Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
General Information
Title: Beyond Countertransference - The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
Presenter: Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S
Dates: Wednesday, June 23, 2027. 11:00 AM-6:30 PM ET.
Fee: $300. Earlybird $225 until 1/1
Venue: Zoom
CE Credits: 6
Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
Description
What happens inside the therapist has traditionally been understood through the lens of countertransference—something to recognize, understand, and carefully manage so that it does not interfere with the therapeutic process. But what if the therapist’s inner experience is more than a reaction to the child or play? What if it is part of the therapeutic process itself?
Grounded in Synergetic Play Therapy® and interpersonal neurobiology, this one-day experiential training invites play therapists to move beyond simply managing their internal responses and into a deeper understanding of themselves as active participants in the therapeutic system. The therapist’s nervous system, sensations, impulses, feelings, perceptions, and personal history are present in every encounter. Learning how to stay in relationship with these experiences—rather than suppressing them, becoming consumed by them, or assuming they are truths about the child—creates greater capacity for regulation, discernment, and authentic connection.
Participants will explore the familiar “hot points” of therapeutic use of self, including projection, rescuing, overidentification, personal triggers, emotional reactivity, and the desire to control or change what is happening. And then we will go beyond them. Through SPT concepts including attachment to self, regulation, congruence, the Set Up/Offering, and the therapist as an external regulator, participants will explore how their inner experience can become meaningful information about themselves, the child, the relationship, and the larger system—information that can be consciously worked with rather than simply managed.
This shift has profound implications for the practice of play therapy. As therapists deepen their capacity to work with what is happening within themselves, they also expand their capacity to understand a child’s play and behavior, remain present during intensity and uncertainty, recognize relational and family patterns, and make more intentional choices about when and how to intervene. Therapeutic use of self becomes not simply an issue of therapist self-awareness, but an ongoing part of assessment, intervention, co-regulation, and relationship.
Through teaching, clinical exploration, and experiential exercises, participants will discover a way of working in which the therapist does not need to remove themselves and their activation from the therapeutic process in order to be effective. Instead, the invitation is to become increasingly conscious of how they are participating in it—and to learn how to use themselves with greater awareness, authenticity, and intention in service of the child and family.
Instructors
Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S, is an international teacher, creator of Synergetic Play Therapy, and founder and President of the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute. She is also co-founder of the Synergetic Education Institute.
Lisa is the creator of The Business of Therapy and host of the Lessons from the Playroom podcast. She is the author of Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity, co-author of multiple book chapters and a recipient of the Association for Play Therapy’s Professional Education and Training Award of Excellence.
Through her teaching, Lisa has trained thousands of professionals worldwide across clinical, educational, and organizational settings, offering a model that integrates interpersonal neurobiology, authenticity, and the use of self as the primary tool for transformation.
Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
Objectives
1. Identify common “hot points” in therapeutic use of self, including projection, rescuing, overidentification, personal triggers, emotional reactivity, and the impulse to control, fix, or change the therapeutic experience.
2. Demonstrate how regulation, congruence, and attachment to self support the therapist in staying connected to their own internal experience while simultaneously remaining present and attuned to the child.
3. Apply SPT concepts of the Set Up/Offering to explore how the therapist’s internal experience can provide meaningful information that informs assessment, intervention, and moment-to-moment clinical decision-making.
4. Utilize therapeutic use of self to support co-regulation, deepen understanding of a child’s play and behavior, navigate intensity and relational dynamics, and inform work with children and their caregivers.
CE Information
Continuing Education Credits are granted through Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC for the following professions: Psychologists, Social workers, Mental Health Counselors, LMFTs, and LCATs. It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state.
Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often, and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling.
APA
Nachas Consulting is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
ASWB
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC, 2035, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/02/2025 – 08/02/2028 Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.
NBCC
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7503. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
New York State Social Workers
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0785.
New York State Mental Health Counselors
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Mental Health Counselor #MHC-0195
New York State Psychology
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0072.
New York State Marriage Therapy
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0121.
New York State Creative Arts Therapist
Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0112.
References
- Dion, L. (2018). Aggression in play therapy: A neurobiological approach for integrating intensity. W. W. Norton & Company.
- Dion, L., & Gray, K. (2014). Impact of therapist authentic expression on emotional tolerance in Synergetic Play Therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 23(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/
a0035495 - Gelso, C. J., & Hayes, J. A. (2007). Countertransference and the therapist’s inner experience: Perils and possibilities. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Hayes, J. A., Gelso, C. J., & Hummel, A. M. (2011). Managing countertransference. Psychotherapy, 48(1), 88–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/
a0022182 - Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2), 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/
h0045357 - Siegel, D. J. (2020). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Satisfactory Completion:
Participants must have signed in and out, attended the entire workshop to receive a certificate. Failure to sign/log in or out will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available. Certificates are available electronically after satisfactory course completion. A link will be provided for those who have completed the training.
Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
Policies
Application Deadline: June 21, 2027 or until all training spaces are filled, whichever comes first.
Notification of Acceptance
Applicants will be notified, via email, of acceptance when registration is complete, and payment is received.
Refund/Cancellation Policy
Tuition/registration payments are refundable until May 23, 2027. Cancellations after this date are non-refundable. In this situation, we will attempt to find someone to take your slot (based on our waiting list).
Accessibility
There will be handicap accessibility.
Course level
Level of clinician
Our Grievance Policy for trainings is available here.
Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
Schedule
| Wednesday, June 23, 2027. 11:00 AM-6:30 PM ET. | 9-10:30 Teaching 10:30-10:45 Break 10:45-12:15 Teaching 12:15-1:15 Lunch 1:15-2:45 Teaching 2:45-3:00 Break 3:00-4:30 Teaching |
Beyond Countertransference – The Therapeutic Use of Self in Play Therapy
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