FAQs
Below is a list of our most frequently asked questions. If you have a question which can not be answered below, feel free to contact Jessica Stagnitti for further information through our contact form here.
We do not record our workshops. This is in part due to participant privacy reasons, and also because the workshops contain interactive content and group discussion as an important part of the learning process. We have found watching recorded sessions is not as valuable and engaging as participating in the live sessions.
Learn To Play Therapy does not offer student discounts. The Learn To Play Therapy workshops are designed for those currently working in the field, as participants can then directly apply the knowledge to their clients. However, student’s are welcome to attend the workshops and may find them useful for furthering their knowledge and applying this to their degree, or perhaps whilst on placement. Ideally, the knowledge gained from the workshops would be utilised directly afterwards in order to use Learn To Play Therapy in practice.
There is quite a big difference between the Learn To Play Therapy Workshops and the Deakin Course. The degree at Deakin comprises three university level degrees. These are:
Graduate Certificate in Therapeutic Child Play
Graduate Diploma in Therapeutic Child Play
Masters of Child Play Therapy.
The course at Deakin is a University degree with the Masters level providing training to work as a play therapist. The course covers Learn To Play Therapy, but also humanistic play therapy and filial therapy (at a Masters level). It also covers trauma in depth as well as other areas of knowledge needed by play therapists.
The workshops offered by Learn To Play concentrate on play assessment and Learn To Play Therapy. These workshops are designed to increase skills of the therapist in practice when working with children with issues in their development related to play. Most people who do the workshops already have a degree in an allied health field or teaching. The workshops provide upskilling for some participants, or new therapy to offer clients.
There is a lot of research showing strong links between pretend play and changes in other areas of development. For some example papers demonstrating this research, see the list below:
For narrative, the following paper explains narrative and play. Papers by A. Nicopoloulou are also about narrative and play, and changes in narrative and play in children in mainstream schools:
The following paper looks at methodological considerations for directive play in children on the autism spectrum, with parents reporting changes after Learn to Play Therapy:
This paper demonstrates social changes in a group of children in a school setting using Learn to Play Therapy:
This paper clearly shows why pretend play is important for language. This article provides strong evidence for the importance of pretend play and language, joint attention and foundations for communicative intent. In this article the term ‘symbolic play’ is synonymous with ‘pretend play’:
The following paper shows that children talk more than the therapist and parent during therapy sessions:
To help answer this question here are some considerations:
1) Consider why play might be a goal for the child?
While Learn To Play Therapy focusses on pretend play ability, considerations for the child interests and play ability is at the core of the therapy. Understanding a child’s unique developing play profile is informed by play assessment and talking with the child’s parents/carers about the child’s interests, preferences and their strengths in their play.
The goal should not be to make the child ‘seem more normal or neurotypical in their play’. The child-centred approach in Learn to Play Therapy is to understand the child first and support their own developing pathway.
If the goal is to help the child connect, learn, and experience joy in extended ways within the play context, then Learn To Play Therapy will offer positive learning opportunities. Playing with children to increase their capabilities in pretend play also helps their language, self-regulation, social awareness and cognitive processes like counterfactual reasoning.
Learn To Play Therapy is not suitable for children who are not yet using single words in their expressive language, or do not engage in focussed attention with less complex play or meaningful gestures. If overall development is not yet to a 12 month level, Learn To Play Therapy is not appropriate for a child.
2) Is the child interested at all?
In Learn To Play Therapy, you start play at the child’s level of capabilities, that is why play assessment is so important. This may not necessarily be pretend play but could present as preferences for sensory motor play or construction play, or play that is of interest to the child.
Enjoyment, pleasure, and engagement in the play and the relationship with you are so important, otherwise you are not affirming who the child is.
As you get to know the child, you may begin to add some pretend play activities with toys the child may be interested in. You go at the pace of the child and only introduce more complex play as the child is ready or open for it.
Sometimes the child takes the play to more complex levels themselves and you follow where the child is going in the play.
3 things to keep in mind
- Play has to be fun, joyful and flow, otherwise it’s not play.
