play Therapy is a 5- Day Play Therapy Retreat held on the peaceful North Shores on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. At a relaxed island pace, the theories of attachment and neurobiology come together as Lisa Dion, LPS, RPTS and Clair Mellenthin, LCSW, RPTS present on how to develop connection to self, others, and communities. You will learn how to create an authentic attachment to yourself which becomes a powerful tool in the play therapy room with our clients young and old. By developing play-based regulation and co-regulation strategies for use in the playroom, we can encourage and foster stronger connections in the families we work with. You will discover how attachment theory can guide your play therapy practice and how to encourage and develop deeper attachment relationships between you, your child clients, and their caregivers.
Participants will spend five days learning new and innovative play therapy techniques including hands on experiential activities, guided imagery, regulation strategies, sand tray interventions, and expressive arts in a gorgeous setting with plenty of time for self-care, rest, and rejuvenation built into the program. We will be spending an entire afternoon doing Sandtray ON THE BEACH learning attachment centered Sandtray interventions! You will leave with a creative toolbox of tips, techniques, and a clear understanding of how attachment styles impact relationships and the confidence and competence needed to make a difference in the lives of many.
Each day has been carefully planned to allow time for self-reflection, learning, case studies, and hands on experiential learning. You will be treated with 22 hours of play therapy education and come home with a toolbox of play therapy interventions. Most importantly, you will leave this beautiful island retreat rejuvenated and ready to jump back into practice, feeling confident and competent in the knowledge you have gained.
Get more info here.

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy 3-Day Retreat - Boulder, Colorado
2019-08-16 - 2019-08-18
Synergetic Play Therapy launches you on a personal journey towards discovering what showing up in the playroom truly means. Certification takes this journey one step further. Authenticity, congruency, attunement, camaraderie – this program helps therapists look even deeper while cultivating community and a connection to clients (and each other!). Embark on a revolutionary experience filled with magical, memorable moments! Learn to love YOU and support your child clients as they learn the same. Gain confidence, hone skills and transform your practice and yourself.

Neurobiology of Leadership - Sydney, Australia
2019-08-24 - 2019-08-25 | Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch, 501 Wattle Street #485, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
The art and magic of facilitation – for facilitators and coaches! This is a 2-Day Workshop with Lisa Dion, Peter Bliss, and Erika Yeates that takes place at the Independent Education Union of Australia.
This course is designed for Facilitators and Coaches who want to learn HOW to facilitate in order to increase confidence, double their impact, increase their referrals and ultimately transform lives. Using a neuroscientific approach, combined with Mindfulness and Breathing techniques – Lisa, Peter and Erika – will equip you with powerful and sustainable skills you can use to maximize your ability to facilitate others.
Lisa has been working as a psychotherapist for over 15 years and is a Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator.
Peter has been working as a Mindfulness, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Meditation Teacher and Coach for over 15 years and is a Trained Demartini Method Facilitator.
Erika is a Medical Doctor, corporate consultant, coach, writer, speaker and Senior Certified Demartini Facilitator.
All three of them have been teaching and inspiring thousands to gain the ability and knowledge to live according to their highest values and achieve fulfillment and joy in what they do.
Register here.

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Retreat - Melbourne, Australia
2019-08-26 - 2019-08-28

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Retreat 3-Day Retreat - Vancouver, Canada
2019-09-20 - 2019-09-22

Revolutionizing Play in Therapeutic Practice with Children and Young People - Alberta, Canada
2019-09-24 - 2019-09-25 | Alberta Heath Services, 7910 112 Ave, Edmonton, Alberta, T5B 0C2, Canada
Lisa Dion is the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy – a researched-informed model of play therapy based on nervous system regulation, interpersonal neurobiology, physics, attachment, mindfulness, and therapist authenticity. It aims to replicate the delicate dance of attunement that occurs between a caregiver and an infant. It focuses on ensuring that the practitioner’s verbalizations and non-verbal activity are congruent during the play therapy sessions in order to transmit trust and safety. In doing so, the approach maximizes right-hemisphere to right-hemisphere communication and acts as an external regulator for children’s dysregulated states as they arise in the therapeutic process.
Lisa defines the therapist as the most important toy in the playroom. Her approach is applicable to all children, as the basis for her theory is rooted in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology. Her work is also effectively applied to work with children and young people who express aggression in their behaviour during the therapeutic process. This is a vital new area that has rarely been conceptualized. Lisa’s approach highlights how a compassionate and relational orientation is critical to be aware of the multiple layers of meaning that occurs in the exchanges between therapist and child/young person.
Participants will come away with a range of new skills and strategies that include:

