A little about me

About Me

I work mainly one-to-one in a Child-Directed therapeutic way, following the child’s lead so that they feel empowered, respected, and to facilitate the building of a trusting therapeutic relationship.    I also work closely with parents and carers, and if it will benefit the child during the Play Therapy intervention, I will invite parents or carers into some sessions, in order to gain the maximum benefit from the therapeutic intervention.  

I am a fully qualified member of the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT), and I adhere to their Code of Ethics (please see link: https://www.bapt.info/play-therapy/ethical-basis-good-practice-play-therapy/).   I also hold up-to-date enhanced DBS clearance, and I have undertaken Level 3 Safeguarding Lead training recently (2024).

Before I retrained as a Play Therapist, I worked in Primary education settings for more than 16 years.  Through these I gained an-depth understanding of child development; learned about how children present in school settings; and how best to meet the needs of children who find it difficult to access mainstream education. During this stage of my career, I worked predominantly in mainstream schools in England, and overseas; with one year in a specialist school for children aged 4-18 who were predominantly non-verbal with varying complex needs.

Qualifications

Family Practitioner in PCAP (Parent Child Attachment Play) from Clear Sky Children’s Charity, Oxfordshire.  

Filial Play Therapy training (Geraldine Thomas), London.

Masters Degree (MA) in Play Therapy from University of Roehampton, London.

Clinical Supervision training (BAPT) with Simon Kerr-Edwards.

Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) Practitioner (trained using Richard Rose model). Adv Cert.