October 2023 online 

Places will be allocated and secured upon receipt of a successful application. Courses for Health Professionals, Social Workers, Teachers and others interested in finding out about Art Therapies. The following course is offered on a part-time basis for 20 weeks. The course compromises of two full day workshops and eighteen evening classes all held online. 

Please click here for the Terms & Conditions

Please read the  Short Courses & Professional Development Programmes Contract 2020-21 before submitting payment.

Course Description

Experiential Workshops

These workshops will be facilitated by a qualified and experienced BAPT-registered Play Therapist. Experiential activities form the core of the course, providing students with an opportunity to explore and reflect on the process of Play Therapy on a personal level. Connections and links will be made to the theories that underpin Play Therapy as this emerges from the practical component, enabling participants to learn from theory that directly relates to their experience. Please note that whilst the emphasis of the workshops is on an educational not a therapeutic experience, participants should be aware of potential tensions between their personal and professional responses and should be prepared for a degree of self-exposure.

Seminars and Lectures

The seminars and lectures are integrated into the workshop experiences. Each workshop will be part experiential play therapy and part seminar/lecture. The seminars will often comprise presentations of clinical / therapeutic work and opportunity for group discussions. 

Assessment

Participants will be expected to keep a Reflective Log of their experiences while on the course which constitutes a record of their personal psychological journey including photographs of images created in the experiential workshops. As such the Log itself will be a highly personal manuscript and will not be assessed. In the last workshop of the course participants will present a dramatised, artistic or narrative Story of this journey to share with the class. The Journey Story will be approximately 3 minutes long and may be presented in the play media of the participant's choice.

Successful completion of the course requires a minimum attendance of 70% and a satisfactory final Journey Story. A certificate of attendance will be awarded. This will not automatically ensure a participant's entry to the Roehampton University MA in Play Therapy; however, individuals considering applying for Professional training are encouraged to complete a Foundation Course.

A programme of experiential workshops led by the course facilitators and seminars given by visiting Play Therapists from a wide range of fields.

One full-day Induction (Sunday) and introductory workshop to begin the course to be held in October 2022 with weekly evening classes to follow; finishing with a full Plenary Day to close in March 2023

Course timetable and dates

This timetable is provisional - dates and times may be subject to change. The sequence of some of these workshops may be subject to change, due to availability of visiting specialist lecturers.

Date	Time	Title
23 October	1000-1630	INDUCTION DAY Introduction to the course and to one another. Course overview, boundaries and expectations Discussion of the Play Therapy profession and entry into training and the professional organisation: the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT)
27 October	18.30-20.30	Workshop 1 Why Play? The central importance of play in child development
3 November	18.30-20.30	Workshop 2 Historical overview of the development of Play Therapy in the UK. Comparison of different models of Play Therapy, including Non-Directive Play Therapy, Social Constructionist and Narrative Therapy approaches
10 November	18.30-20.30	Workshop 3 Sensory or embodiment play in Play Therapy - using clay, play-dough, slime, sand and other sensory materials
17 November	18.30-20.30	Workshop 4 Projective or symbolic play in Play Therapy - using toy figures etc to create symbolic stories
24 November	18.30-20.30	Workshop 5 Dramatic role-play in Play Therapy
1 December	18.30-20.30	Workshop 6 Using art in Play Therapy
8 December	18.30-20.30	Workshop 7 Providing a therapeutic environment – the therapist’s role. Developing reflective listening skills etc
15 December	18.30-20.30	Workshop 8 Using stories in Play Therapy
12 January	18.30-20.30	Workshop 9 Sand play therapy & Mosaics - An introduction to Lowenfeld Techniques
19 January	18.30-20.30	Workshop 10 Building self-esteem through play
26 January	18.30-20.30	Workshop 11 Where are we now? Review of the journey so far
2 February	18.30-20.30	Workshop 12 Attachment and loss part 1
9 February	18.30-20.30	Workshop 13 Attachment and loss part 2
16 February	18.30-20.30	Workshop 14 Trauma and abuse in relation to Play Therapy
23 February	18.30-20.30	Workshop 15 Limit-setting
2 March	18.30-20.30	Workshop 16 Play Therapy and the Bereaved Child
9 March	18.30-20.30	Workshop 17 Therapeutic play with children with special needs
16 March	18.30-20.30	Workshop 18 Play Therapy and Looked After Children
19 March	1000-1630	PLENARY DAY Endings including shared presentations of ‘Journey stories’