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CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:
he need for child mental health specialists has never been greater. Children continue to present with increasing mental health issues and deeper complexity in their cases, and the gap between quality mental health care and accessibility grows pediatric mental health professionals, such as play therapists, are often met with the reality of the professional shortage and put on referral options available, pressure mounts for play therapists to saturate their caseload and take on more child clients, a population which research shows puts practitioners at high risk for burnout, macro-level perspective, the large-scale and sustainable solution does not seem to rest on the existing play therapists but, rather, points to increasing the number of competent play therapists to both to meet the needs of children and to protect the longevity and professional wellbeing of the play therapists serving them. The future
When the need for increasing numbers of play therapists is so great, the key to unlocking this dilemma may be found in play therapy training programs and through approved providers. Without robust options of accessible and high-quality play therapy courses and continuing education opportunities for emerging play therapists, the for too few specialists. The next generation of play therapists really begins with and hinges on the play therapy leaders who recognize the need for more training and education opportunities that adequately attend to the ever-growing complexity of childhood mental health and its diversity of problems, considerations, and contexts. However, the number of accessible training opportunities is not the only challenge: standards must remain high to ensure the excellence and competence of the play therapy profession. Training future play therapists to treat the most vulnerable population in an advanced specialty skill set holds high responsibility, and instructors must carefully consider their own competence and methods in teaching, therapy instruction include approaches that incorporate experiential learning, integrate focused learning and a developmental perspective, and promote the development of the person of the play therapist.
Principle 1: Offer Experiential Learning Experiential learning is best understood as an innovative teaching method that empowers learners to make sense of and interact with their newfound knowledge and skills and to approach the learning
Creating a framework that incorporates experiential learning, focused instruction aligned with learners’ developmental stages, and the cultivation of the play
therapist’s professional identity is essential to high-quality play therapy instruction.
therapeutic power of play therapy is an experience the child has in the playroom and in relationship with the play therapist. Experience is at the heart of the process. When play therapy instructors present information in a way that allows participants to interact with their growing play
therapy knowledge, learners often more deeply
appreciate the child’s perspective and the experience of play therapy In a powerful parallel process of transformation, the emerging play therapist is changed by the experience of learning just as the child is changed by the experience of play therapy.
To facilitate this kind of teaching, instructors can follow an educational to the fundamentals of active learning and the neuroscience behind encouraged to break up a lengthy workshop or class into a series of these steps to keep participants engaged, active, and learning at their highest potential.
“Hear It” As instructors begin designing their training content, learning in the training. This provides the framework for the content and ensures that participants are learning baseline standards of practice. Theory is the next layer to apply in presentation. While beginning play therapists have a foundational knowledge in general mental health theories, the application of seminal play therapy theories present case conceptualization and play therapy skills from focused theoretical views and link these theory-based skills with the applicable targeted at competencies from a theoretical perspective within a uniquely play therapy approach by incorporating the therapeutic powers of play.
“See It” Once participants have heard the information, it’s time for them to see real-world application. The neuroscience of learning tells us that most participants learn more when words are attached with images, and the more closely instructors can align content with real-world application, the greater the engagement and learning retention presentation of the skills or content in action. This is often best
www.a4pt.org | June 2026 | PLAYTHERAPY | 11
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