2025-2026 Series

The 2025-2026 Dolores Evans Speaker Series marks the 24th year of this signature program at The Lamplighter School. Join us for our November 2025 and January 2026 events!

Dr. Tina Payne Bryson

Psychologist and a prolific author of several books including, The Way of Play (2025), The Power of Showing Up (2020), No-Drama Discipline (2014), and The Whole-Brain Child (2011).

Monday, November 10, 2025

7:00 p.m. | Cook Gym

Tickets to this year's event are complimentary. Please register to reserve your spot.

Reserve tickets

A book signing, in partnership with Interabang Books, will follow the presentation. Pre-order copies of The Whole-Brain Child and/or The Way of Play here.

The guest speaker for the January 2026 event will be announced in late fall.

Learn more about this year's speakers

Learn more about this year's speakers

Dr. Tina Payne Bryson is the co-author (with Dan Siegel) of two New York Times bestsellers—The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline—each of which has been translated into over fifty languages. Dr. Bryson is also the author of The Bottom Line for Baby and co-author (with Dan Siegel) of The Power of Showing Up and The Yes Brain. Her new book, co-authored with Georgie Wisen-Vincent, is The Way of Play. Her books have sold over 3 million copies combined.

Dr. Bryson is a psychotherapist and the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection (“CFC”), a multidisciplinary clinical practice; of The Play Strong Institute, a center devoted to the study, research, and practice of play therapy through a neurodevelopment lens; and The Center for Connection and Neurodiversity, a wing of the CFC devoted to celebrating neurodifferences and providing brain-based occupational therapy across the lifespan.

Dr. Bryson keynotes conferences and conducts workshops for kids, parents, educators, clinicians, and industry leaders all over the world, and she makes frequent media appearances When she isn't teaching, she consults with various companies and organizations, including the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) where she was Project Director for Mental or Emotional Performance, offering direct support to athletes and supporting research. She also works as a Child Development Specialist at St. Mark's School in Pasadena, CA. A graduate of Baylor University, Tina earned her LCSW and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where her research explored attachment science, childrearing theory, and the emerging field of interpersonal neurobiology.

Dolores Evans

Dolores Evans (1931 - 2023) was a long-time member of the Lamplighter community, having been affiliated with the School for more than six decades. She joined The Lamplighter School as a staff member in 1967 and worked at the School until her retirement in 2001. Throughout her 34-year tenure at the School, Dolores did any and every job that was needed. She was the bookkeeper, secretary, receptionist, and eventually served as Lamplighter’s first Director of Admission, a position she held for 25 years. In 2002, the Dolores Evans Speaker Series was established in her honor, and she regularly attended events in her namesake speaker series, sitting proudly in the front row. Dolores was honored by the Alumni Association as a recipient of the Lamplighter Spirit Award in 2022. She was also the grandparent of two Lamplighter alumni, Cole Evans ’04 and Nash Evans ’09.