Lessons From The Playroom

Informações:

Sinopsis

The Play Therapy Institute of Colorados Lessons From the Playroom Podcasts are a series of recorded podcasts designed to help therapists understand the little lessons that kids teach us that make a big difference in the play therapy process.Our podcast host, Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S, is an innovative and inspiring teacher and pioneer in play therapy. She founded and is the CEO of the Play Therapy Institute of Colorado and the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy, a cutting-edge model of play therapy that bridges the gap between neuroscience and psychology. Lisa teaches and supervises all over the world, helping transform the lives of thousands of therapists and children. With these podcasts, she'll teach you practical ways to transform both you and the child clients you work with. These inspiring educational lessons are sure to leave you feeling more confident and excited for your next session!

Episodios

  • 166. Giving a Voice to Children with PANS/PANDAS with Dr. Montserrat Casado

    19/03/2024 Duración: 52min

    In today’s episode, we delve into one of the most requested topics of the past year. Dr. Montserrat Casado joins Lisa to shed light on PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections), offering invaluable insights for supporting children, parents, and therapists. Tune in as Montse and Lisa engage in a captivating conversation, debunking misconceptions about PANS/PANDAS, and offering new ways of understanding and supporting clients and caregivers. Discover Montse's personal journey and her decade-long mission to educate therapists on understanding PANS/PANDAS in children. Key topics covered: Understanding PANS/PANDAS: Definitions and associated symptoms, including the gut-brain connection. Impact on immune responses and brain inflammation. Primary issues such as OCD, rage/aggression, developmental regression, and restrictive eating. Exploring underlying factors such as infections and toxicity. Trauma re

  • Staying on Course: The #1 Thing That Will Get You Off Track As A Therapist

    12/03/2024 Duración: 22min

    Original Air Date: February 15, 2022 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 to show up most like yourself and embody what feels true for you as a therapist; and How to access a deeper level of attunement that is needed to support your clients. Tune in and join Lisa on the journey to learn more about this most essential ingredient to your client’s healing journey - and this time it’s about discovering who you are as a therapist.  Podcast Resources:  Synergetic Play Therapy Institute Synergetic Play Therapy Learning Website FREE Resources to support you on your play therapy journey  Aggression in P

  • 165. The Mind-Body Blueprint: How Symptoms in the Body are Connected to Mental Health with Dave Hompes

    05/03/2024 Duración: 48min

    Join us in this enlightening episode as we delve into uncharted territory with guest Dave Hompes, a renowned author, nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner, and mind-body coach. With his extensive expertise in integrative approaches to health, Dave sheds light on the intricate connection between psychology and the dynamics of the mind and body. In this captivating conversation, discover: Insights into the profound relationship between nutrition and mental health through compelling case studies, including epilepsy, Autism Spectrum, Tourette syndrome, and more. The most important question you can ask when faced with a client's challenge or issue. Recognizing subtle clues indicating a potential mind-body or body-mind correlation. How individual genetics, nutrient needs, and environmental factors contribute to mind and body symptoms. How the stories that people tell are sometimes more telling than lab results when understanding health issues. Prepare to be intrigued and enlightened as we explore the int

  • Engaging Children from the Start: Tips & Techniques with Liana Lowenstein

    27/02/2024 Duración: 43min

    Original Air Date: March 1st 2022 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 a Registered Clinical Social Worker, Certified Play Therapist - Supervisor, and Certified TF-CBT therapist who has been working with children and their families in Toronto, Canada for 32 years. She has 12 books (and is about to release her 13th!!) used by mental health professionals all over the world.  Join Lisa and Liana in a conversation about:   How to engage children (and their parents/caregivers) in the initial session (Liana will give tons of ideas, games and activities); Knowing when a child is engaging and what to do if they’re feeling

  • 164. Play Therapy Across the Lifespan: Nurturing Healing Through Symbolic Repair with Tara McDonald & Karen O’Neill

    20/02/2024 Duración: 48min

    Join Lisa as she hosts Tara McDonald and Karen O'Neill from PIP Solutions UK in an engaging discussion on the versatile practice of play therapy across the lifespan, with an added focus on the concept of symbolic repair. Prepare to be captivated by this episode, as it is filled with insightful content that you'll want to jot down or take notes! Key Insights: Discover the various forms that play therapy can take, spanning from infancy through childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. Embrace the notion of allowing oneself to be playful, whether interacting with a parent-child dyad or engaging with a client in their senior years. Understand the importance of tailoring play therapy to suit the developmental stage of the client, even if it diverges from conventional perceptions of “play therapy.” Learn strategies for creating a neuroception of safety for adults around play, including ways to invite parents and caregivers to be playful in their interactions with their children. Explore the concept of "Symbolic

