• A Synergetic Approach to Education 2024-2025

    Registration Deadline is November 4, 2024, 12pm MST

    Are you a school-based mental health professional questioning how to truly support students struggling with challenging behaviors? Or maybe, you’re finding yourself stuck between educational demands and the real needs of your students? Or perhaps you’re trained in Synergetic Play Therapy and looking for ways to bring your SPT skills into schools or educational settings to make a deeper impact?  A Synergetic Approach to Education is here to bridge that gap, offering you practical, neuroscience-backed strategies that are not just “another thing on your or others’ plates,” but tools to transform your approach to classroom regulation and student engagement. How Is This Different from Other Programs? Unlike traditional educational programs that often overlook the link between mental health and classroom dynamics, our approach integrates decades of experience working at the intersection of education and mental health. This isn’t just about adding new techniques—it’s about fundamentally reshaping how you understand and respond to student behaviors. You’ll learn to implement small but powerful shifts in daily routines that prepare brains and bodies to learn, helping educators see beyond surface-level behaviors to the neurophysiological states driving them. What Does This Have to Do with SPT? Rooted in Synergetic Play Therapy principles, this program extends the insights of SPT into the classroom, giving you what you need to empower educators to become external regulators who support students in real time. You’ll discover how to translate the SPT model’s emphasis on regulation, curiosity, and connection into practical strategies that fit naturally into classroom settings. Our unique lens helps educators see their own roles in student dynamics, fostering environments of safety, belonging, and co-regulation that elevate everyone. What Will You Learn That Makes Us Different?
    • Identify Missing Pieces in School Programs: Discover critical components often absent from current school approaches that keep students stuck in challenging behaviors and learn how to explicitly teach educators how to prepare brains and bodies to learn with “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches.
    • Model Classroom-Wide Regulation: Learn how to demonstrate regulation strategies that benefit all students and teachers, without adding extra workload.
    • Understand Underlying Issues: Help educators recognize the deeper dynamics affecting classroom behaviors in ways that make sense to them, making their interventions more effective and sustainable.
    • Tailor Supports to Educators' Realities: Establish practical approaches that account for differing student needs while ensuring educators can implement them seamlessly in their classrooms.
    • Address Barriers with Curiosity: Tackle common challenges educators face and empower them to engage with these difficulties using a mindset of curiosity rather than resistance.
    • Prepare Brains and Bodies to Learn: Gain tools to articulate the connection between neurophysiological states and behaviors, equipping educators to support students more effectively.
    What You’ll Gain:
    • Practical, Scalable Strategies: Implement classroom-wide regulation that supports every student and doesn’t feel like “one more thing.”
    • Deeper Understanding of Behavior Dynamics: Uncover the root causes of challenging student behaviors and learn how to guide educators in addressing them.
    • Empowerment to Transform Classrooms: Use the principles of SPT to create regulatory environments that allow for dynamic, individualized support.
    • Collaboration and Connection: Model how to balance support and challenge, cultivating resilience in educators and students alike.
    This isn’t just another training program; it’s a comprehensive approach to transforming how we see and support student behaviors in the classroom. Join us in moving beyond traditional methods and embracing a Synergetic Approach to Education that meets students and educators where they are—and takes them where they want to be. "This course has been life-changing for me personally and for so many of the clients and families I work with! I love that your class applies to clinical practice as well! Judith has a brilliant mind and it was an honor to learn from her. I am so grateful. There are moments in your life that are pivotal and I know my Synergetic Play Therapy (SPT) and SPT in schools are one of those pivotal moments for me as a professional and a mom." - Chey Cochran, LPC Check out the clip below for a sample of what you can expect during live webinars!
    Program Prerequisites: This program requires that you have taken a Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program. This includes the completion of one of the following: If you have not yet completed one of the above programs, you now have the opportunity to meet the prerequisites for A Synergetic Approach to Education by taking the new Fundamentals Course through the Synergetic Education Institute!* *The Fundamentals Course has been created specifically for individuals who wish to take a Synergetic Approach to Education but have not yet completed a Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program. This course will take you through key Synergetic Play Therapy® principles, creating a foundation on which to build. Please note: This course has been paired down to focus on specific concepts to prepare students for A Synergetic Approach to Education, and, therefore, is not a full replacement for the Level 1 Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® program.  Should your goal be to apply for the Synergetic Play Therapy Certification program, you must complete the entire Introduction program. If you meet the prerequisites for this program, use the dropdown menu below to select "A Synergetic Approach to Education 2024-2025" to register! If you have NOT completed a Level 1 program, please select "A Synergetic Approach to Education 2024-2025 + Fundamentals Course"!
    Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details

  • Filling the Gaps in Supporting Educators in Scaffolding Self Regulation in the Classroom

    Live Online Training | Wednesday, April 9th | 5-7 PM MDT

    Educators are working harder than ever to teach social-emotional skills, yet many still feel frustrated when students struggle to apply what they've learned—especially when it comes to behavior and self-regulation. The reality? Most SEL programs are missing key components. Without the right scaffolding, students may understand self-regulation strategies in theory, but when big emotions hit, they can’t access or use them effectively. This can lead to a cycle of frustration for both educators and students. In this live, interactive training, we’ll uncover what’s missing and how mental health professionals can support educators in making simple but powerful shifts that integrate intentionally developing self-regulation skills daily in the classroom.

