SPECIAL SECTION Credentialing Column
“If I am to be helpful to the child, I must make contact with the person of the child at all levels
of experiencing.” (Landreth, 2012)
Landreth, G. L. (2012). Play therapy: The art of the relationship. Brunner-Routledge.
Two initial changes to the APT Credentialing Standards were announced in the June 2018 issue of Play Therapy™ Magazine. Beginning January 1, 2020, 1) supervised play therapy experience must only be provided deliberated on and ultimately put into place after an extensive process of evaluation by various APT Committees in an attempt to strengthen and further validate the APT professional credentials. Four years later, the APT credentials are stronger than ever and the play therapy community continues to grow at an exponential rate.
One of the most common questions received by APT refers to the differences in documentation of hours accrued before and after 2020 on the new RPT Application. For those who began accruing hours before 2020, under the supervision of a clinician who did not hold the RPT-S credential, it is important to note that those hours will (most likely) not be lost! APT will count and evaluate the hours prior to 2020 based upon the credentialing standards that were in place at the time they were accrued. All play therapy training, supervision, and supervised play therapy experience obtained prior to 2020 should be documented on the Appendix I form, while all hours accrued after 2020
For those who are just beginning to accrue hours toward the APT options and initiate a satisfactory supervisory relationship.
Of course, in 2018 when the new contact/non-contact changes were announced, no one at APT (or around the world) could have predicted
PLAYTHERAPY | 27
the many challenges that lay ahead in the wake of an unprecedented global pandemic. As the world began to adapt to the COVID19 pandemic in 2020, APT quickly worked to adjust its new standards to accommodate the sudden decrease of in-person CE training options. APT created the COVID19 Exception, which allowed specialized Live met all the necessary criteria. The COVID19 Exception began on May 15, 2020 and continued through June 30, 2022.
when: 1. live synchronous instruction occurs in real time, 2. the presenter and attendees communicate with each other virtually,
3. there are no more than 50 attendees, 4. the webinar is a minimum of two hours in length, 5. attendees’ cameras are on throughout the webinar, and 6. a post-test is required.
APT believes that in-person training is essential for mental health professionals working toward the play therapy specialty credential. once again to address these ongoing circumstances. To meet the 150- hour requirement, APT now accepts play therapy instruction from the following three categories: Contact Training, Non-Contact Training, and of in-person contact training, as was initially set forth, the breakdown now requires a minimum of 75 hours of in-person training, allowing the remaining 75 hours to be earned either entirely from Specialized
webinar and other non-contact training (maximum of 40 hours).
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