  • Empowering Parents/Caregivers as Co-Regulators for their Children

    13/02/2024 Duración: 19min

    Original Air Date: September 28, 2021 Embark on a transformative journey with Lisa Dion in this compelling episode as she navigates the fundamental question at the core of play therapy practice: "How do I empower parents/caregivers to become a co-regulator or external regulator for their child?" Guided by the mantra of treating parents/caregivers the way we wish them to treat their children, Lisa delves into the intricacies of supporting parents who may lack a regulation template, struggle with the art of regulation, or find their own internal disorganization echoing in their child's disarray. In this insightful episode, you'll discover: Strategies to support parents/caregivers without a regulation template or facing internal disorganization, fostering a ripple effect. The profound realization that all behaviors, both by the child and the parent/caregiver, are rooted in the pursuit of regulation. Four actionable steps to empower and prepare parents/caregivers to seamlessly step into the role of external

  • 163. Making the Tough Decisions: Navigating the Terrain of Courage, Neurobiology & Authenticity

    06/02/2024 Duración: 44min

    In this episode, we’re turning the tables back toward Lisa’s direction to discuss what it takes to make hard decisions (both personal and professional), the courage it takes to make the hard decisions, and the reasons we don’t make hard decisions. And joining Lisa for this discussion is the perfect person to have the conversation - Robert Abel, Jr., Operations Director for the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute.  Join us for a deep dive into the world of decision-making, touching on: Understanding the neurobiology and relational aspects that make decision-making challenging.  Cultivating the courage to authentically express ourselves and face difficult choices head-on. Unveiling some of the tough decisions therapists encounter in their clinical practice. Exploring what happens when we don’t make the hard decisions (... hint: it has something to do with the mind and body). Navigating the decision-making process as therapists concerning the well-being of children, such as mandatory reporting. Supporting a child

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Working with Attachment from the Lens of Equine Assisted Therapy with Duey Freeman

    30/01/2024 Duración: 55min

    Original Air Date: January 16, 2023 Lisa is joined by an incredibly important person in her life - Duey Freeman, a former professor at Naropa University (Lisa’s alma mater) and founder of the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies and the Gestalt Equine Institute. Duey, a true “elder” (as he is described by many) and mentor in the field of attachment and human development, was Lisa’s former graduate school professor and has been one the most instrumental professors in her career. (see below for Duey's full bio*) Get ready to learn about a new way to conceptualize the attachment process and human development- a theory that just may be a foundational piece of missing information in your work as a therapist, as well as how Duey uses equine therapy to re-heal attachment disruptions. This podcast isn’t just for those that work for horses - this information is a must hear for everyone!  Here's what you'll hear in this episode …  An attachment and human development theory that is usable clinically when working with peopl

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Navigating Goodbyes & Endings for Children & Caregivers in Play Therapy

    23/01/2024 Duración: 26min

    Original Air Date: July 6, 2021 Goodbyes can stir up complex emotions for our clients, their families, and even us as therapists. In this week's episode, join Lisa Dion as she delves into the art of saying goodbye in the therapeutic context. Discover valuable insights on recognizing the right moment for a child to transition and gain practical strategies to offer essential support to both the child and their parents or caregivers, especially in those challenging moments when saying goodbye feels particularly tough. Lisa shares her wisdom on this essential aspect of therapeutic work, ensuring that goodbyes become moments of growth and resilience for all involved. Podcast Resources:  Synergetic Play Therapy Institute Synergetic Play Therapy Learning Website FREE Resources to support you on your play therapy journey  Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity * If you enjoy this podcast, please give us a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcast, subscribe wherever you l

  • 162. Overcoming Roadblocks to Empower Parents in Play Therapy with Tammy Schamuhn

    16/01/2024 Duración: 39min

    In this episode, Lisa is joined by Tammy Schamuhn, the Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Child Psychology and host of the Child Psych podcast. Together, they delve into the essential topic of identifying the roadblocks that sometimes get in a parent/caregiver’s way of fully supporting their child’s therapy and healing process.    Tammy, an unwavering advocate for parents, shares insights from her experience, discussing the challenges parents face and the importance of involving them in the therapeutic journey. With a co-authored parenting handbook set to release in the upcoming year, Tammy speaks to the complexities of parenting and the need to engage and support parents/caregivers in the child’s therapy process.  Discover more about: The reasons therapists may hesitate to directly engage with parents/caregivers when the child is the focal point of treatment. The struggles parents/caregivers face, especially in dealing with shame. Strategies to align with parents/caregivers, fostering holistic supp