      What You’ll Learn:

    ✔️ The hidden gaps in many SEL programs that prevent students from self-regulating.

    ✔️ How to scaffold self-regulation skills so students can apply strategies independently—even in moments of stress.

    ✔️ Small, practical shifts educators can make in their daily routines that lead to lasting behavior change.

    Who Should Attend? This training is designed for school-based and clinical mental health professionals who support educators and students. Whether you work directly in schools or in private practice, you’ll leave with insights and tools you can use immediately to help educators bridge the gap between teaching self-regulation and students actually using it when they need it most.

    💡 Join us and learn how to make self-regulation easier—not harder—for both students and educators.  

    Add to cart Details

  • Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy® Program

    LEARN A SOLID PLAY THERAPY THEORY THAT COMBINES THE POWER OF PLAY WITH INTERPERSONAL NEUROBIOLOGY!

    **For program details and dates of when this program is offered, please visit the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute's website**

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE PROGRAM DETAILS!!

    Have you been searching for ways to create a deeper impact for your clients? Or perhaps you are wanting to improve or learn more about ...
    • Becoming an external regulator to support children with integration and repatterning the activation of their nervous system.
    • Supporting healing at deeper levels through right brain to right brain attuned communication.
    • Teaching children interoceptive (body) awareness (...the key ingredient for self-regulation and co-regulation). 
    • Creating a neuroception of safety for a child when emotional flooding happens.
    • Setting boundaries with the brain in mind to not minimize, shame or shut down the child's play, but keep them engaged in their therapy process.
    • Building collaborative relationships with caregivers to support their child's therapeutic process.
    • Developing goals, tracking a child's therapeutic process, and translating what's happening during the child's therapy session to their caregiver(s) and others in the world.
    • Helping children develop a secure attachment to themselves (...a foundation of resilience).
    • Applying SPT concepts from a cultural lens for a more inclusive and culturally sensitive clinical orientation where a client's unique experiences and needs are honored.
    • How to feel a little more like YOU in the therapy process (...because we know inauthenticity is the fastest way to burnout and compassion fatigue). 
    Learn all of this and so much more! Online Introduction to Synergetic Play Therapy is a comprehensive 32-hour program that explores the foundational skills of SPT. This six-month online program is designed for both beginning and advanced practitioners and will take you on a journey to explore the neuroscience behind what is happening in the play therapy process, 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'll come to understand the magic of aggressive play, sand and art from the perspectives of nervous system regulation, attunement, attachment, mindfulness, and authenticity.

    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! 

    Check out what past students had to say about their experiences in the course!

    "SPT is the missing piece in play therapy. I gained an understanding of who I am in the playroom - a humanness that wasn't there before." -Frances Donohue

    Join the growing number of mental health professionals, those in related roles (Child Life Specialists, School Counselors, Occupational Therapists, Coaches, etc.) and parents/caregivers who are learning SPT!

    *For program details and objectives, see below.

    Buy product Details

  • The Brains Behind Safety: Neuroscience Insights for Schools

    Join us for this asynchronous webinar as we explore how Safety and Belonging Start with the Brain! We all know that creating a safe and welcoming environment is essential for students' social-emotional, psychological, and cognitive well-being. However, as school-based or clinical mental health professionals, it can sometimes feel like we have limited control over the environments in which students spend their days. But here’s the good news: we can make a difference. By sharing information with educators about how the brain perceives safety and threats, we can significantly impact students' sense of security. This knowledge is a powerful tool for supporting students' mental health. In this asynchronous webinar, you’ll learn how to:
    • Support schools in utilizing approaches that foster a sense of safety.
    • Nurture trust and belonging within educational settings.
    • Encourage students to face challenges with curiosity instead of fear.
    Together, we’ll empower educators and students to discover that they can successfully manage difficult situations, ultimately supporting their overall well-being. Keep scrolling to learn more about the details of this live webinar ....
    Add to cart Details

  • Understanding Children’s Moods and Behaviors: A Neurobiological Perspective

    This is a therapist-designed course that assists teachers, early-childhood educators, and caregivers in learning how to support the nurturing of social-emotional development in a group and classroom setting. Looking for a  fresh explanation on why children feel and act the way they do?  Curious about the relationship between brain development and perception? Want to know how the nervous system lives up to its name? Learn this and more! Scroll down for course details and objectives.
    Add to cart Details
Go to Top