Designed for

The programme is designed for anyone interested in using play therapy, therapeutic play or developing their skills in working with children in settings such as:

Schools of all types - CAMHS teams - Social Services - Counselling Services - Adoption & Foster Agencies - Children's care homes - Children's charities - Hospitals - Primary Care - Mental Health etc

It is also designed for professionals who have already completed a 5 day PTUK intensive training and wish to obtain a formal qualification in therapeutic play skills to enable them to alleviate children’s slight to moderate emotional, behaviour and mental health problems including:

Care Workers - Counsellors - Nurses - Psychologists - Psychotherapists - Teachers - SENCOs - Social Workers etc
 

The first part of the course introduces mainly non-directive play techniques based upon the humanistic model and the work of Virginia Axline and Violet Oaklander. We will be outlining different therapeutic play techniques. Participants will experience non-directive play therapy for themselves through sandworlds and a dip into the main tools (art, music, movement and storytelling ). We will also cover employment opportunities and further training requirements for becoming a fully certified Play Therapist.

The second part of the course  builds upon the topics covered in the first part by covering: creative visualisation; music therapy skills; attachment theory; therapeutic storytelling, mask & puppet work; comparison of theoretical models of psychotherapy for working with children; sand play skills and related theory; child development theory; art therapy skills; dance and movement skills student presentations; endings.

This course is also primarily experiential and practical with many individual and group exercises.

Because of the intensive nature of the course applicants should be aware that considerable processing of personal issues may be expected to take place.

Upon successful completion of the course participants will:

• Be able to apply the principles of non-directive therapy to their work with children.

• Understand the therapeutic play continuum as a basis for deciding the way forward for individual children.

• Decide upon future personal and career development

• Be able to work safely and effectively with children using non-directive and directive therapeutic play within their own profession

•  Be qualified to undertake further training to become a PTUK Certified Play Therapist

• Be able to set up a safe and effective therapeutic play service

• Understand the ethical standards to be applied

• Be able to carry out professional assessments, clinical outcome measures and the required administrative tasks

15 days

* To qualify for these reduced fees you must be a member of BACP, PTUK or PTI

Attractive accommodation at a range of prices is available in bed and breakfast, gites, hotels and camping sites. (Many English speaking).  But you will need to book early because the Tarn is a popular area.

Monika Jephcott - Programme Director - Certificate and Diploma courses

Course Director: Evelyn Saunders - Certificate and Diploma courses

Specialist Tutors - Diploma Course

La Mouline, St Genest de Contest (near Realmont) Tarn, France

La Mouline was built as a small water mill in about 1850. It was burnt down 38 years ago and stood as a ruin for 35 years. APAC have completed a sympathetic restoration that combines many of the original features with the extensive use of glass to take advantage of the magnificent views.

It stands in 26 acres bordered by a mill stream. The grounds contain a small lake with an island and rowing boat. There is a heated salt water swimming pool for your use. We grow all our own vegetables and you will be able to pick fruit that is in season from a selection of over 70 fruit trees.

Although the nearest neighbour is a kilometre away La Mouline is only 10 minutes from the charming small town of Realmont which has an excellent supermarket, 5 bakers, 4 butchers, 2 pharmacies a doctor with fluent English and 6 ladies hairdressers(!),

Toulouse airport with budget airline services from many UK airports (typically £60 return) is less than an hour away.

 

		View of Black Mountains from near La Mouline
La Mouline - main building
See also: Further details of this superb therapeutic training environment	Heated salt water swimming pool  for your enjoyment!

Diploma Course

The course has been designed to:

• Enhance your career/professional skills

• Increase your satisfaction in working with children

• Give you the skills to help children develop their emotional literacy

• Give you the skills to alleviate behaviour and mental health problems

• Assist your own personal development

• Provide you with the  Profession Structure Model competencies defined by PTUK to work with individuals and groups of children who have moderate to severe problems

The Diploma course is the second part of a programme leading to an MA in Practised Based Play Therapy.  It is at stage 3 of the PTUK four stage training model

It may be undertaken as a 'stand alone' course by suitably qualified applicants.

As in the Certificate course material for the Diploma builds upon the theory and practice of humanistic psychology, particularly that of Virginia Axline ("Dibs In Search of Self") and Carl Rogers and gestalt play therapy developed by Violet Oaklander. It recognises contributions made by others in the early 1900s, such as John Bowlby, Margaret Lowenfeld, Donald Winnicott, Rachel Pinney etc It extends to a deeper understanding of the unconscious processes in relation to the child’s development based upon Freud, Jung, Graff, Fairburn Hillman, Moore and Jacobson. It also places importance on the spiritual aspect of human development. Opportunities for many forms of creativity will enrich the contents of the course.

You will be exploring ways of integrating the child as the centre of a social system, which includes schools, families, and team of support.

The main items in the 'Play Therapy Tool-Kit' are re-visited at a greater level of competence, put into practice with more difficult problems and used as assessment methods.

• A basic understanding of play therapy research issues and methods

Developing Expressive Arts Skills - Art in child development; Court Work; Student presentation

Participants will learn through working with other members of the course about the roles and responsibilities of the therapeutic relationship. There will be tutorials on theory but formal teaching and lecturing will be kept to an essential minimum.

Learning will be experiential and collaborative using pair, group work, role-play and case presentations. Homework reading and other assignments will provide new information and consolidation of material from the experiential work encountered within the weekends. Assignments will be subject of group discussions the following weekend.

It is essential that participants are working with children.  100 supervised hours need to be completed before the Diploma can be awarded.  The situations and problems that you encounter in real life outside the classroom together with their solutions are an essential part of the learning process.

• Two written case studies, covering the work with a child for at least 1 year and showing a clear integration of theory and practice.
• Completion of an individual practical therapeutic project, designed and documented by the participant.
• Continuous evaluation of course work contributions and ability to work with group dynamics
• Post training presentation
• Evidence of a further 100 hrs supervised hours of working with children using play therapy
• Completion an an essay of about 3000 words
• Evidence of regular play therapy supervision
• Satisfactory attendance on the course

£2200  training fee.  You may make your own accommodation arrangements from about £25 - £50 per night at a range of B&B's, gites, hotels and camping sites

(There is an additional University fee of £150 for this award if you have already registered with the University for the Certificate course.)

Comments & Results from Previous Schools

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Comments

A selection of  comments from the participants is given below.  The original documents from which these comments are taken may be inspected at Fern Hill by arrangement.

'I wasn’t sure what to expect regarding the practical/experiential work. This was really enjoyable and to have most of the course on a practical level was fantastic.'

2005 Student Evaluations of Play Therapy Training

25 participants completed evaluations of the full play therapy programme using a scale: 1 = Poor to 5 = Excellent .  The overall score of 4.19 suggests a high level of satisfaction.

 

This chart shows a very high level of satisfaction with all topics.

This chart shows a very high level of satisfaction with all learning methods.  The emphasis on experiential work and case histories validates APAC's approach to play therapy training.

It is APAC's aim to match the learning objectives and methods between the Certificate and Diploma courses held in the UK and those at La Mouline as closely as possible.  A comparison is given in the table below.

Please down load application form with travel and accommodation details or phone Monika on: 01825 712312:

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