Registered Play Therapist™

FINALLY! After many, many years, over 200 continuing education hours, 1000s of hours of experience, and many wonderful supervision sessions, I am proud to have officially obtained the credential of a Registered Play Therapist™!!! I am so excited to have this designation to be able to signify to clients and professionals my continued dedication and competency in the field of play therapy and devotion to provide the highest level of care for my clients.  Please read more below about what it means to be a Registered Play Therapist™.

What is a Registered Play Therapist™?

A Registered Play Therapist™ is a licensed mental health therapist that has received credentialing from the Association for Play Therapy to demonstrate play therapy competency.  National standards to demonstrate competency help clients and other professionals identify that a provider has obtained thorough training, supervision, and experience in play therapy.  In order to obtain this prestigious credential, a therapist must meet rigorous levels of training, experience, and supervision.  They must have received at least a master’s degree in counseling, social work, marriage and family counseling, or a related field with strict requirements to ensure that the graduate level courses full represent the highest level of standards.  They must have been working within the field through experience, supervision, and training for a period of no less than two years.  This length of time ensures that a therapist is well equipped to integrate their training and supervision as well as demonstrate proficiency with experience.  It also helps ensure that providers can understand child development better through experiencing it directly within the therapeutic context.  They must have completed a minimum of 150 continuing education hours in specific standards specifically related to play therapy and approved by the Association of Play Therapy.  They must have a minimum of 35 hours of supervision with a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™, and the supervisor must have reviewed at least 5 video sessions of the therapist’s work.  They are required to demonstrate experience using play therapy for a minimum of 350 hours.  All of these requirements must happen in an integrated fashion over a three phases approach.

Why see a Registered Play Therapist™?

A provider that has earned this credential has demonstrated extensive knowledge and expertise in the field of play therapy.

Does a therapist need to be a Registered Play Therapist™ in order to provide play therapy?

No. A therapist should be well trained in a modality to provide play therapy and should operate within their scope of practice.  Many therapists chose not to pursue this credential for a variety of reasons.  Some therapists have had extensive training, supervision, and experience, and they may have decided not to pursue maintaining a credential as a Registered Play Therapist™.  It is a privilege to be able to obtain a credential as a Registered Play Therapist™ due to the extensive time, money, and continuing education requirements to meet the rigorous demands required to demonstrate competency.

What does a therapist need in order to say that they provide play therapy?

A therapist may only have had one course in play therapy to state that they are providing play therapy.  It does not mean that they do not have some level of competency with what they are providing, but it may signify that they do not have as much experience in their skills. However, it may also mean they simply have not persued the credential.  Please talk to a provider to understand their background with play therapy.  Many competent providers do not have this credential to signfiy their training.

Could anyone say that they provide play therapy?

They could. It is important to be mindful of what a provider means when they say they provide play therapy.  It is also important to understand that play is also very therapeutic even if it is not being used as play therapy.  Please see this graph below to identify the differences between play-based skills, therapeutic play, and play therapy.

What does it mean that a therapist is providing play therapy?

It is important to understand if a therapist is using play therapy or if they are using play-based approaches and techniques.  Play therapy itself though is a very large field with numerous modalities to provide competent therapy for children.  Play therapy can largely be understood as operating from non-directive approaches and modalities or directive modalities.  A Registered Play Therapist™ must have a minimum of 25 hours in continuing education credits specific to the theory of one modality to ensure they have a thorough understanding of a specific approach (ideally one that they primarily practice within).  In that way, different Registered Play Therapists™ may have very different approaches.  Regardless of if you are seeing a Registered Play Therapist™ or a therapist using play therapy (or another provider using play techniques within their therapy), it is important to ask questions to understand what they are providing for your child.  Play therapists will be able to also adjust their modalities based on the client and child they are working with to ensure they are using the best approach for your child.  If you find that you are not getting the right support, be sure to talk to your provider about finding the right fit or approach.  Just like therapy with adults, finding a provider with the right fit for your family is important because relationship is at the heart of therapy.

Do you have to be a mental health therapist in order to provide play therapy?

Yes.  Mental health therapists are the only providers with sufficient background in counseling and therapy to allow them to be able to provide play therapy with the appropriate additional training.  Therapy is a general term that describes many different kinds of training, degrees, goals, and backgrounds.  Play is so important for the work that any providers are using with kids, so it is very common that it is used with nearly anyone working with children.  Other disciplines may use similar approaches or play based therapy if they have trained in a specific modality that primarily uses play.  These approaches are different from play therapy.  However, they may still be a very valuable and appropriate choice for your family depending on the needs of your child.  Other disciplines that might use play based approaches or be trained in a play based modality include occupational therapists, developmental therapists, speech and language pathologists, and educators.

But I don’t think my child needs to play in therapy. Why play therapy?

This is a common concern when parents initially begin the process.  Play therapy is the most developmentally appropriate approach for the majority of children of any age.  However, play changes over the years, and a Registered Play Therapist™ is trained in to work with children of many developmental levels.  Play also looks different as children age.  A Registered Play Therapist™ may use more structured approaches for older children and teens.  They may use sand tray therapy provided that they have been trained in this modality.  They may use art to support children in expressing themselves.  (Registered Play Therapists™ are not art therapists, which holds its own credentialing process.)  They may use board games or cards.  For younger children or even those that you may not typically think of having play, research suggests that it is the best way for children to process, learn, grow, and express themselves.  The attunement and therapeutic support that a Registered Play Therapist™ is trained to provide within the play is much deeper than “just play.”

What about adults?

The skills of play therapy are often adapted throughout the lifespan! This can even include not using toys at all.  Many adults benefit from seeing a Registered Play Therapist™ wether they are focused on their own healing, a play therapy approach, or parenting support.  Play is important for everyone in a variety of different ways.  Sand tray therapy is often used for adults (Sand tray therapy is different than Sand Play Therapy) to allow them to process experientially.  This approach can be very beneficial for adults that cope through intellectualization and rationalization because it allows them to process using a different part of the brain.

Where can I learn more?

Please visit the Association for Play Therapy.  Specific pages to review include the credentialing requirements, parents corner, and the search for a Registered Play Therapist™ tool.

Find out more about my approach to play therapy!