Last October we hosted the second annual Symposia: An Intersection of Conversation & Innovation, a forum in which alumni of The Seattle School presented the ongoing work they are pursuing at the intersection of text, soul, and culture. Integrative education does not end at graduation, and our alumni are proof of that. Symposia highlights the ways that Seattle School alumni are continuing to wrestle with big questions and big dreams in theology, psychology, and culture.
This week, we’re featuring a presentation by Amber Englund (MACP ‘15), “Community Transformation Through Intentional Space and Wonder-filled Play.” Appropriately, this presentation is full of interactive exercises “to warm up your wonder and awaken your imagination,” and we encourage you to play along as you watch.
“So often we try to play and orchestrate the creative process. We let our left brain take over and dominate the right-brain creations. So let this space today be one of form and boundary to invite your right-brained, playful selves to dance freely.”
Amber is an infant/early-childhood mental health therapist practicing in community mental health. She provides home and office-based parent-child psychotherapy that supports the relationship of caregiver and child in its context. Her practice utilizes a history of work in child development, speech and language sciences, community development, cooperative business, food, art, and a love for creating beautiful and playful spaces that invite laughter and reflection.
In this video Amber shares the story of how she was awakened to the wonder of play in therapy, and she tells us about her dream of one day opening a toy store with a play center and a toy library exchange service, helping people create intentional space in their lives for transformational play.
“I believe play is so powerful that it transforms communities—families, friendships, neighborhoods, and workplaces.”