Lessons from the Playroom Season 2

Wondering what bibliotherapy is or how to incorporate it in your client sessions? Lisa has invited another special guest to talk about using bibliotherapy with kids. Althea T. Simpson is the founder of Brighter Day Therapeutic Solutions and Unicorn Life Training. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Facilitator, and host of the podcast Chronicles of a Play Therapist. She's all about innovative solutions for mental health and her creativity has been [...]

If you’ve ever studied with Lisa, you know she loves talking about the nervous system. And in this episode, she’s going to talk about the collective nervous systems within families and how to help support the regulation of the family system. If you’re just as excited about this topic as Lisa, you’ll definitely want to take notes for this one …  Here’s what you’ll hear … How nervous system expressions occur within the context of families; How all behavior [...]

Lisa is joined by an incredibly important person in her life - an individual that she is excited to introduce you to (...someone outside the field of play therapy that you may not have heard of) - Jayson Gaddis is an author, podcaster, speaker, “personal trainer for relationships”, and is a global leader on interpersonal conflict and connection. In this podcast episode, they explore conflict and how it shows up in all our relationships - the relationships we have [...]

Lisa is joined by Cary Hamilton, another amazing guest, for a conversation that will transform your work with parents/caregivers who have children with neurodiverse or sensory processing challenges.  Cary is the Director of Play Therapy at Antioch University in Seattle, Owner of a group practice clinic - Olympia Therapy and current President of the Washington Association for Play Therapy. She is an author and international presenter on Neurodiversity and Sensory Sensitivities and Play Therapy for the last 10 years. [...]

Join Lisa Dion in exploring a topic that is relevant to every single person on the planet and particularly inspired by a conversation Lisa had with her daughter who is now almost 17 years old. In this Lessons from the Playroom episode, you are invited to think about self-esteem in a new or different way so you can support your clients at a deeper level when self-esteem is the thing they are struggling with. Learn more about …. A [...]

In this Lessons from the Playroom episode, Lisa again is joined by Andrea Davidson, Johanna Simmons, and Rachel Freeburg - three Certified Synergetic Play Therapists … but this time for a discussion on messes in the playroom and messy play - ooh, so much fun!  Tune in as they explore: How to explain and normalize to parents/caregivers that messes are ok; How to turn messes in the playroom into opportunities for boundaries, containment, and growth; Ways to support children [...]

Join Lisa and Carmen Jimenez-Pride in a conversation about a topic that has never been talked about so far in this entire podcast series -  Internal Family Systems (IFS) and how to incorporate it in the playroom. In this episode, Carmen, a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and an Internal Family Systems therapist herself, shares how the Internal Family Systems framework  offers a really cool way to hold the client’s experience in the playroom, as well as our experience as [...]

In this episode, Lisa Dion talks about a most tender subject - the “shoulds” and “should nots” that we all have as clinicians 😒 ... you probably know what we’re talking about … they show up in the playroom, when working with parents and caregivers, and in our personal lives. It’s our own judgments of ourselves, and the sometimes constant brain noise that we have. Once again, Lisa has invited two very important people to join her – Helen [...]

Lisa has a really special guest joining her for this episode and they’re doing something different today … It’s time to talk about business! - One of the most important topics we don’t talk much about as therapists. And to help Lisa out with this conversation, she has Jen Taylor who’s going to be interviewing her on her business journey. If you’ve ever wondered about Lisa and her entrepreneurial journey, what it took for her to build the Synergetic [...]

Another amazing guest is joining Lisa Dion for this Lessons from the Playroom episode - Dr. Bonnie Goldstein. As a faculty member at Pat Ogden’s Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, she’s taken Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and applied it to children* …. Fun story - Bonnie and Lisa had a random (but not random 😉) meeting in Melbourne, Australia in 2019 at the Australian Childhood Foundation's world-renowned trauma conference. They both found themselves at the same dinner one night, and by the end, [...]

This next Lessons from the Playroom topic is near and dear to Lisa's heart as she is a Certified Gestalt Therapist and Gestalt is one of the root theories of Synergetic Play Therapy. And not only is the topic important to Lisa, but so is her guest. She is one of the Gestalt Play Therapy experts on the planet. Yes, we’re talking about Felicia Carrol. Felicia Carrol is a LMFT, RPT-S, and founder/director of the West Coast Institute for [...]

