MA 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 our holistic approach to teaching, you 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, you will be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of therapeutic techniques and approaches that are required for professional registration purposes.

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 students are required to be in personal therapy for the duration of the course.

All eligible applicants to the programme will be interviewed by the Programme Convener and/or the Programme staff. Selection will be based on the following admissions criteria:

Applicants will normally be required to hold an honours degree at undergraduate level (usually 2.1 or higher), in most cases this will be in a modality-relevant degree such as in psychology, early childhood studies, education or health & social care.
Applicants with a relevant degree will be expected to have the equivalent of at least two years of full-time experience of working with children and young people, especially between the ages of 5-11, in a professional capacity. N.B. In most cases work experience must be gained as a graduate, i.e., work experience gained whilst studying will not be considered. The exception to this is if the applicant has worked in a full-time capacity for a number of years (e.g., 5 years+) in a role with children prior to gaining an undergraduate degree, only in this circumstance will prior work experience be considered.
Applicants who do not hold a degree in a modality-relevant area will be expected to have considerable (5+ years) full-time experience of working in a professional capacity with children and young people. This might include working with children with behavioural or developmental challenges, learning difficulties, child mental health, etc. This work can either be done on a voluntary or employed basis.
Applicants need to evidence that they can meet the academic demands of a Master's degree and will be required to prepare and submit a written personal statement to support their application, in some circumstances an applicant may be asked to submit an essay prior to/after interview.
It is recognised that this is a postgraduate training where applicants are qualified, experienced and valued practitioners in their fields, applicants are encouraged to bring prior learning and experience to the training, thus enhancing the breadth and depth of the programme learning.
An understanding of the nature of play therapy as a distinctive discipline (in particular as practised in the UK) and a capacity for playfulness and creativity.
Applicants should demonstrate a maturity of personality and self-awareness compatible with training as a therapist. Applicants need an appropriate degree of psychological mindedness including the capacity to form and maintain appropriate empathic relationships with clients. They should also demonstrate emotional literacy, robustness and an ability to be self-reflective. This will be ascertained by a combination of health screening, experiential activities and in-depth discussions at interview.
An International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of at least 7 with no element below 6.5 for applicants for whom English is not their first language.
Applicants will be required to supply the names of two referees. If possible one of these should be able to comment on the applicant's academic suitability and the other on the applicant's clinical/personal suitability for the programme.
In addition to these requirements, all students must be prepared to enter mandatory on-going personal therapy for the duration of the programme. Students should attend no fewer than 30 regular sessions within any calendar year. Payment for therapy is separate to course fees.
IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with a minimum 5.5 in each component.
Roehampton English Language Test- Mapped to IELTs scores, please refer to IELTS Academic above
TOEFL IBT - 89 overall with a minimum of 17 in Listening and Writing, 18 in Reading and 20 in Speaking