Continuing education and professional training in education and therapeutic interventions built on decades of peer-reviewed research and a deep belief in human potential.
For more than two decades, I've worked at an unusual intersection — performing arts, academic medicine, and special education — to develop therapeutic and educational frameworks that take human wonder seriously.
What began on theatrical stages became, over time, peer-reviewed clinical practice. Magic Therapy® and Hocus Focus™ are now used by occupational therapists, educators, and clinicians around the world.
"Evidence and wonder are not opposites."
Explore Our Courses
Research-backed education and therapeutic training designed for real-world impact — built by practitioners, for practitioners.
$59
Understanding Autism
A foundational course exploring autism through current research, lived experience, and practical implications for the people who teach, treat, and love autistic individuals.
Special offer until the end of Month: Practical, universal-design approaches for welcoming more people into the places where we gather: eight modules with changes you can start making to your space this week. Built from two decades of work in theaters, museums, schools, libraries, and places of worship.
Build the combination that fits your work. Pair Understanding Autism or Understanding ADHD with Effective Strategies to move from knowing the signs to knowing what to do, or add Creating Sensory Inclusive Spaces to shape the environment around the people you support. Choose any two of the four and save.
Using Magic Tricks in Occupational Therapy (Coming Soon)
Using Magic Tricks in Occupational Therapy: Performance, Play, and Purpose is now available from Routledge, and the companion micro course is coming soon. It takes the book's framework into practice, with demonstrations of the tricks themselves and guidance on using them to build fine motor skills, attention, and confidence with the people you serve.
Building Safe Spaces
More students are arriving at school carrying chronic stress and trauma, and most educators have had little or no training in how to respond. This course gives you a working understanding of how trauma shapes the brain and behavior, along with practical ways to build relationships, prevent conflict, and create safe, predictable learning environments. It closes with the MAGICIAN framework from Teach Like a Magician, so that once students feel safe, you have the tools to keep them engaged.
Teach Like A Magician
Every teacher knows the moment when a room drifts away. This course offers a practical way to bring students back and keep them there. Drawing on 35 years on stage and the research behind his Routledge book, Dr. Kevin Spencer shares the MAGICIAN framework: five strategies for engaging students and three habits that sustain the teacher doing the work. Short, self-paced, and ready to use in your classroom the next day.
The Research
The frameworks behind our work
Spencer Institute's courses are grounded in two clinical frameworks developed and refined over more than two decades of research and practice:
Magic Therapy®
A peer-reviewed, AOTA-approved therapeutic framework using the structured practice of magic to address motor skills, cognition, social engagement, and emotional regulation in clinical and educational settings.
Clinical & educational settings
Motor & cognitive skills
Social engagement
Hocus Focus™
An evidence-based educational curriculum that uses magic-based learning to develop attention, problem-solving, communication, and confidence in students with diverse learning needs.
Attention & focus
Problem-solving
Diverse learning needs
Why Spencer Institute
Built on rigor. Designed for impact.
Four reasons educators and clinicians choose our continuing education.
Peer-Reviewed Research
Every framework has been published in indexed academic journals and reviewed by clinical experts.
Real-World Application
Continuing-education credits accepted by APA, AOTA, and ASHA in 40+ countries.
Therapeutic Innovation
1:1 sessions with senior faculty for case work, supervision, and ethics review.
Professional Certification
Professional Certification Earn certificates of completion. AOTA-approved continuing education for clinicians.
About Dr. Kevin Spencer
Kevin Spencer, PhD, is an educator, researcher, and author working at the intersection of performing arts, academic medicine, and special education. He has collaborated with Harvard Medical and Boston Children’s Hospital, the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Health Professions and UAB's Arts In Medicine program, and is listed with the U.S. Department of State’s Speakers Program for cultural exchange programs. He holds a doctorate in special education and disability studies, along with professional certifications in neuropsychology, neuroscience, autism studies, and neurodiversity mental health training.
His research has been published in indexed clinical journals including Health Psychology Research, the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, Journal for Learning Through the Arts, and the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. His most recent book, Using Magic in Occupational Therapy (Routledge, 2026), is his first text providing a theoretical foundation and a “magic toolkit” for therapists. His previous book, Teach Like a Magician (Routledge, Eye On Education, 2025), draws on more than two decades of work with educators worldwide.
Before turning to research and clinical practice, Kevin had a career as an internationally touring theatrical illusionist—work that earned him recognition as International Magician of the Year in both 2009 and 2015. That experience still shapes his conviction that wonder belongs in serious work.
Why Spencer Institute
Books & Resources
Scholarly depth from the founder, for the curious and the committed.
Routledge · Eye On Education (2025)
Teach Like a Magician
Routledge, Eye On Education (2025). Practical strategies drawn from theatrical performance for educators who want to engage students more deeply.
"I am pleased to recommend Dr. Kevin Spencer and his courses through the Spencer Institute, including his training on understanding autism and the Eight Best Practices. The content is thoughtful, practical, and highly relevant to professionals and caregivers working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Based on that experience, I believe these trainings offer significant value to mental health professionals, behavioral health providers, school systems, and others who support individuals with autism. I am confident that these mini courses would be a valuable addition to any professional development or training program serving neurodivergent individuals and the broader support network around them."
Carroll Chapman, BSW, ES, AAMH, MHRT-C, BHP
"Dr. Spencer’s micro-courses offer a wealth of knowledge, practical strategies, and valuable resources for anyone seeking to better understand and support neurodivergent individuals. His unique blend of academic expertise and professional experience allows him to translate complex topics into actionable tools. Having had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Spencer in the classroom over the past three years, I am thrilled to share his micro-courses with a broader audience of colleagues."
Caitlin Volz , MFA
"Dr. Spencer's micro courses are informative, well-produced, and easy to take in. They feel more like a TED Talk than a long training. After finishing Understanding Autism and Best Strategies, I'm looking forward to sharing them with my students, and I think social workers and therapists would benefit from them as well."
Lisa Jellison, LCSW
"The Spencer Institute micro courses helped me better recognize the signs of autism and ADHD in theater patrons, which lets me adapt my customer service to their needs early instead of waiting for a problem to arise. The Best Strategies module changed how I give instructions. Guiding a patron to their seat one step at a time works far better than a single direction to go sit down. To a colleague at another PAC, I would say these courses are absolutely worth your time, and the content applies to every kind of social situation, whether or not your role is patron-facing."
Brooke Keener, UWG
"As Special Projects Coordinator with a dance organization, I am committed to expanding access to live performance and creating meaningful opportunities for audiences to experience dance. As we work toward sensory inclusive programming, Dr. Kevin Spencer’s microcourse through the Spencer Institute provided both a thoughtful foundation and a practical framework for that process. It deepened my understanding of inclusion as a responsibility that extends across the entire audience experience, from advanced communication to the support available throughout a visit. I came away with greater confidence and concrete strategies to guide our planning. Our team is energized by the possibilities this learning has opened and excited to create performances where individuals with sensory differences and their families feel welcomed, supported, and valued."
Victoria Santaguida
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