The Academy of Play and Child Psychotherapy (APAC) has fixed new dates for its popular training courses in Scotland, which are held at venues in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

As the world’s largest and most experienced play and creative arts training organisation – with more than 400 current trainees – APAC is uniquely equipped to train the next generation of children’s play therapists.

Play therapists work with children of all ages using creative play to alleviate social, emotional, behavioural and mental health issues.

Many children don’t want to talk about their problems, or can’t because traumatic memories are locked in their unconscious. Play Therapists offer the children a choice of a variety of therapeutic media including sand worlds, clay, drawing and painting, music, puppets, masks, role play, creative visualisation, therapeutic story and movement.

The children, not the therapist, decide what to use in the session, and therapists are trained to communicate using the media that the children have chosen. These activities naturally generate neurotransmitters that heal parts of the brain, such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which store and manage these troubling memories.

APAC’s special one-day Introduction to Play Therapy Training and Careers courses explain more about the skills potential students will need, the teaching methods using experiential exercises, professional registration, and career opportunities.

The next of these courses will be held at the Golden Jubilee Hotel in Glasgow on November 30, 2019, and at Rosebery House in Edinburgh on May 2, 2020.

These eight-hour workshops will introduce participants to the core concepts of play therapy, give them a chance to ask questions, and allow them to observe examples of play therapy techniques.

Those who have decided that this is a future career can take the first step to becoming a qualified play therapist in March 2020 by beginning a Post Graduate Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills with APAC.

The part-time study certificate takes around 20 to 24 months to complete, during which time trainees will spend five weekends learning through experiential and practical exercises and informing theory, produce written assignments, and deliver 100 hours of supervised clinical practice with children in a placement.

Successful participants will become Registered Certified Practitioners in Therapeutic Play Skills and may then proceed to the second stage of training: APAC’s Post Graduate Diploma in Play Therapy, after which they will be Registered Play Therapists.

More than 4,000 play therapists have qualified with APAC over its 20-year history and have gone on to use the Integrative Holistic Model with a success rate of between 71 and 93%, depending upon the age, gender, and ethnicity of the children, and the severity and type of presenting condition.

Monika Jephcott, the CEO of APAC and a former schoolteacher said: “We have been running courses in Scotland for several years and it’s been fantastic to help so many people gain the skills they need to make children’s lives better.

“All children are different, and they need to have a choice of healing media.  The most effective therapists are not necessarily those with the most years of experience, but those who can communicate with the children using these media.”

For more information or to make an application, contact the APAC Admissions Office on 01825 761 143 or contact@apac.org.uk

For Play Therapy Career Advice, contact Monika on mokijep@majemail.com