Being able to describe how play therapy works from a neurobiological perspective
Learning how to set boundaries without shaming or shutting down the child
Learning how to make aggressive play therapeutic
Understanding how to work with the intensity of aggressive play without the therapist’s own nervous system shutting down resulting in compassion fatigue and burn out
Learning how to become the external regulator in a session to deepen children’s ability to integrate the challenging experiences they are working through

Using hands-on and practical techniques, Lisa will assist the group to trace the moment to moment shifts in regulation between therapist and child, providing a level of insight which supports the transformation of aggression into ways of connecting and mutual trust.

Synergetic Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Using Play in Therapeutic Practice with Children - Auckland, New Zealand
2019-10-14 - 2019-10-15 | STOP Oganization, 11 Whitmore St, Edgeware, Christchurch, 8013, New Zealand
Lisa Dion is the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy, a model of play therapy that uses a neuroscientific framework and emphasizes the critical role of the therapist. With the help of neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, and the Synergetic Play Therapy model, participants will explore in this 2- day workshop how to effectively use a way of play therapy that supports nervous system regulation and reorganization of the child’s lower centers of the brain.
By the end of this course, participants will be able to identify various nervous system states in their child clients and understand how to support regulation in the playroom. They will learn how to work with intense or aggressive play without causing their own nervous system to shut down or triggering vicarious trauma. Participants will gain further knowledge and skills on how to support their clients to maximize growth and integration of their experiences through Synergetic Play Therapy. Come prepared to play and have fun!
The training is suitable for clinicians working therapeutically with children and their families.
To sign up for this course, email Karen.Brougham@stop.org.nz.

Fostering Kidz Conference - Keynote: Creating Connection Through Play - Auckland, New Zealand
2019-10-16 - 2019-10-17 | Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre, 58 Waipuna Rd, Mount Wellington, Auckland, New Zealand
Children don’t often have the words to communicate how they are feeling, yet they can communicate their thoughts and feelings fluently through their play. Without understanding the importance of play, the role of play in a child’s life and how to use play to create connection, caregivers may be missing one of the most important ways to establish relationship and connection with the young people in their lives.
Breakout Session
This workshop is designed to give caregivers pertinent information on how to understand the meaning behind children’s play, so that they can better understand what children are attempting to express. Participants will also learn how to assess a child’s nervous system dys-regulation patterns along with what signs to look for in a child’s play that indicate concern and possible need for intervention and support.
Registration is now open!

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive - Littleton, Colorado
2019-10-18 - 2019-10-27 | Play Therapy Connection, 8 W Dry Creek Cir, Littleton, CO, 80120, United States
October 18th – 20th and October 25th – 27th
The Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive allows you to jump in and really experience the magic of Synergetic Play Therapy! We hold these intensives regularly throughout the year, limiting this program to four people in order to permit extensive skill practice with individualized coaching and feedback. Each participant will be paired with a child client with whom they will work every day during the training under direct supervision as part of a therapeutic observation team. Dive into SPT and see if it’s right for you!
Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive Prerequisite Training:

Participants should have completed or be enrolled in a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) program in counseling, social work, or education.
Previous experience working with children and families is also required.
A basic understanding of play therapy and play therapy skills is required.

Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy Intensive objectives:

Understand some of the neuroscience behind identifying a child’s states of dysregulation and how these influence the symptoms and play in the playroom
Learn how Synergetic Play Therapy tools such as the Nervous System Chart, The Process of Change, and explaining the Synergetic Play Therapy Stages can help a parent understand the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Begin to understand how to identify a child’s emotional age in their play
Understand how mindfulness and self-awareness in the playroom is an essential component to helping widen a child’s emotional window of tolerance
Understand how to work with parents in the play therapy process and keep them engaged
Understand how to use boundaries to help reduce emotional flooding and overwhelm in both the child and the therapist, as well as how to set them without shaming or shutting down the child’s play
Understand the projective process and how children engage in “The Set Up” as a way to integrate their perceptions of what is challenging them
Understand how the therapist’s authenticity and attunement supports the attachment process in play therapy
Understand the importance of being regulated in the midst of challenging play as an essential component of becoming the child’s external regulator in the playroom
Understand how to use regulation to support a child’s ability to learn how to regulate during play therapy sessions

For availability and registration details, please contact the Institute at 720-458-9597 or email info@synergeticplaytherapy.com.

