Apprenticeship training course

Play therapist (level 7)

Work to improve children’s mental health, emotional well-being, learning capabilities and social relationships.

• Qualification level: 7 ; Equivalent to master’s degree.
• Typical duration: 36 months
• Apprenticeship category: Care services
• Maximum funding: £20,000 ; Maximum amount government will fund ; for apprenticeship training.
• Also known as:
  • Accredited play therapist
  • Certified play therapist
  • Practitioners in therapeutic play skills
• Skills:
  Skills an apprentice will learn

  • Apply in practice play in child development with children and early adolescents
  • Identify, acquire and manage the safe use of materials and equipment for use in the playroom for therapeutic purposes these are: paper, art materials, clay, sand, sand trays with symbols, musical instruments, puppets, dressing-up clothes, water, movements items, this is an example of the minimum therapeutic media required which would be adapted to meet the physical needs of the children
  • Recognise personal issues that arise as a result of sessions with children, clinical supervision and training; takes actions such as personal therapy or CPD to deal with these
  • Apply neurobiology to work with children in observation, assessment, during sessions and reporting upon clinical outcomes
  • Manages the consultation process through interview and discussion skills, adequate assessment of client needs, obtaining consent, agreeing a therapy contract including therapeutic objectives or making a referral to another professional concerned with children’s well-being if the case is outside their competence or resources
  • Make clinical assessments using psychometric tools such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
  • Applies a theoretical framework to play therapy practice including child development and attachment theory
  • Use the Integrative Holistic Model of Play Therpay: therapeutic stories, clay, role play, drawing and painting, puppets, games, sand-play, music, movement, creative visualisations, masks, dressing up, blocks/lego, water, messy play, relaxation
  • Decide and practice when to work indirectly or directly, and with unconscious or conscious processes using the Play Therapy Dimensions Model as a guide to session activities
  • Plan and use play therapy for groups of children
  • Establish, agree and enforce boundaries to keep the children safe
  • Respond to different children’s behaviours such as aggressive/acting out or passive children in play therapy sessions
  • Assess and deliver play therapy interventions with a variety of conditions on a spectrum of needs from low risk to high risk as measured by the SDQ and other factors
  • Apply ethical principles to ensure personal safety within individual or group play therapy sessions.
  • Manages the handling of sensitive clinical data in practice
  • Ability to effectively communicate to stakeholders, parents and professionals identifying the on-going needs of the child

Full information on Play therapist (level 7) is available from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

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