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Paris Goodyear-Brown: How To Hold “Hard Stories” In Play Therapy

    09/01/2024 Duración: 40min

    Original Air Date: April 12, 2022 Lisa Dion 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.  And today, 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, a prolific author, and a master clinician. Join them as they talk about how holding hard stories can be complicated, challenging, and at times confusing especially when your own stuff as a therapist comes up … Because in a sense, we’re all dedicated (... probably not consciously) to a lifelong inner-process and journey of self reflection and discovery as a way of being in service to others …  Learn more about how knowing many play therapy modalities helps you to be able to say "yes, yes, and

  • 161. Villainous Revelations: Unmasking Complexity in Play Therapy with Maria Laquerre Diego

    02/01/2024 Duración: 42min

    We have a really fun topic today! Lisa is joined by the fantabulous Maria Laquerre Diego to unravel the intriguing world of villains in play therapy! (...Learn more about Maria and some of the amazing trainings she offers to play therapists below.) In this episode, Maria shares her experiences incorporating villain characters into therapy, providing clients with a unique opportunity to explore their identities and feel seen. Get ready to talk about all things villainous! Join Maria and Lisa and discover: The significance of viewing villains as complex characters with their own motivations and narratives, offering a fresh perspective on clients' struggles and the realization that villains are not diagnosable. Insight into the indispensable role of villains in our lives, exploring why heroes cannot exist without their counterparts. An exploration of the perspective-dependent nature of labeling heroes and villains, challenging binary thinking. The connection between a child's perception of themselves or their w

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Play Therapy as a Spiritual Practice

    26/12/2023 Duración: 49min

    Original Air Date: November 8, 2022 In this episode the tables are turned and the lovely Jackie Flynn, host of the Play Therapy Community Podcast/Facebook group and the Neuroscience of Play Therapy Summits, interviews Lisa about how play therapy and being a play therapist has become a spiritual practice for her over the years.  Join Lisa and Jackie as they talk about: What spiritual practice means and how doing our own “work” as a therapist can become a spiritual practice; How the playroom is a giant "meditation cushion" for therapists to grow within themselves as human beings;  How to hold a larger perspective as a therapist and engage in a deeply self-reflective practice as a way of supporting the client in their own reflective awareness and healing journey;  How the moment itself has everything we need in order to navigate whatever is arising in the client’s therapeutic work - Nothing is missing. The Synergetic Play Therapy concept of “One Foot In/One Foot Out” and how this is a contemplative practice in

  • 160. Mandalas in Play Therapy: A Transformative Journey with Tracy Turner-Bumberry

    19/12/2023 Duración: 42min

    Join Lisa Dion and Tracy Turner-Bumberry in this episode to explore the fascinating world of mandalas and their application in our work with children (... a super cool and likely unexplored tool in your clinical practice). In today's conversation, Tracy will unravel the mystery behind mandalas and share her insights into their powerful use in therapy.  Tracy is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor. She brings a wealth of expertise to our discussion as a Certified AutPlay Trainer and Therapist, a Certified Animal Assisted Play Therapist, and a Certified DBT Therapist. Tracy is also a national speaker on a variety of play therapy topics and a published author with her notable book, "2,4,6,8 This is How We Regulate." Join Lisa and Tracy for a deep dive into the transformative magic of mandalas and learn about: What a Mandala is, its multicultural roots, and the therapeutic power they hold for children and their families; How Tracy uses terms such as “circle art” and “circle

  • Special: Jessica Schaffer: Understanding Sleep Issues in Children

    12/12/2023 Duración: 30min

    Original Air Date: April 15, 2018 Lisa Dion is joined by Jessica Schaffer, Registered Play Therapist, Certified Synergetic Play Therapist and Certified Sleep Consultant to help us understand sleep issues for children. From the refusal to go to sleep to an inability to stay asleep, a child’s tossing and turning speak volumes. But why do some children want to ban the bed? And how does this look inside the playroom? A play therapist who also happens to be a sleep specialist helps us uncover the answers. "Sleep is the largest separation we go through everyday." - Jessica Schaffer, RPT, Infant Sleep Specialist Podcast Resources:  Synergetic Play Therapy Institute Synergetic Play Therapy Learning Website FREE Resources to support you on your play therapy journey  Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrating Intensity * If you enjoy this podcast, please give us a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcast, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and invite your friends/fellow colleagu