Lessons from the Playroom - Working With Families in the Playroom
2019-11-05 14:00 - 15:30
The Lessons from the Playroom Webinar is a series of 75-minute LIVE webinars designed to further explore what is truly happening in the play therapy process. Interact with Lisa Dion and special guests around the world for an hour of power, purpose, and perspective. Curious what these webinars are about? Click here for a sample!
The November topic is Working With Families in the Playroom.
Understanding how to work with families in a play therapy experience is important. The difference between it being an overly challenging experience or a deeply connected experience is knowing when to involve the family, how to work with all of the family members to keep them engaged, and how to become the external regulator for the whole system to help them integrate is key.

– Explore when it is important to involve the family in play therapy
– Identify at least 3 family therapy activities to incorporate into sessions
– Discuss what it means to become the external regulator for the family in a play therapy session
– Explore ways to keep all family members engaged in the process
Register here. Watch live or via replay.

2019 Midwest Child Life Conference - Keynote: The Need for An External Regulator During Child Life Interventions - Springfield, Missouri
2019-11-09 | Missouri State University – Plaster Student Union, 1110 E. Madison Street, Springfield, MO, 65897, United States
Join Lisa Dion as she explores external regulation in the Child Life Specialist.
Research in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology sheds light on the need for the Child Life Specialist to act as the external regulator supporting the child and their family to move towards the intensity they are experiencing allowing for integration.
Without the ability of the Child Life Specialist to become the external regulator for the intensity that arises, both the child, family, and the Child Life Specialist are at risk for emotional flooding and high levels of dysregulation in their nervous systems. Over time, this can significantly impact a Child Life Specialist’s longevity in the field, as well as the ability to stay attuned and present to the child and family during care.
Break out session:
We are in this together: Understanding Nervous System States for Co-Regulation

This presentation explores the various states of activation of the nervous system in order to help Child Life Specialists understand new ways of working with a child’s fears and anxieties, how to recognize emotional flooding, and ultimately how to become the external regulator to co-regulate a child through their challenging experiences leading to a more adaptive and less overwhelming hospital experience. Register or learn more here.

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Five-Day Retreat (Part of the Nine-Month Certification Program) - Vancouver, Canada
2020-01-09 - 2020-01-14
The Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Five-Day Retreat is the second retreat in the nine-month Synergetic Play Therapy Certification Program. This program takes your SPT journey one step further with authenticity, congruency, attunement, and camaraderie. It is designed to help therapists look even deeper while cultivating community and a connection to clients (and each other!).
In order to enroll in the Certification Program, you must complete one of the following prerequisites:

A Six-Day Synergetic Play Therapy™ Intensive Training with post supervision
The Synergetic Play Therapy™ Supplemental Course with post supervision
The Six-Month Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy™ Course with post supervision

“I feel like I am working at my optimum level as a therapist, business owner, mom, wife, volunteer, and athlete. Last year, I was excited about starting the Certification process but felt like the testimonials might be too good to be true. They’re not. The SPT Certification process is literally life-changing. This was the piece that was missing for so many years. It’s worth every penny.” – Grace Lacuone
For program details, click here.

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Five-Day Retreat (Part of the Nine-Month Certification Program) – Boulder, Colorado
2020-01-16 - 2020-01-20

Certified Synergetic Play Therapy Five-Day Retreat (Part of the Nine-Month Certification Program) – Melbourne, Australia
2020-02-03 - 2020-02-07

Innovative Child Therapy Symposium - Online
2020-02-03 - 2020-02-07
Prepare to be truly inspired! Join us to discover a ton of fresh ideas to take back to your therapy practice from over 40 expert speakers presenting on a wide variety of therapeutic approaches. You’ll deepen your clinical skills and let your creativity flow as we learn together from some of the most impactful, heartfelt, highly-skilled professionals supporting child and adolescent mental health.
Lisa Dion will be speaking on Synergetic Play Therapy!
Register for free!
Sign up here.

Too Stressed to Play: A Two-Day Self-Care Retreat for Play Therapists - Melbourne, Australia
2020-02-07 - 2020-02-09
We’re sold out. New date coming soon!
This event includes two nights of accommodation in the Yarra Valley, healthy snacks and meals, and a welcome gathering. Saturday includes yoga, meditation, sound healing, and a discussion on “You, Me, and We: What You Must Know to Fully Understand the Therapeutic Relationship and the Importance of Self in the Playroom.” Sunday includes a mindfulness practice and a discussion on “Facing our Fears: Take a Look at the Blocks and Beliefs that are in the Way of Your Being Able to Show Up Fully in the Playroom to Connect with Yourself and Your Child Client.”

