Synergetic Play Therapy

I am a Certified Synergetic Play Therapist Supervisor.  When I started working as a Registered Clinical Counsellor, I found that traditional modalities did not explain what I experienced with clients in session and did not provide a framework for how to work with individuals with neurodiversities and/or complex trauma. 

I started to do an in-depth study of neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, attachment theory, mindfulness, expressive arts and somatic based therapies.  That is when I was introduced to Synergetic Play Therapy. 

Synergetics (a term coined by physicist Buckminster Fuller) is the study of systems in transformation, with an emphasis on total system behavior.  Synergetic Play Therapy™ (SPT), is a researched-informed model of play therapy combining the therapeutic powers of play with nervous system regulation, interpersonal neurobiology, physics, attachment, mindfulness, and therapist authenticity.

Play is the primary language of children.  Through the play therapy process children create play that resembles the emotional experiences they are struggling with internally.  These experiences usually cannot be expressed verbally.    

When facilitated by a trained Synergetic Play Therapist™, the play becomes focused on the purposes of emotional healing.  This leads to a reduction of symptoms (i.e. acting out and aggressive behaviors, somatic complaints, withdrawal or regression, etc.) and the reestablishment of balance in the child’s sense of well-being.  In addition, to helping facilitate a child’s integration of the challenging experiences in their lives, a Synergetic Play Therapist™ also works towards helping a child strengthen their regulatory capacity and re-pattern their nervous system. 

Though it is called a play therapy, SPT is so much more than that and works with children as young as two years old, youth, and adults.  As it does not relay on language to process trauma, it is especially effective for individuals with a language based disability such as FASD.  

Synergetic Play Therapy honors both the therapeutic powers of movement, the science that governs relationship, and the development of the therapist, recognizing that it is ultimately the interplay between these three systems that support deep transformation for both therapist and client.