Lessons from the Playroom

146. Attunement: The Heart of the Therapeutic Relationship

05.23.2023 - By Lisa DionPlay

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Join Lisa to talk about attunement and how it is such an important part of the therapeutic relationship. But why is it that important you might ask … In our play therapy sessions, we can follow the script, say the right words, go down the therapeutic checklist, but if we are not attuned to our clients (or ourselves), our clients will walk away likely feeling not seen, not felt, and not met by us. So attunement is really the heart of the therapeutic exchange between us and our clients! (...by the way, the same is true in the parent-child dynamic) Join Lisa in a conversation and …  Expand your understanding of what attunement is and what it is not; Find out what gets in the way of us being attuned to our clients; Learn how to develop attunement at a deeper level for your clients (...to create an experience for your client where they feel energetically and emotionally met by us); and How to “explain” the felt-sense experience of attunement with a parent or caregiver Lisa shares a really beautiful experience she had at a play therapist training where she was role playing with another therapist and how she might have missed a really critical piece of the play therapist’s experience if it wasn’t for the power of attunement.  A final message - Thank you for being on the receiving end of the conversation today; for feeling with Lisa today; and allowing yourself to learn ways to bring in attunement more into your play therapy sessions so your clients can feel deeply seen, deeply met, and deeply heard by you.  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 colleagues to join us.

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