Healing Trauma and Abuse in Children and Adolescents: A Two-Day Workshop - Quezon City, Philippines
2020-02-14 - 2020-02-15
When children and adolescents come to counseling for support with trauma and abuse, clinicians can be at a loss for how best to work with the complexities and the intensity of that prior experience.
Without a clear understanding of what to do and how to facilitate the integration of trauma, children can stay stuck and unable to move forward in their healing. Clinicians can also find themselves anxious, exhausted, confused, overwhelmed, and dysregulated, which can – over time – significantly impact their longevity in the field. It can affect their ability to stay attuned to and present with the child as well.
With the help of neuroscience and a Synergetic Play Therapy framework, this two-day workshop teaches clinicians how to effectively work with trauma and abuse in a way that supports integration and nervous system regulation, while decreasing compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
Register here.

Ah! Why Aren't You Listening to Me? Working with Resistance in the Supervisory Relationship: Three-Hour Course at the Minnesota APT Conference - Minneapolis, Minnesota
2020-03-05
One of the hardest and often misunderstood aspects of being a play therapy supervisor is effectively working with resistance. This workshop takes a deeper look at what resistance actually is, its biology, and how to creatively work with it.
For more information or to register, click here.
Course Objectives

Discuss what resistance in play therapy supervision actually is
Examine the biology of resistance in order to more skillfully identify it and work with it as it arises in a play therapy supervision session
Describe at least 2 new ideas to help play therapy supervisees when they are feeling resistant in supervision

Aggression in the Playroom - A Synergetic Approach for Working with Trauma and Intensity in Play Therapy: One-Day Workshop at the Minnesota APT Conference - Minneapolis, Minnesota
2020-03-06
With the help of neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, and a Synergetic Play Therapy framework, therapists will learn how to effectively work with aggressive play in a way that supports nervous system regulation and reorganization of the child’s lower centers of the brain while decreasing compassion fatigue. Join us as we learn how to become a child’s external regulator during trauma and intensive play, allowing you to maximize integration and healing in your child clients (and in yourself).
Although aggression and death are common parts of the play therapy process, many therapists don’t have a clear understanding of what to do and how to facilitate the intensity when it enters the playroom during play. The result can lead to inadvertently promoting aggression and increasing low brain disorganization. It can also lead to the therapist feeling beat up, exhausted, and hyper-aroused themselves, which can – over time – significantly impact their longevity in the field as well as their ability to stay attuned and present to a child in the playroom.
For more information or to register, click here.

Course Objectives

Recognize the significance of congruence and authentic expression in the play therapy process
Discuss how to work with aggression and trauma in the playroom without having your own nervous system shut down leading to vicarious trauma
Discuss the link between a child’s dysregulated states of their nervous system and their aggressive and traumatic play
Practice facilitating aggressive play in the play therapy process without increasing or promoting aggression
Discuss the Synergetic Play Therapy concept of “The Set Up” in the playroom
Demonstrate how to set boundaries without shaming or shutting down a child’s play

Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® January 2021: SPT in Teletherapy
2020-03-09 | Online
This is a bonus video, part of the Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® January 25th – June 25th.
SPT and Teletherapy Objectives:

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

For more information about this Level 1/Introductory level course or to be part of the next one, click here>>>
Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy™ is a six-month online course that 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™ Supervisor/Consultant. Consultation is a mandatory part of the course to help you integrate what you are learning.
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.

Understanding Regulation for Early Childhood Educators (Closed Training) - Boulder, Colorado
2020-03-11 | Boulder Journey School, 1919 Yarmouth Ave, Boulder, CO, 80304, United States
One-hour presentation for early childhood educators at the Boulder Journey School. This is a closed presentation. If you’d like more information about our teachings for early childhood educators, please email us at info@synergeticplaytherapy.com.

