Play Therapy is a cost effective, evidence based, child-centred form of child psychotherapy.
Some of the many benefits of basing a play therapy service within a school are...
- Increased access for the children who need it most. Not just the children who’s parents have a lot of resources.
- Greater collaboration between teaching staff, parents and other specialists. A multi-disciplinary approach is often in the best interests of the child.
- Timely intervention. For those children who’s difficulties seem to be particularly triggered at school, the intervention will be closer in time to the trigger points helping address the route causes of difficulties and find strategies for when those triggers crop up again.
- Knock on benefits for the whole school community. Better engagement in classroom lessons from one child benefits the whole class and eases the burden on the teachers. Parents who see improvements with their child’s behavior feel supported and more willing to engage with other parent teacher activities.
- A therapeutic outlet at school that has a wide appeal. The play therapy tool kit facilitates aspects of art therapy, drama therapy, sand tray therapy, dance therapy and music therapy.
What to expect:
Children can be referred by teachers, parents or by themselves directly to the play therapist or channeled through the school social worker or SEN leader.
After an initial meeting and assessment a regular weekly 40 minute time slot will be agreed upon for a student. The therapist will discuss the length of intervention required. A short-term intervention may only need 12 sessions however parents and teachers can review with the therapist every 6-8 weeks or so. One of the core principles of non-directive child centred therapeutic play is that the child will not be rushed but paced accordingly to what is right for the individual. Our philosophy is that we should empower children to help themselves. Therefore, excessive long-term dependency on a therapist is not what we’re about.
Other added value services:
- Regular play therapy bulletins keeping the whole school team informed.
- An annual programme report with anonymised data charting the progress of students and knock on benefits.
- Teacher & parent workshops
If you're interested in employing a cost effective and efficient solution to cope with the growing number of SEN at your school and in your area please submit an enquiry form below. We will contact you with more information and with information about the various price plans available to fit in line with your current SEN priorities. Also, click here for our FAQ page.
Play Therapy: A safe, child-centred and playful approach to special educational needs.
