Amanda Winburn, PhD

The Mississippi Living Learning Play Lab project has made a significant impact throughout the 2025/2026 school year by bringing much-needed services and support to rural school communities in Pontotoc and Tate Counties. Thanks to the Faculty Laureate grant, we were able to serve nearly 800 kindergarten and first-grade students each month through the Play Lab. This is especially important in areas where specialized resources—such as school-based play therapy—are scarce or difficult to access. 

A licensed educator, counselor, and administrator, Dr. Winburn has experience working with children in various settings. Over the last 10 years, she has been actively involved in play therapy at the University of Mississippi both at the clinical setting as well as actively conducting research within the field. Other research interests include school counseling, bullying, and advocacy. Her research has been published in journals such as Professional School Counseling and the International Journal of Play Therapy.

Dr. Winburn is the director of Graduate Studies and Professor of Counselor Education in the Department of Leadership and Counselor Education in the School of Education at the University of Mississippi.

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News & Events

  • Kellogg Foundation grants support online youth counseling and holistic preschool curriculum.

    March 19, 2025 by Marvis Herring [Ole Miss News]

    OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi has been awarded $2.6 million to expand two programs that provide free online counseling services to youth across the state and share an evidence-based preschool curriculum with teachers. Read the Full story here.

  • UM experts share benefits of play therapy when helping children with problems

    May 23, 2024 by Edwin Smith [Ole Miss News]

    OXFORD, Miss. – To an outsider, it may look like children are simply playing with toys. But through this activity, children can reveal the struggles they are facing.

    The technique is called play therapy, and two University of Mississippi experts say it is safe and effective way to help children practice problem solving and develop new coping behaviors and social skills.

    Play therapy uses activities and materials – such as clay, blocks, puppets, action figures, dolls or finger paint – that allow a child to express themselves. A trained therapist uses play to observe and gain insight into a child's internal conflicts, unresolved trauma and relationships.

    Play therapy techniques are being integrated into elementary schools and school counseling program, said Amanda Winburn, associate professor of counselor education and coordinator for the university's play therapy program. This is because they are developmentally appropriate for school-age children and can be used for children from diverse backgrounds or who have varying social and psychological needs. Read the full story here.

  • Inaugural UM Faculty Laureate hopes to provide courses, instruction for counselors, teachers.

    May 1, 2024 by Clara Turnage [Ole Miss News]

    OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi professor Amanda Winburn is a believer in the power of play therapy, in which children work through feelings and experiences using toys. She hopes to instruct teachers and counselors across the state about play therapy and its long-term benefits.

    Winburn, associate professor of leadership and counselor education, was recently named one of the university's inaugural Faculty Laureates, a new program that supports academics who want to make a difference in Mississippi.

    "These play-based activities will facilitate stronger relationships between students and their teachers," she said. "We know that, at that young age, if the students have stronger relationships with their teachers, there's going to be immediate and long-term impacts on not only academics, but also behavior."

    Before a child learns to speak and understand complex emotions, they learn to play. Play therapy is a proven tool to help students – and their educators – better understand a child's worldview, she said. Read more here.

  • Mississippi Lab project encourages creativity, outreach among faculty

    April 12, 2024 by Edwin Smith [Ole Miss News]

    OXFORD, Miss. – A faculty jury has chosen Stephen Fafulas, associate professor of Spanish and linguistics, and Amanda Winburn, associate professor of leadership and counselor education, as the first two honorees in an innovative new program designed to introduce the state to the creative faculty who research and teach at the University of Mississippi.

    Fafulas and Winburn are the university's inaugural faculty laureates, a designation that showcases excellence in academic inquiry, creative endeavor and communication.

    Read the full story here.