Julie McCarthy

Summer 2002
Healthy Life,
Greenfield, MA ,
entitled "Adult Play Program can Lead to Laughter, Reassessment, Joy"
It's no fun living in a world of uptight, upscale, upwardly striving "human doings" who've forgotten what it feels like to be caught up in a joyful moment, says Jeanne Bassis, who's devoted her life to teaching adults how to play all over again.

5/01
Parenting Magazine
Recharge: A Guide for Moms: 10 Tips for Putting More Love, Time and Meaning into Your Life
“The responsibilities of parenthood often strip people’s lives of fun and lightness,” says Jeanne Bassis. “But you can learn a lot from your children about living in the moment, letting go of everyday stresses and forgetting about what other people think.” You’ll be surprised how
(such) play lightens your mood and changes your approach to tedious grown-up stuff.

11/00
The Artful Mind (MA)
Jeanne Bassis: PlayReflections
Helping others to communicate through play allows Bassis to play, too. She proves that if a person can play, regardless of age, they will be able to deal to deal effectively with adversity.

4/00
Incentive Magazine:
Managing & Marketing Through Motivation
Acting Out: Employees take the stage in training programs. The Inner Child is the Best Motivator. According to Jeanne Bassis, silliness in the workplace is the key to success. ? - How do you keep that spirit of competition out of your workshops? “If you take a known game where’s there’s a winner and a loser and shift it into an activity where everybody wins, the fun and joy of it comes through the experience of doing it, not in the result. People get a visceral feel of what not being so end-product oriented could be like; that isn’t to say that productivity isn’t important - we all have things we need to get done. But along the way it doesn’t have to be such serious business.”

8/15/00
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Getty Goofy
Bassis, whose clients during the past 16 years have included teachers, women’s shelters, and a correctional institute, said, “Play is really at the heart of how people get to feel good about themselves. It juices us”, she said. “Then, we can handle whatever the world is throwing at us.”

2/10/00
Erie Times-News (PA)
Who Needs a Fountain of Youth?
Active adults pick up new skills to set childhood regrets to rest Jeanne Bassis, the Mass-based founder of PlayReflections, which teaches adults the joys of play, also sees a trend afoot. “I think a lot of people work really hard to get to the top, and when they get there they say, ‘I’m not having much fun.’ I think people want to enjoy life more.”

2/3/00
myprimetime.com
Playing to Dream
Who are the dreamers? Children. Why do they dream so well. Because they play. When the first Chief Executive Dreamer (CED) is hired at AT & T, you’ll know play has become serious business. Get a head start. We contacted Jeanne Bassis, shaman of silliness and owner of PlayReflections®.

6/99
Vegetarian Times
Playing for Keeps
We were there in search of play. In that room I was given permission to regain the freedom I knew as a child...It was a childlike silliness - the kind you can only feel when you cast aside concerns of how others perceive you.

9/7/97
The St. Albans (VT) Messenger
Local childhood professionals aid flood victims
Jeanne used the healing power of play to create a sense of well-being in all who participated in the playshop. Jeanne made it easy for the teens to be carefree for a few hours; to delight in childish pleasures and put the flood’s terrible woes aside or a while.

4/16/97
The Advocate (MA)
Playing around is important family work
We were boosting self-esteem. The games grew broader, and the circle widened then contracted into a tight network of humanity.

6/28/88
Boston Globe
Grownups are better teachers for children when they learn how to play
...Ten minutes into Jeanne Bassis’ workshop on play and Creativity, ...professionals are gasping in hilarity, rubbery as a troupe of toy Gumbys and giggling like 3-year-olds.