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Non-Directive vs. Directive Play Therapy

    05/12/2023 Duración: 25min

    Original Air Date: March 15, 2021 Sometimes we can get stuck in either/or thinking when it comes to whether we use non-directive or directive play therapy modalities.  But what if we could understand the significance and potential for both? What if we could go beyond to see that one is not better than the other? And what if we could honor that there are many paths to healing and that all theories serve a purpose?  Join Lisa as she discusses how it's possible to combine different theories and approaches, why we might do this, and how to make a decision not based on external pressures, but instead based on the client goals, what the therapist needs, the timeframe, and the context in which the therapist may need to do play therapy.  Because ultimately, both paths will get us to the end result. Podcast Resources:  Synergetic Play Therapy Institute Synergetic Play Therapy Learning Website FREE Resources to support you on your play therapy journey  Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach to Integrat

  • 159. Breaking Language Barriers in Play Therapy: A Deep Dive into Using Interpreters with Ludmila Golovine

    28/11/2023 Duración: 45min

    We’re so excited for this next topic. It’s a topic that’s never been addressed on this podcast series and a topic that is rarely explored in the  field of play therapy. So settle in, grab something to take notes because Lisa is joined by Ludmila (Mila) Golovine to talk about using interpreters in play therapy.  Mila is the CEO and President of MasterWord Services, Inc. As a professional interpreter, Mila is familiar with the toll interpreting for survivors may have on the interpreters themselves. For the past 15 years, she has applied her training in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) therapy, Synergetic Play Therapy and Trauma Informed Care, as well as skills as a Master Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and a Certified Demartini Method Facilitator to tirelessly help promote health and wellness for language professionals and raise awareness about the experiences of human trafficking survivors and their language access needs. See below to know a bit more about Mila and her organizati

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Regulating the Collective Nervous Systems of Families

    21/11/2023 Duración: 24min

    Original Air Date: September 13, 2022 If you’ve ever studied with Lisa Dion, 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 (even what we term as dysfunctional) is actually functional and has a purpose; How the family system is always in balance and how it is always attempting to equilibrate itself; How to become the external regulator to help regulate the family nervous system; and How to use this information clinically to inform your therapeutic work. Plus, learn a powerful tip that will help you shift the collective nervous system of the family unit in a most transformative way. Podcast Resources:  Synergetic Play Therapy Institute

  • Lessons from the Playroom Special: Bonnie Badenoch: What it Really Means to Hold Non-Judgmental Presence as a Therapist

    14/11/2023 Duración: 45min

    Original Air Date: October 25, 2022 The one-and-only Bonnie Badenoch* joins Lisa for this beautiful conversation about non-judgmental presence and how this is so critical in our role as therapists.  In this episode, you’ll hear: How, as a profession, we've become concretized into the left hemisphere (e.g., in a movement toward protocols, interventions, and evidence-based therapies) and how this has pulled us more into the role of experts trying to "fix" people; What holding a “non-judgement” presence means;  What the “inner community” is, how to be aware and work with our inner community in order to be present with our clients;   How to return to a non-judgmental presence in moments when we experience judgment (and how to even recognize when we’re in a place of judgment); The 2 pillars of non-judgmental presence and the importance of this in our work; and How to engage in our own reflective processes and having supportive others who can truly hold a nonjudgmental space for you.   Listen to this beautiful co

  • 158. Embracing Negative Self-Talk: Your Inner Feedback Mechanism

    07/11/2023 Duración: 25min

    Join Lisa Dion for a discussion on a topic that has been requested more than once since the beginning of this podcast, and it’s something we all experience (Yes … therapists, parents, children … all human beings on this planet!) …. We’re diving into the intriguing topic of negative self-talk and why we actually can’t get rid of it (... no matter how many positive self-affirmations we say to ourselves).   Through a compelling exploration of the multifaceted dimensions of negative self-talk, discover the brilliant purpose of negative self-talk. Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:  How negative self-talk emerges (hint: It involves thoughts like "I should," "I shouldn't," "I need to," "I have to," and "I'm not good enough"). The limitations of the positive thinking movement and why we actually can’t get rid of negative self-talk. The function of negative self-talk (...it’s likely not what you think). The neuroscience behind negative self-talk and how it’s a homeostatic mechanism in the mind that is actually

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