For conferences, universities & organizations
Speaking & Training
Keynotes, professional trainings, and faculty development grounded in play, human connection, curiosity, and possibility.
Explore speaking & training →Lisa K. Forbes, PhD, LPC, RPT-S™
Speaker • Author • Play Therapist • Educator
I explore what becomes possible when play is taken seriously:
how it helps us tell our stories, resist hardening, reimagine
learning and work, deepen connection, and stay open to curiosity,
wonder, and possibility.
Across therapy, education, organizations, adult life, and culture.
Explore the work
Different spaces. One throughline.
My work lives at the intersections of therapy, education, adult life, culture, and human connection.
Speaking & Training → Narrative Child-Centered Play Therapy → Play & the Refusal to Harden → Other Books, Ideas & Writing →
For therapists & mental health professionals
Narrative Child-Centered Play Therapy
A narrative-informed extension of child-centered play therapy that understands play as embodied storytelling.
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For adults, organizations & communities
Play & the Refusal to Harden
Writing and speaking about adulthood, cultural expectations, grief, responsibility, and what helps us remain curious, connected, and alive.
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Play is the throughline.
I’m a faculty member, licensed counselor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, author, and speaker.
My work moves across education, therapy, adult life, organizations, and culture, but the question underneath it is remarkably consistent: what becomes possible when play is allowed back in?
I’m especially interested in what happens when rigid expectations loosen and people have more room to become curious, expressive, connected, experimental, and fully human.
University educator & playful pedagogy scholar
Licensed counselor & Registered Play Therapist Supervisor
Author, keynote speaker & co-founder of Professors at Play
New Book
Play and the Heart’s Refusal to Harden
A book about what adulthood asks us to surrender and how play can protect curiosity, connection, imagination, wonder, and aliveness.
More from Speaking of Play
Explore more of my work.
Teaching, therapy, writing, speaking, and other places where play opens something up.
Education
Playful Pedagogy
Play-centered approaches to higher education, learning, belonging, and engagement.
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Clinical Work
Narrative Child-Centered Play Therapy
Play as embodied storytelling and the possibilities that emerge when therapists learn to witness more closely.
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Speaking
Keynotes & Workshops
A selection of previous conference keynotes, trainings, webinars, and professional presentations.
See previous work →
Media
Interviews & Conversations
Podcasts, interviews, media features, and conversations about play, teaching, and therapy.
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Writing & Projects
Publications & Creative Work
Books, publications, collaborative projects, resources, and other ways these ideas have taken form.
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Community
Professors at Play
The global faculty community exploring what becomes possible when play is taken seriously in higher education.
Visit Professors at Play →
Bring Lisa Forbes to your conference, university, organization, or professional association.
Keynotes, workshops, faculty development, and clinical trainings designed to feel thoughtful, alive, and deeply human.