In this podcast episode, Lisa clarifies one of the biggest misconceptions out there right now for parents and therapists - that regulation means being CALM. ...You’ve likely heard the idea that a child needs a calm adult in order to regulate - that in order to regulate, the adult needs to be and stay calm - or that an adult's "calm" presence is the answer to regulating a child when they are dysregulated. But if you’ve ever tried to [...]

Lisa met her next guest at her very first APT conference. She was doing a presentation on supervision. As Lisa sat in her course, she remembers thinking, “Who is this woman?! Wow!” She was so captivated by her and her teaching - Lisa is delighted to be joined by Paris Goodyear-Brown, the creator of the TraumaPlay™ model, the founder and Clinical Director of Nurture House, and the Executive Director of the TraumaPlay™ Institute.  She is an internationally renowned speaker, [...]

Join Lisa Dion for a most beautiful and eye-opening (and, unfortunately, so relevant to what’s happening in the world right now) conversation with someone very dear to her - Liliana Baylon is a bilingual (English-Spanish), bicultural therapist serving the Denver Metro Area and Certified Synergetic Play Therapist/ Supervisor/ Consultant. In today’s episode, Lisa and Liliana talk about understanding the experience of immigrant and refugee families, and some really important things to be aware of that will widen your cultural [...]

Join Lisa and Judy Norman, Certified SPT therapist/supervisor and SPT co-teacher as they share the launch of the Synergetic Education™ Institute. It's been years in the making as they've both seen the profound impact of bringing Synergetic Play Therapy® tenets into schools to support educators, school-based mental health professionals, and educational leaders. In fact, it's been such a success, Heather Forbes, Founder of Beyond Consequences Institute, "Help for Billy" Author, Speaker, and Developmental Trauma Expert (...many of you may [...]

This next Lessons from the Playroom guest gave Lisa the most amazing surprise when she jumped on - it filled Lisa with so much joy, delight and an urge to connect … And this is totally what they’re talking about today - how to captivate, engage, be with (along with what to do), and create a playful connection with your child clients during the initial play therapy session.  Lisa is joined by the one and only Liana Lowenstein. Liana is [...]

In this Lessons from the Playroom episode, Lisa discusses the #1 thing that will get you off track as a therapist ... and it's trying to be someone you’re not! Despite messages that might suggest differently, authenticity and "being yourself" is not easy and has so many implications for therapists. Join Lisa in a conversation to explore:  How you know when you're trying to be someone you're not; Why it's so important to be yourself in the playroom; How [...]

OMG! - the synergy between Lisa and her next guest is … well, let’s just say, it’s like getting an opportunity to eavesdrop on a beautiful conversation between two brilliant minds! Kim Barthel is an award winning Occupational Therapist, teacher, and best-selling author who has successfully merged play, Polyvagal Theory and Sensory Processing. Tune in and discover: *Ways to more deeply understand the body, nervous system activation, and what it looks like in your client; *How to truly understand [...]

Lisa Dion’s next special guest is a Certified SPT therapist, coach, mom and Yoga instructor. She’s known her for years - all the way back to when Lauren worked in Cape Town, South Africa.  Listen as Lauren Porter and Lisa talk about how to make Yoga a practice that can support you as a therapist and redefine and unpack yoga in a way that maybe you haven’t considered…  ...And how getting to know yourself more and experiencing a widening of your [...]

Lisa is jumping into another most requested topic - Translating the Play to Parents/Caregivers. In this episode you’ll find out why this can be such a challenge for play therapists, but oh-so important! Learn 4 tips for how to translate the child’s play to parents/ caregivers including how to: Set the stage early on in the process for parents about what they can expect and to honor/protect the confidentiality of what’s going on in the room with the child client. Develop [...]

We’re ending the year with our most requested topic - Working With Childhood Sexual Abuse  In this episode, Lisa Dion is joined by Sueann Kenney-Noziska whose work with sexually abused children and adolescents is absolutely remarkable. In addition to maintaining a full-time private practice, she is internationally recognized as an esteemed author, guest lecturer, and professional speaker (... a phenomenal speaker!). Sueann has been educating therapists, courts, and community partners for years regarding the impact of trauma, dynamics of sexual abuse, delayed disclosure, [...]