Play Therapy Courses
Looking for Play Therapy Courses for Your Play Therapist Certification?
Many play therapy certification programs include a wide array of play therapy courses. So, how do you choose which ones are right for you?
1. Mode of delivery
Many play therapist certification programs are beginning to offer online course offerings. While these are certainly appropriate for some of theory behind play therapy training in general, there is nothing like practical experience for preparing you for incorporating play therapy training into your practice. If you’re looking to bring your play therapy training to actual live clients, you want to make sure your play therapist certification includes many opportunities to practice the tools and skills you learn as part of your play therapy training.
At the Academy for Play Therapy Training, we offer experiential play therapy training. Through a number of in person workshops, play therapy training events, and our annual retreat, we provide a unique experience of learning and growing as both a play therapist and mental health practitioner.
2. Timing
Do you typically have the most energy in the morning or do you more often become fully alive in the evenings? Do you have an afternoon slump? Looking at your body’s general energy pattern can be an important factor in deciding the right play therapy courses for you. If a play therapy certification programs courses are only listed on Tuesday evenings, but you usually have very little energy left after a full day of client sessions on Tuesdays, then it’s probably not good timing for you to sign on for those particular play therapy courses. However, if the identical play therapy courses are listed on Saturday mornings when you know that you’ll rarely have a conflict and generally have good energy levels, then that one may be perfect to continue your play therapy training.
For a full listing of The Academy for Play Therapy Training courses, visit our course dropdown menu.
3. Experience of instructors
Who is your instructor? What’s his/her level of experience with play therapy certification programs? What practical experience does he/she have with using play therapy training tools and skills with actual clients/patients?
The Academy for Play Therapy Training combines the experience of two trusted resources within the play therapy training community. Mary Ruth Cross, MS, MFT, NCC, RPT-S and Leslie Baker, MFT, NCC, CGT, RPT-S are both certified by the Association of Play Therapy as Play Therapist Supervisors and have a combined 45+ years of practical therapeutic and play therapy training experience. Read more detail about each of them here.
4. Social proof
What have previous participants said about the play therapy courses within an organization’s play therapy certification programs? What are the key words used to describe the play therapy courses? What’s the general tone of a play therapy certification programs website? How do you feel after reading or watching videos about a play therapy training program?
For an overview of The Academy for Play Therapy Training and what our participants are saying about our annual retreat, click here.
5. Level support
Upon completion of a play therapy course, will you need ongoing support? Or is the topical content of a particular play therapy course such that you learn it once and will immediately incorporate the knowledge gained without the need to practice or refresh your skills? Some courses are strictly speaking an introduction to information while others allow you to foster and improve your skills over time.
For example, if you’re exploring whether or not you want to pursue your play therapist certification, you may want a chance to actually use play therapy in a practical setting to see how it feels and to grow your skills. On the other hand, if you simply want an update on legislation relating to a play therapist certification, a course designed to simply provide you with the information may be adequate.
At the Academy for Play Therapy Training, we stand firmly in the stance that humans are ever-evolving, growing, changing creatures with an enormous capacity to learn, grow, and create new meaning in each interaction. Therefore, our play therapy certification programs and ongoing play therapy courses, events, and workshops are designed to support both the beginning and continuance of your play therapy journey.