Training
All symptoms children display in the playroom are the result of a dys-regulated nervous system.”
– Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S
No matter what type of training you’re looking for, we can accommodate! We offer online training that allows you to learn from anywhere, in-person training located at various locations, and workshops and conferences that take place all over the globe. We offer individual courses as well as months-long programs with both direct and non-direct CE credits.
For play therapy and specific SPT-training, explore our many options below …
If you’re not ready to take one of our SPT introductory courses, an optional way to learn with us is to take one of our 1-hour, 2-hour, or 3-hour courses for non-contact credit*. Find all of these recorded webinars/courses here.
You could also join a 1-day or 2-day training (offered upon request), conference or other event. Contact SPTI via email.
And you could listen to our many “Lessons from the Playroom” podcast episodes and read Lisa Dion’s “Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity” book.
Come learn with us in whatever way feels congruent and authentic to you!
(*Synergetic Play Therapy Institute, APT Approved Provider 09-264)
Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® is a 22-hour course that takes you on a journey to explore the neuroscience behind what is happening in the play therapy process, how to repattern a child’s nervous system, and what it means to become an external regulator in the playroom. You will also learn how to effectively work with caregivers and what it means to create a neuroception of safety allowing both the child and the caregiver to have a deeper integration. And if this wasn’t enough, you will come to understand the magic of aggressive play, sand and art from the perspectives of nervous system regulation, attunement, attachment, mindfulness, and authenticity.
You’ll learn all this while also how to avoid burnout and compassion fatigue. Come discover what showing up in the playroom truly means and explore what is happening in the play therapy process, how change occurs, and ultimately what it takes to help children heal at profound levels. And the best part is, you get to be you on the journey!
This six-month online course 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
This course is offered three times a year – in the months of January, June and October. Find details here.
The Synergetic Play Therapy® Supplemental Course is open to those who have already completed a two-day training with Lisa Dion. It is an online course that supplements the information not received during the two-day training you’ve previously completed. It involves the review of key points as well as new information aimed at providing you with the missing pieces of the SPT puzzle.
This course includes nine hours of recorded content and six monthly group consultations** with a Synergetic Play Therapy® Supervisor/Consultant to help you integrate what you are learning.
This course allows you to go at your own pace: you’ll receive all the videos the day your course is scheduled to launch, and you can learn as fast or as slow as you like. You will start your group consultations as quickly as possible.

The course begins with 3.5 days together in community. Halfway through the course, we will reconvene for an additional 4.5 days. During the program (with the exception of December and January), the course will be conducted twice a month via live webinar (1 1/2 hours each). Students will have additional monthly assignments to integrate learning. The Certification process includes 4 one-hour supervision sessions (pre-Certification supervision upon completion of your introductory course) and 9 one-hour supervision sessions (combination of group and individual) during the course with an SPT Supervisor for a total of 13 supervision hours. These sessions are designed to help you integrate and deepen your learning.
For Certified Synergetic Play Therapists™ who meet the pre-requisites we offer a path to becoming a Synergetic Play Therapy® Supervisor. These courses count towards Registered Play Therapy Supervisor requirements.
In this training, students will learn how to apply the Synergetic Play Therapy® philosophy and tenets to the supervisory relationship. Through video observation, didactic learning, group discussion, and self study, students will learn how to step into the role of supervisor- one of the most important and influential roles in a play therapist’s journey.
Training
All symptoms children display in the playroom are the result of a dys-regulated nervous system.”
– Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S
No matter what type of training you’re looking for, we can accommodate! We offer online training that allows you to learn from anywhere, in-person training located at various locations, and workshops and conferences that take place all over the globe. We offer individual courses as well as months-long programs with both direct and non-direct CE credits.
For play therapy and specific SPT-training, explore our many options below …
If you’re not ready to take one of our SPT introductory courses, an optional way to learn with us is to take one of our 1-hour, 2-hour, or 3-hour courses for non-contact credit*. Find all of these recorded webinars/courses here.
You could also join a 1-day or 2-day training (offered upon request), conference or other event. Contact SPTI via email.
And you could listen to our many “Lessons from the Playroom” podcast episodes and read Lisa Dion’s “Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity” book.
Come learn with us in whatever way feels congruent and authentic to you!
(*Synergetic Play Therapy Institute, APT Approved Provider 09-264)
Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® is a 22-hour course that takes you on a journey to explore the neuroscience behind what is happening in the play therapy process, how to repattern a child’s nervous system, and what it means to become an external regulator in the playroom. You will also learn how to effectively work with caregivers and what it means to create a neuroception of safety allowing both the child and the caregiver to have a deeper integration. And if this wasn’t enough, you will come to understand the magic of aggressive play, sand and art from the perspectives of nervous system regulation, attunement, attachment, mindfulness, and authenticity.
You’ll learn all this while also how to avoid burnout and compassion fatigue. Come discover what showing up in the playroom truly means and explore what is happening in the play therapy process, how change occurs, and ultimately what it takes to help children heal at profound levels. And the best part is, you get to be you on the journey!
This six-month online course 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
This course is offered three times a year – in the months of January, June and October. Find details here.
The Synergetic Play Therapy® Supplemental Course is open to those who have already completed a two-day training with Lisa Dion. It is an online course that supplements the information not received during the two-day training you’ve previously completed. It involves the review of key points as well as new information aimed at providing you with the missing pieces of the SPT puzzle.
This course includes nine hours of recorded content and six monthly group consultations** with a Synergetic Play Therapy® Supervisor/Consultant to help you integrate what you are learning.
This course allows you to go at your own pace: you’ll receive all the videos the day your course is scheduled to launch, and you can learn as fast or as slow as you like. You will start your group consultations as quickly as possible.
The Synergetic Play Therapy® Certification Program is our level 2 advanced training. With 87 hours of content, the Certification program propels you on a journey of inquiry about how healing truly occurs in the playroom. You will learn about nervous system activation re-patterning and how integration occurs in the mind-body. You will study in-depth the projective process and the mind, perceptions and memory, interpersonal neurobiology, and will have a transformative understanding of attachment theory. But this isn’t the best part of this training. The best part is what happens to YOU! This program is designed to not only help you learn how to facilitate your child client’s healing, but also teach you about yourself, what drives you to be who you are, and awaken your own authenticity … absolutely PRICELESS!!!!
The course begins with 3.5 days together in community. Halfway through the course, we will reconvene for an additional 4.5 days. During the program (with the exception of December and January), the course will be conducted twice a month via live webinar (1 1/2 hours each). Students will have additional monthly assignments to integrate learning. The Certification process includes 4 one-hour supervision sessions (pre-Certification supervision upon completion of your introductory course) and 9 one-hour supervision sessions (combination of group and individual) during the course with an SPT Supervisor for a total of 13 supervision hours. These sessions are designed to help you integrate and deepen your learning.
For Certified Synergetic Play Therapists™ who meet the pre-requisites we offer a path to becoming a Synergetic Play Therapy® Supervisor. These courses count towards Registered Play Therapy Supervisor requirements.
In this training, students will learn how to apply the Synergetic Play Therapy® philosophy and tenets to the supervisory relationship. Through video observation, didactic learning, group discussion, and self study, students will learn how to step into the role of supervisor- one of the most important and influential roles in a play therapist’s journey.