Play therapist Apprenticeship Standard

Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Play therapist standard?

Knowledge

K1: What is required of a play therapist by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), government and professional bodies
K2: The importance of play and attachment theory in child and adolescent development and its role in play therapy
K3: What is required to be fit for play therapy practice taking into consideration physical and mental health and social factors
K4: How to manage the equipment used in play therapy practice to ensure that it meets the needs of the children irrespective of their physical developmental needs
K5: Psychopharmacology for working with children receiving play therapy
K6: Requirements to manage a playroom/ play space for therapeutic uses
K7: The workings of and the relevant components of children's brains, and how the mind is created and changed
K8: The Integrative Holistic model of Play Therapy for children who have mental health and emotional well-being issues not exclusive to trauma, loss, neglect, abuse, anxiety, relationship issues
K9: How to use a wide range of therapeutic activities including creative arts media for play therapy purposes
K10: Indirect and direct play therapy modalities, as appropriate with individual and with groups of children to build positive relationship with the child
K11: Effective and efficient referral procedures for play therapy
K12: Research relating to the efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of children's mental health and emotional well-being of play therapy interventions
K13: Physical safety risks and how to mitigate them in play therapy practice
K14: How to respond therapeutically to a client when the client plays and moves within the 4 quadrants of the Play Therapy Dimensions Model
K15: What is required to work ethically with clients
K16: The importance of therapeutic boundaries within clinical working
K17: How attachment and child development theories are related to play therapy practice
K18: How to record, process and store sensitive data in-line with GDPR
K19: Effective reporting with stakeholders, parents and professionals identifying the on-going needs of the child.

Skills

S1: Apply in practice play in child development with children and early adolescents
S2: Identify, acquire and manage the safe use of materials and equipment for use in the playroom for therapeutic purposes these are: paper, art materials, clay, sand, sand trays with symbols, musical instruments, puppets, dressing-up clothes, water, movements items, this is an example of the minimum therapeutic media required which would be adapted to meet the physical needs of the children
S3: Recognise personal issues that arise as a result of sessions with children, clinical supervision and training; takes actions such as personal therapy or CPD to deal with these
S4: Apply neurobiology to work with children in observation, assessment, during sessions and reporting upon clinical outcomes
S5: Manages the consultation process through interview and discussion skills, adequate assessment of client needs, obtaining consent, agreeing a therapy contract including therapeutic objectives or making a referral to another professional concerned with children’s well-being if the case is outside their competence or resources
S6: Make clinical assessments using psychometric tools such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
S7: Applies a theoretical framework to play therapy practice including child development and attachment theory
S8: Use the Integrative Holistic Model of Play Therpay: therapeutic stories, clay, role play, drawing and painting, puppets, games, sand-play, music, movement, creative visualisations, masks, dressing up, blocks/lego, water, messy play, relaxation
S9: Decide and practice when to work indirectly or directly, and with unconscious or conscious processes using the Play Therapy Dimensions Model as a guide to session activities
S10: Plan and use play therapy for groups of children
S11: Establish, agree and enforce boundaries to keep the children safe
S12: Respond to different children’s behaviours such as aggressive/acting out or passive children in play therapy sessions
S13: Assess and deliver play therapy interventions with a variety of conditions on a spectrum of needs from low risk to high risk as measured by the SDQ and other factors
S14: Apply ethical principles to ensure personal safety within individual or group play therapy sessions.
S15: Manages the handling of sensitive clinical data in practice
S16: Ability to effectively communicate to stakeholders, parents and professionals identifying the on-going needs of the child

Behaviours

B1: Integrity and coherent in dealings with others
B2: Demonstrate at all times a personal commitment consistent in their approach
B3: Demonstrate empathy through communicating and understanding of another person's experience from that person's perspective (including the children's)
B4: Resilient through having the capacity to work with parents' and children’s concerns without being personally diminished
B5: Ability to make decisions in the best interest of the child when needing to refer to others
B6: Demonstrate how to apply appropriate criteria to inform decisions and actions regardless of personal views without discrimination
B7: Show compassion through kindness, consideration, dignity, empathy and respect
B8: Respect confidentiality of the child and parents, recognising the differences between a therapeutic role as compared to eg a teaching role

Duty 1

DUTY: Fulfil the legal and ethical requirements of a Play Therapist and the standards of the Professional Standards Authority Accredited (PSA) Register of Play and Creative Arts Therapists managed by Play Therapy UK

Duty 2

DUTY: Organise and manage a caseload of clients and the resources available

Duty 3

DUTY: Allocate referrals received from a wide range of stakeholders including parents, carers and professionals and develop an appropriate treatment plan

Duty 4

DUTY: Conduct interviews with parent/carers and referrers to identify needs, constraints and other relevant social, medical and educational information. Obtain consent from the person legally responsible for the child to proceed with therapy and record and process data within the relevant Data Protection Policy, conforming to the 2018 Data Protection Act

Duty 5

DUTY: Assess a child’s initial mental health and emotional well-being needs, using the psychometric instruments designed for assessing children and infants together with their parent/carers' hopes and expectation and needs for their child's therapy. Recommend which intervention, if any, may be the most appropriate

Duty 6

DUTY: Deliver the treatment plan in accordance with the Integrative Holistic Model

Duty 7

DUTY: Make sure that the children take an active role in the therapeutic process through verbal and non-verbal communication

Duty 8

DUTY: Support children to form their own strategies for dealing with traumatic experiences

Duty 9

DUTY: Evaluate play therapy sessions by following the child's processes during each individual or group session, intervening if necessary, to keep the child safe. Also, track the child's progress in preparation for clinical supervision

Duty 10

DUTY: Analyse progress and issues that have arisen in the session that need to be taken to clinical supervision for advice and support

Duty 11

DUTY: Consult and meet regularly with parent/carers and referrers to assess the client's progress, adjusting the therapeutic objectives and means of achieving them. Discuss the results of any interim or ending assessments. Agree if the number of sessions needs to be increased or ended taking appropriate action

Duty 12

DUTY: Report and communicate appropriately to stakeholders and professionals identifying the on-going needs of the child

Duty 13

DUTY: Manage the physical and emotional safety of the children through the use of approved check lists and procedures covering the use of equipment, materials, the playroom and the working environment

Duty 14

DUTY: Provide joined up working by briefing, consulting with and supporting colleagues in the wider education, health and social care team giving your professional judgement (within the boundaries of your qualifications and experience) as required. Exchange data that is for the benefit of the children using agreed data protection protocols and formats. whilst also maintaining ethical/professional boundaries

Duty 15

DUTY: Protect the children’s and parent/carers’ right to confidentiality through recording of data relating to the children therapy using an approved digital record management system so that the data is available for practice-based evidence, quality assurance, service audit and research activities

Duty 16

DUTY: Implement their own continued personal and professional development plan

Duty 17

DUTY: Keep up to date with the latest findings of child therapies

Duty 18

DUTY: Implement the learning and action points which arise through clinical supervision

Play therapist

Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Play therapist standard?

Knowledge

Skills

Behaviours

Duty 1

Duty 2

Duty 3

Duty 4

Duty 5

Duty 6

Duty 7

Duty 8

Duty 9

Duty 10

Duty 11

Duty 12

Duty 13

Duty 14

Duty 15

Duty 16

Duty 17

Duty 18

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Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Play therapist standard?