Play Therapy Community

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you're EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
 
In this episode of the EMDR Playground podcast, we explore co-regulation through a powerful story shared by Lisa Dion, founder of Synergetic Play Therapy.
Lisa shares a moving experience of grief and unexpected connection, describing a moment with a mama turtle laying her eggs. In that space, something shifts. Not because the pain disappears, but because she is no longer alone inside it.
This conversation highlights an essential truth for EMDR therapists.
What shapes an experience is not only what happened, but whether there was enough support, attunement, and connection in the midst of it.
Co-regulation plays a central role in how overwhelming experiences are carried and integrated. It is not separate from EMDR therapy. It lives within the relationship, the pacing, and the therapist's ability to stay present when clients move toward something difficult.
 
In this episode, we explore:
The role of co-regulation in trauma and healing
How connection influences the way experiences are held and processed
Why the therapist's presence matters in every phase of EMDR
A story that brings the clinical importance of co-regulation to life
As you listen, notice what stands out for you in your own clinical work and how co-regulation shows up in your sessions.
Learn more about Lisa Dion and Synergetic Play Therapy
SynergeticplaytherapyHomepage - Synergetic Play Therapy Institute
 
Explore more resources and trainings with Jackie Flynn
www.jackieflynnconsulting.com
 
 
You can Find us at
    jackieflynnconsulting.com
    emdrplayground.com
    facebook.com/groups/emdrwithkidscommunity
    facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394
    instagram.com/playtherapycommunity
    tiktok.com/@jackieflynnconsulting
    youtube.com/@EMDRPlayground

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you're EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
 
In this episode, Jackie talks with Claudia Ocampo about how she brings Internal Family Systems thinking into her EMDR practice.
Claudia shares how a parts lens can help therapists respond with more compassion and clarity when suicidal ideation is present. Rather than seeing suicidality as the whole person, she invites us to consider the part of the client carrying overwhelming pain and desperation.
 
Through a clinical story, Claudia offers a practical example of how this way of thinking can shape the work in session. The conversation points back to an essential EMDR principle.
 
Safety and stabilization come before trauma processing.
 
This episode offers a thoughtful look at how protective parts, careful pacing, and attuned presence can help lay the foundation for deeper healing work.
 
In this episode, we discuss
• how Claudia integrates IFS ideas into her EMDR practice
• understanding suicidal ideation through a parts lens
• a clinical story that shows practical application
• the importance of safety and stabilization in EMDR
• how protective parts can support the work before trauma processing
 
To Learn More, Visit: www.evegreenjourneycounseling.com
Remember, Safety and stabilization come before trauma processing. Protective parts and resources help create that foundation.

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you're EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
In this episode, we explore something we do every week in practice but rarely examine closely.
Recommendations.
Books.
Apps.
Breathwork.
Sleep tools.
Supplements.
Journaling prompts.
Support groups.
Retreats.
Productivity systems.
 
These may feel like small suggestions. They are not.
 
Every recommendation is an intervention. It shapes what a client does between sessions, often when they are alone and outside their window of tolerance.
 
When a recommendation fits, it can build regulation and capacity.
When it misses, it can amplify shame, threat, or collapse.
 
This episode invites EMDR therapists to apply the same precision to recommendations that we apply to targeting, pacing, and reprocessing.
 
What We Cover
Why recommending is clinical, not casual
How tools interact with nervous system states
The risk of unintentionally reinforcing negative cognitions
How power and authority shape client uptake
Why cultural context and lived experience must be considered
What to do when a recommendation backfires
The Three Checks Before You Recommend Anything
It Fits
Does this align with the client's age, neurotype, cultural context, and current phase of EMDR
Does it match your case conceptualization
Safety
Could this push them outside their window
Are there medical, psychological, or digital risks
Could it increase dissociation, panic, avoidance, or shutdown
Meaning
If this does not work, what story might the client make
Will it increase shame or performance pressure
Will it build capacity or dependency
 
Key Clinical Reminder
Recommendations are adjunctive supports.
They are not substitutes for assessment, phase based work, or reprocessing.
If a tool reinforces "I am not enough," we may be strengthening a network we will later need to target.
 
Memorable Line
If we are precise with bilateral stimulation, we need to be precise with what we send clients home with.
 
Reflection Question
Before your next recommendation, ask
What might be the unintended nervous system cost of this suggestion for this client, right now
 
About EMDR Playground
EMDR Playground is a space for therapists who want to practice with depth, precision, and fidelity to the EMDR model across the lifespan. We move beyond hacks and trends toward thoughtful, nervous system informed care.

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you're EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
In this episode of EMDR Playground, host Jackie Flynn discusses the integration of EMDR therapy with children and the role of parents in the therapeutic process. She emphasizes the importance of understanding each child's unique needs and the necessity of creating a safe environment through play. The conversation covers various phases of EMDR therapy, the significance of consent and confidentiality, and cultural considerations in involving parents in sessions. Jackie also shares resources available for clinicians looking to enhance their practice with EMDR.
 
 
 
 #EMDR #PlayTherapy #JackieFlynnConsulting
 
 
 
 
You can Find us at
    jackieflynnconsulting.com
    emdrplayground.com
    facebook.com/groups/emdrwithkidscommunity
    facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394
    instagram.com/playtherapycommunity
    tiktok.com/@jackieflynnconsulting
    youtube.com/@EMDRPlayground

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you're EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
In this episode, Jackie Flynn breaks down the 8 phases of EMDR therapy, explaining what clients and clinicians can expect at each stage of the process. From history-taking and preparation to reprocessing, integration, and closure, Jackie offers a clear, compassionate overview of how EMDR supports trauma healing.
Whether you're new to EMDR, considering it for yourself, or a therapist looking to deepen your understanding of the model, this episode provides practical insight into why the structure of EMDR matters—and how it helps create lasting change.
 
 #EMDR #PlayTherapy #JackieFlynnConsulting
 
 
 
 
You can Find us at
    jackieflynnconsulting.com
    emdrplayground.com
    facebook.com/groups/emdrwithkidscommunity
    facebook.com/groups/1130971706932394
    instagram.com/playtherapycommunity
    tiktok.com/@jackieflynnconsulting
    youtube.com/@EMDRPlayground