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Using Symbolic Play Therapy Tools and Metaphor Safely

In this module, you will learn how to compose and tell a story to achieve a particular therapeutic objective. You will be able to work with images produced by children in drawing, painting, clay and in sand trays.

You will understand how to apply therapeutic interventions with children who have attachment/trauma-based problems and practise therapeutic play interventions with children who have conduct, fear, anxiety, mood, sleeping, grief and bereavement problems.

Using Expressive Arts Therapy to Reach the Unconscious

You will add to your repertoire of therapeutic play therapy tools and will be introduced to the main research methods that are applicable to play therapy. You will also learn the fundamentals of neurobiology, showing the beneficial effects of play.

At the end of this module, you will be able to use creative visualisation to help position and provide a technique to help children anchor, nurture and ‘cherish’ themselves.

You will gain an understanding of the theory, practice and research possibilities of sand play therapy skills, movement, clay and creative visualisation, and use symbols to enhance the understanding, but not interpretation, of the sand play scenes.

Working Therapeutically with Groups of Children

You will learn to utilise advanced play therapy interventions with children who have more severe levels of need such as emotional, physical, sexual abuse and neglect.

You will also explore working therapeutically with groups of children, using drama and role play as play therapy interventions.

New theoretical concepts are introduced including the Embodiment, Projection and Role (EPR) framework and the Play Therapy Dimensions Model (PTDM). Particular attention is given throughout the module to your ability to run and be responsible for play therapy groups.

Therapeutic Decision Taking

You will learn art therapy skills, sand play, analysis of drawings and mask-making skills for assessment, as well as interventions for children with severe problems.

Your knowledge of neurobiology will be expanded, as you learn about the functions of different parts of the brain and what happens when they go wrong.

The legal court setting is covered in terms of advocacy, therapeutic support and representation of an abused child or witness. The practical aspects of managing the disclosure of child abuse is explored.

Integrating the Therapeutic Toolkit

In this module, you will master clay and masks for application within a broad range of learning differences.

You will acquire experience of adapting and integrating art, clay, sand play and other skills for use in groups, the impact of group endings, exploring the feasibility of establishing a new play therapy service and developing methods of promoting the service and your own skills.

You will also learn to evaluate opportunities for play therapy research and explore ways to integrate the toolkit within a wide range of learning differences or conditions.

Research Dissertation

An area of interest, focus or passion may emerge in your practice and become the focus of your research as you finish the course.

The topic may focus on a therapeutic medium or a referral condition. It might be about parents, carers, families, systemic and environmental factors, market demand in a country or area, standards of service, client satisfaction, settings, practitioners, clinical supervisors or providers of services and trainers.

The design and delivery of a research study offers a springboard to publishing findings, to writing professional training courses based on the research outcomes and to speaking at events as an expert in an area of Play Therapy.