Keynotes & Presentations

Georgie Wisen-Vincent, Director of the Play Strong Institute, gives keynotes and workshops all around the world. She's often asked to present on the science and power of play, relationships, child development and learning for audiences of clinical professionals, industry leaders, parents, teachers, schools, community agencies, and non-profit organizations. She’s known as a play therapy expert who can take the latest research and theory from fields of social-emotional health and developmental science and offer it in a way that's engaging and interactive, clear, humorous, and immediately helpful. She’s a dynamic speaker who gets audiences learning and playing productively, both in person and virtually.

Most Requested Programs

The Way of Play: Strengthening the Profound Role of Play for Developing Minds

In the upcoming book, The Way of Play (co-written with Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, NY Times bestselling author of The Whole-Brain Child), renowned play therapist Georgie Wisen-Vincent, LMFT RPT-S, presents the latest scientific research— with a special emphasis on early childhood, the power of play, and the developing brain.

In a way that’s clear, interesting, and immediately practical for early care and multidisciplinary practitioners, therapists, educators, and parents, Georgie will present an innovative, research-supported approach to play she and her team have developed at The PlayStrong Institute. The focus is on better understanding the role of play and what it does for the mind, brain, and relationships, with ample attention on rethinking challenging behaviors in early childhood and how connection and play can address adversity, change behaviors, and boost development.

Georgie provides creative examples of how she uses play therapy in her own practice to cultivate new skills, mindsight, resilience, and lasting change in the lives of young kids and families. At the end of the presentation, attendees will have a new framework for understanding their clients and their own work, along with several specific strategies to help children move from reactivity to resilience.

Play-Based Learning Certificate for Educators

In the upcoming book, The Way of Play (co-written with Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, NY Times bestselling author of The Whole-Brain Child), renowned play expert Georgie Wisen-Vincent presents the latest scientific research—with a special emphasis on neurodiversity, the power of play, and the developing brain—in a way that’s clear, interesting, and immediately practical for educators. The focus is on better understanding the role of play and what it does for the mind, brain, and relationships, with focused attention on rethinking challenging behaviors in early childhood and how connection and play can change behaviors, meet students’ diverse needs, and accelerate learning.

Georgie and her colleagues from Play Strong in Education, Olivia Martinez-Hauge and Jennifer Shim Lovers, will provide didactic and creative strategies which combine brain science and innovative play techniques to cultivate deeper learning, cognitive ability, self-awareness empathy, and more.

They will show you, through a variety of activities, stories, and reflective discussion, how to transform everyday classroom moments into powerful opportunities for growth and learning. At the end of this remarkable training experience, attendees will have a new framework for understanding their students and their own work, along with ten new strategies to help young learners move from reactivity to resilience.

Play Therapy for Clinicians and Agencies

Play therapy is so much more than just using toys, games and art materials to make talk therapy seem kid friendly! Modern play therapy involves a highly creative and deeply reflective set of techniques that can effectively help children and teens alleviate stress, build stronger relationships, learn emotional tools, and live a life full of meaning.

This course covers all these points and more. It includes exploring cutting edge research around attachment, trauma, child development and all the latest insight from the science of Interpersonal Neurobiology.

It also contains many recordings of real-world play sessions with kids, experientials, and in-depth group reflections to clarify concepts for students at different levels of training, from beginners to more advanced.

How this program can help in your daily practice:

• We outline many strategies and techniques for dealing with difficult situations, like when behaviors arise in session, and how to transform those challenging moments into energized, meaningful therapy.
• We cover the intake and assessment process, and how to track and measure client progress in a way that makes it very clear to parents and caregivers that change is happening.
• We expose the hidden language of what kids really mean when they play, and how to turn those signals into a therapeutic plan that parents can invest in, and kids truly enjoy.
• We uncover tried, tested, and proven strategies that help kids feel safe and super-engaged in therapy sessions, so they can't wait to come back for the next session.
• We unlock joy and confidence that your play therapy work is making a difference. You'll be able to recognize when results unfold right in session, and know exactly how to translate those successful strategies to parents and families, schools, and everywhere else children are cared for.

Trauma Responsive Play

Did you know that adult-child play creates a life-long template for emotional resilience? It’s how we play with children – not how much – that gives them a natural advantage in coping with childhood stressors and builds confident, competent, creative thinkers who are better prepared to step up to life’s curveballs. Through play, children learn how to stay calm in the face of difficulties, observe and describe their emotions, try on flexible perspectives, act on their own initiative, and experiment with new solutions until the problem is solved.

Trauma resolution for children can, and should, include both talking strategies and the natural developmental language kids are born with – play. This workshop is designed to show audiences of clinical and health care professionals, social workers, educators, parents and caregivers, and anyone else invested in children’s well-being after adversity, the exact steps to infuse connection and play in everyday moments with kids, thus addressing emotions and solving behavior, conflicts and challenges in new and more creative ways than you’ve ever seen before.