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Play Therapy Community

Welcome to our Play Therapy Community podcast! If you are a child therapist, or other professional that supports children and teen's mental health in any capacity, or just want to hear some great information about Play Therapy and more, this is the podcast for you.
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Now displaying: January, 2018
Jan 11, 2018

Lisa Dion is the creator of Synergetic Play Therapy and is the founder and director of the Play Therapy Institute of Colorado

 

She is experienced in many settings to include private practice, schools, social services, foster care agencies, and orphanages. 

 

Synergetic Play Therapy’s name was influenced by Lisa’s love for the brain and understanding what happens in the nervous system.  

 

The collaboration between the child and the therapist, and on a deeper level between the mind, breath, body is an important support in the therapeutic process.  Through this realization, she was drawn to the word “synergy” since it is the idea that when 2 parts come together, the effect is so much greater than what they are individually.   Collaboration within the therapist, child and between them both is cultivated.

 

Through Lisa’s work, before she created Synergetic Play Therapy, she felt like something was missing.  She had a personal experience with her daughter that gave her an intuitive felt sense of the importance of bringing in the nervous system getting into the somatics.  Becoming an external regulator can take it to a deeper level of healing.  Accessing the brainstem allows for work involving the level of attunement such as what’s present between a caregiver and an infant. 


Lisa’s students say that it feels like a way of being rather than a model.  Her students report transforming through the process and it spills over into their other relationships.

 

Synergetic Play Therapy is not a list of fun techniques or activities to do with the child, but rather it is a “way of being”.

 

One of her students said, “Synergetic Play Therapy gives birth to the authentic self within the child and the therapist.”

 

Lisa urges her students to study as many philosophies and models of play therapy as possible to maximize their abilities. 

 

Implicit memories bring a feeling and a felt sense that was placed in the early years.  Often before the age 3, the implicit memories provide the structures in the brain. 

 

When Lisa’s daughter was born, she was emotionally dysregulated. While Lisa was pregnant with her, they both experienced a car crash. When she was born, Lisa was on a journey to help her rewire her nervous system.  She had her first play therapy experience at 9 months old where she played out shock of what she felt when the car accident happened. 

 

The exchange happening between the therapist and the child is such a vital part of therapy.

 

Synergetic play therapy teaches the therapist what to do with their personal experience of what the child is feeling and experiencing through the play.  

 

When parents are dysregulated, they need to regulate before they tend to their child.

 

The therapist does a lot of breathing, and modeling for the child.  

The mirror neuron system allows the child to borrow the therapist’s regulatory system.  Therapist use themselves to support the child through their healing.  The therapist is intentionally authentic and may rock, say things, and do things that the child needs right in the moment.

 

Lisa tells a story of a child that had many generalized fears that learned regulatory techniques such as holding her heart and stomach while she did that during his expressions of the fearful scenerios.  In session 3, he reported that he knew what to do when he got scared.  He was able to borrow her nervous system, watch how she handled the situations, and internalized a way of taking care of himself during these types of situations. Through that process, his nervous system got rewired organically and experientially. 

 

This process also helps keep the therapist well during the process.

 

Synergetic Play Therapy also offers a certification option as well. 

 

Lisa has a new book coming out in Spring of 2018, “Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity” from Norton Publishers. 

 

Lessons from the Playroom bi-weekly Podcast https://playtherapycolorado.com/podcasts/

Hour Live Webinar – 1 x a month https://playtherapycolorado.com/webinar/

Community Membership https://learn.playtherapycolorado.com/product/membership-site/

Play Therapy Institute of Colorado’s Website: https://playtherapycolorado.com/

 

https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounselors/

https://www.facebook.com/counselinginbrevard/

www.counselinginbrevard.com

www.playtherapycommunity.com

www.parentingintherain.com

www.jackieflynnconsulting.com

https://twitter.com/jackieflynnrpt

 

Jan 4, 2018
  • Jill Aller is an adoption consultant for A Step Ahead Adoption Services and is an adoptive mom of two children, ages 6 and 4. 
  • Jill has a B.A. in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Teaching and an Ed.S. degree in Counseling. She adopted her two children through the help of A Step Ahead adoption services and had such a great experience with them that she went to work for them four years ago. Both children have very open adoptions, where they are still in touch with their biological families. Jill has lived all over the U.S. but is now happily settled in Florida with her extended family. Jill is passionate about helping others navigate their adoption journeys in a mindful, balanced way.
  • The language that we use helps shape the way we think about adoption.
  • The feeling that the language reflects becomes our children’s inner voice.
  • “She gave up the baby for adoption” sounds like a rejection.  “She placed the baby for adoption” or she made an adoption plan” is a much better way to phrase it.  This sounds helpful and intentional.  It feels loving and nurturing.
  • Jill talks to her children in an active voice about adoption with phrases such as “we adopted then” to put the focus on her putting the effort into making them a part of her family.
  • More positive phrases include “birth family, tummy mommy, first family” instead of “the real mom”.  It evolves as they get over.  
  • Since all of the people connected by adoption are connected by love.  It is a pain entered into willingly connected by love.
  • Others my say things such as “she’s so lucky to have you” out of good intention, but it can be construed as the biological family not being good.  It’s important to be mindful of the message that is conveyed and make sure it is focused more on the love shared. Statements such as “it’s so great to see you as a family” is ideal.  
  • It’s important to honor the birth family with your words. 
  • Being mindful of the language used to communicate about adoption is important for children and adults. 
  • It’s important to allow the adoptee to voice their feelings.  Asking open ended questions can be so helpful.  
  • Many of the baby boomers are just finding out they are adopted.  This environment harbors pain and shame. Talking about it openly can be really supportive. 
  • There’s a continuum between closed and open adoption.  Closed adoption is where the parents may not know anymore than their names.  A semi-open is where they communicate through a 3rd party. An open adoption, often best for the mental health of the child and the birth family, is when theirs open connection. It’s important to note that open adoption isn’t always best for all families 
  • Child Connect is a site that links families together.
  • When therapists work with adoptees, its important to allow space for grief and loss.
  • Adoption triad – birth family, adopted family, and the child.
  • Jill recommends the book 20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Know by Sherrie Eldridge.
  • Family therapy can be really beneficial to help the entire family.
  • Support groups can be incredibly helpful.
  • Online support, consulting, and other connections can be really helpful. 
  • Connecting through groups can provide support and healing that can be found elsewhere.
  • Jill recommends “The Family Book” by Todd Parr . It’s about adoption, but not soley about adoption. 
  • Another book that she recommends is “It’s Okay to be Different” also by Todd Parr.
  • Jill really likes the “Adoptive Families” magazine. https://www.adoptivefamilies.com
  • The Center for Adoption Support Education, CASE, is a great education resource.  http://adoptionsupport.org
  • Adoption Counsel is a great resource at https://www.adoptioncouncil.orgA Step Ahead Adoption is a nationwide agency that helps people build their family in a healthy way.. There’s a focus on helping the birth family.  http://astepaheadadoption.com
  • There’s many great children’s books such as “A Mother for Choco”, “Tell Me a Real Adoption Storyadop”, “ABC: Adoption and Me”, and the “Tummy Mummy”. 
  • https://www.facebook.com/PLAYTHERAPYCOMMUNITY/
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingintherain/
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394/
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolcounselors/
  • https://www.facebook.com/counselinginbrevard/
  • www.counselinginbrevard.com
  • www.playtherapycommunity.com
  • www.parentingintherain.com
  • www.jackieflynnconsulting.com
  • https://twitter.com/jackieflynnrpt

 

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