Table of Contents
How long is a play therapy course?
Overview. This two year full-time programme integrates theoretical learning, clinical skills and in-depth personal development to prepare graduates for clinical practice, predominantly with children, as a professional play therapist within the public and private sectors. In order to become a Certified Play Therapist it is necessary to: Successfully complete a PTI/PTISA accredited training course at Diploma level including a minimum of 200 hours clinically supervised work with children. That is, in traditional play therapy, play is the therapy, whereas in CBT, play engages the child in the tasks and goals of the therapy. Play is important in all phases of CBT, including assessment, psychoeducation, as well as treatment strategies, such as exposure tasks and relapse prevention. Play therapy offers you an opportunity to develop non talking therapy skills which you will be able to use with adults as well as children. Therapeutic play skills may also be useful systemically in, for example, working with families where children are an important issue.
Is play therapy in demand?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a play therapist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $44.4 an hour? That’s $92,351 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 22% and produce 12,300 job opportunities across the U.S. Employment opportunities & working practices: A number are employed directly by children’s charities and private children’s residential homes. Many Play Therapists also work independently in private practice or are commissioned by agencies to provide services for specific groups of children. A Registered Play Therapist, or RPT, is a counselor, psychologist, or other mental health professional who has received additional training in how to help children express feelings, work through problems, and practice new ways of interacting with others through play.
What are the two major types of play therapy?
Play therapy comes in two basic forms: non-directive (or child-centered) and directive. Play Therapy has emerged from elements of Child Psychotherapy with the specific theoretical foundations emerging from the Humanistic Psychology tradition and Attachment theory. It’s often used when children are facing serious medical procedures or struggling with chronic illness, and many children’s hospitals offer play therapy. Play therapy is considered helpful for children who have experienced physical or emotional abuse or for those who have been bullied. It’s mainly used with children who may not be able to put how they are feeling into words. Play therapy helps them to communicate at their own level using everyday play things. This can help them learn to cope with what they’re going through, to develop and to build relationships with others. You’ll work as part of a multidisciplinary team with other healthcare professionals, such as social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and medical practitioners. Providing therapy to children can be challenging, especially with cases involving abuse and violence. These are: Surplus energy theory, Recreation or Relaxation theory, Practice or Pre-exercise theory, and Recapitulation theory. The theory of Surplus energy, which proposes that play is essentially blowing off steam dates back to Ancient Greek philosophy and the Aristotelian concept of catharsis.
What are the 4 theories of play?
These are: Surplus energy theory, Recreation or Relaxation theory, Practice or Pre-exercise theory, and Recapitulation theory. The theory of Surplus energy, which proposes that play is essentially blowing off steam dates back to Ancient Greek philosophy and the Aristotelian concept of catharsis.
What qualifications do I need to be a child therapist?
Entry requirements To train as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, you must have completed a recognised pre-clinical course. These courses include psychoanalytic and child development theory and psychoanalytic observations of infants and young children. To practise as an adult psychotherapist, you’ll need to undertake appropriate recognised training. You’ll usually need an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject and/or be a qualified and experienced healthcare practitioner, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health nurse or social worker. An industry-approved doctoral degree is usually required to become a Child Psychologist. This must be in a relevant subject – such as psychology, nursing, social work, or sociology. You’ll also need to have at least two years’ (voluntary or professional) experience working with children or families to get started. A child psychologist is a psychologist who has trained specifically to provide assessments and treatments for children experiencing behavioural, social, emotional (click here to know signs of depression for children), or educational problems. You will need five GCSEs at grade 4 (C) and above especially in maths and English, to demonstrate literacy and numeracy. After leaving school, you should apply for a level 3 childcare course at a further/higher education institution in order to gain experience of working with children.