FREE: Regulating Through the Coronavirus Webinar - Part 1
2020-03-18 19:00 - 20:00 | SPT Learning Website
It’s probably no surprise to you that the Coronavirus has caused a lot of stress and anxiety in the world. And equally so, you’ve likely noticed impact to yourself and those around you. In response, on March 18th, thousands came together from around the world to join Lisa for a transformative online experience, Regulating Through the Coronavirus. Since airing, the feedback and continued reach has been profound!
As such, we decided to extend you free access to this very special webinar dedicated to supporting parents, teachers, therapists, and those working on the front lines of the crisis. ‘
In this FREE live webinar, Lisa talked about:

Ways to support others with nervous system regulation during these uncertain times
How to maximize immune system functioning through regulation
How to work with children through their fears and anxieties
How to integrate the fears to enhance health and resilience

Even though the event has passed, you can access the webinar on the SPT Learning site.
“Thank you Lisa for a wonderful webinar on regulating. Remembering to breathe and disconnect, to come back to myself has been extremely useful reminder during your presentation. These are strategies I shall remember to put into practice each day for the forseeable future. I feel I have activated my own internal safety and regulated … amazing what one can achieve in one hour and even less when practicing the breathing techniques. Thank you for being our external regulator…” -Suzy Papaioannou

FREE - Working Through Exhaustion, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue: Regulating Through the Coronavirus - Part 2
2020-04-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Webinar Jam
Since the first Regulating through the Coronavirus webinar aired, it has reached over 7,000 people worldwide with requests for a part 2. So here we go!…
For many people, the high level of stress of the past few weeks is starting to take its toll and is resulting in- The Crash. With persistent attempts to respond to what’s happening in the world, sometimes pushing ourselves beyond our limits, or just trying to stay afloat as we adapt to new routines and demands, our nervous systems continue to be at risk of becoming taxed resulting in fatigue and shut down.
Come join Lisa again on April 5th at 7pm (MDT, Denver) for another very special one hour webinar where she will help educate, normalize, as well as offer you strategies to move through the exhaustion, burnout, and compassion fatigue that you may be noticing … And, even if this has not been your experience, you likely know someone who is at this point. ​​​​​​​
Register Now!

We are in this Together: Emotional Regulation in the Playroom: One-Day Workshop - Burns, Tennessee - TO BE RESCHEDULED
2020-04-17 | Montgomery Bell State Park, 1020 Jackson Hill Road, Burns, TN, 37029, United States
This event will be rescheduled for a later date …. please check back.
As neuroscience continues to reveal the importance of developing greater and greater capacities for emotional regulation, it is essential that clinicians understand the biology behind regulation and how to develop it within the children they work with. This full day workshop is designed to help clinicians understand exactly what regulation is and is not, the biological mechanisms in the brain and nervous system allowing for regulation, and learn practical tools that can be implemented right away in the playroom for developing a child’s regulatory capacity. Clinicians will also learn what it takes and how to become the external regulator in the relationship- the most important tool to have in the toolbox.
In this workshop, Lisa makes the growing field of neuroscience accessible and relevant to clinicians of all backgrounds. Using interpersonal neurobiology and a Synergetic Play Therapy framework rooted in Child-Centered, Gestalt and Experiential Play Therapy theories, this workshop caters to both experienced and new clinicians, and is applicable to private practice, agency and school settings. Clinicians will leave this workshop with a powerful new perspective on emotional regulation and ideas that they can take straight into their next session.
Objectives:

Discuss the significance of congruence and authentic expression in the play therapy process
Examine the link between a child’s dysregulated states of their nervous system and their play
Discuss the Synergetic Play Therapy concept of “The Set Up” in the playroom as a way to understand what children are attempting to communicate
Explore how our own “window of tolerance” can impact the child’s healing process
Practice what it takes to become the “external regulator” in the playroom to support nervous system integration
Explore what to do when “emotional flooding” happens in a play therapy session

Get the details and sign up here!

Trauma Informed Approaches to Understanding Aggression and Revolutionizing Therapeutic Practice with Children and Young People: Online Two-Day Workshop - British Columbia, Canada
2020-05-28 09:00 - 2020-05-29 12:00 | Online via Zoom
During this online workshop, Lisa will weave together insights from interpersonal neurobiology and nervous system activation allowing therapists to understand how to co-regulate through the intensity, providing a level of insight which supports the transformation of aggression into ways of connecting and mutual trust.
Doesn’t matter where you are in the world … Get all the details and register here.
Course Objectives
Participants will come away with a range of new skills and strategies that include:

Learning how to set boundaries without shaming or shutting down the child
Understanding how to work with the intensity of aggressive play without the therapist’s own nervous system shutting down resulting in compassion fatigue and burn out
Learning how to become the external regulator in a session to deepen children’s ability to integrate the challenging experiences they are working through

This two-day workshops runs 9am-12pm on both days May 28th & 29th.
