Master of Arts - Play Therapy

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. 

Based on a humanistic person-centred model of therapy, this course emphasises the use of play within a therapeutic relationship between the therapist and client to facilitate therapeutic change. The course encompasses theoretical, practical and experiential learning. With a holistic approach to teaching, students will be provided with thorough and systematic knowledge, experience, skills and the confidence to work as a professionally qualified play therapist. At the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of therapeutic techniques and approaches that are required for professional registration purposes. 

This course leads to a qualification that entitles students to registration as a Full Member of the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT) whose register is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Students will be taught by experienced practitioners who are practising play therapists and will bring the teaching on the course to life by drawing upon their own clinical experiences and case materials. 

All students are required to be in personal therapy for the duration of the course and will complete two specified periods of supervised clinical placements alongside their studies. 

This intense, rigorous and comprehensive programme is made up of ten modules that encompass the theoretical, practical and experiential learning experience required to become a professional play therapist. All modules are designed to prepare students for child-centred therapeutic practice that is theoretically sound and emotionally aware, complying with the core competencies of a play therapist as specified by the British Association of Play Therapists. 

The clinical placements are a central component to the training in this programme. In the first year, the modules will include experiential learning to prepare students for their first work placement, as theoretical understanding will give them a strong grounding for their clinical practice. Students' professional development is inter-related with the development of theoretical knowledge, skills and personal awareness. Within the clinical placements students will synthesise, integrate and apply all aspects of their learning into practise.  

In the second year, students will build upon their play therapy skills and knowledge from their first year modules. Students will have the opportunity to develop and explore their understanding of the theory and practice of play therapy in relation to working with different client groups and more complex needs. Students will also synthesise their theoretical knowledge and clinical experience to pursue their research interest in the Research Portfolio module. A clinical issue, studetns' own clinical work or a professional issue may provide the inspiration for this research project. Recent research areas have included: child-centred play therapy and the use of therapeutic boundaries, play therapy and unresolved bereavement issues, play therapy in schools, and play therapy and different cultural beliefs.