- Pretend play is about imposing meaning on the toys, objects, and actions in play and that means it can blend seamlessly with constructive play, sensory play, and motor play.
- To be affirming, the child self-initiates their own play ideas because they are intentional about what they are doing as they play and moving at the pace of the child is important as learning opportunities are supported.
For further information on using Learn To Play Therapy with neurodivergent children, see our page on Neurodiversity.
You would use the ChIPPA-2 or PPE-DC in the beginning, as you meet the child and observe what their interests are and where their play ability is. This gives you information on where to meet the child in play. This is usually the first session with the child. Some therapists also do the assessment again at the end of therapy, however, the play assessments are passive, and after Learn To Play Therapy with the child, there are many children who don’t want the therapist to be passive. Instead, you can use your knowledge of the PPE-DC, to monitor where the child’s play is during the last session if you need to write a report.
ChIPPA-2: this assessment is for children aged 3 to 7 years 11 months. In the ChIPPA-2 you observe the child’s quality of spontaneous play, process and style of play. There is also research on play themes as well. It takes 30 minutes for 4 to 7 year 11 months, and 18 minutes for 3 year olds.
PPE-DC: this assessment is for children aged 12 months to 5 years. It observes 6 play skills of the child (sequences of play actions, play scripts, toy character play, object substitution, role play and social play, as well as sense of self and enjoyment of play). For a population of children with many challenging behaviours you could use it for children up to 7 or 8 years. The PPE-DC gives an age equivalence of pretend play, enjoyment of play score, and a description of a child’s self-representation.
The ChIPPA-2 can be used most of the time as it gives a lot of information – especially for children who are preschool and school age. For children under 3 years of age, the PPE-DC may be preferable.
ChIPPA-2 training is available online here.
Occupation Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Play Therapists, and Early Education Teachers can administer the ChIPPA-2 assessment. It is not restricted. Online training is available and recommended, which includes 10 hours of supervision support in scoring and interpreting ChIPPA-2 assessments. Information and registration for online ChIPPA-2 training is available here.
The ChIPPA-2 gives information on a child’s quality of spontaneous self-initiated pretend play in terms of quality of elaborate actions, including attributions of properties and reference to absent objects, object substitutions and self-initiation of play. It also has a clinical observations form including enjoyment of play. Interpretation is by analysing the child’s process of play, play scores, play styles and play themes (the latter being the emotional underpinnings of the play).
It provides a lot of information in a short time (30 minutes for 4 – 7-year-olds and 18 minutes for 3-year-olds) on how a child functions. From the research on the ChIPPA-2, inferences can be made on a child’s language, narrative, social awareness, theory of mind, and counterfactual reasoning.
We have used it in the past to support clients with NDIS. Because it is norm referenced, you might also use it for evidence for why a child requires services. Evidence based therapies, such as play therapies and Learn To Play Therapy, are eligible for funding through the NDIS. Research supports the effectiveness of Learn To Play Therapy in aiding a child’s play abilities, with positive outcomes also observed in social interactions, language development, narrative, academic outcomes, and a reduction in anxiety.
For children under 7 years old, the process is straightforward. Play therapy, or supporting children’s play ability, can be claimed under any of the relevant line items for “Capacity building – Early Childhood Supports (EC) – younger than 7” that relate to your registered profession (e.g. EC teacher, OT, Speech, Psych etc).
Research publications on the ChIPPA-2 are available here.
No, you can’t correlate these assessments. The PPE-DC is for children aged 12 months to 5 years, the AMT is for children aged 8 to 15 years.
If you do this training, you will be well on the way to Certification as a Learn To Play Therapist. Learn To Play Therapy is therapeutic play and you will be mainly working with children who require support to play. Many other play therapies assume the child has ability to play, such as Child-Centred Play Therapy. However, Learn To Play Therapy meets the child at their ability in play, and supports children to increase the complexity of their play skills.
You will not be a play therapist after doing the Learn To Play Therapy courses. To become a play therapist, you need a master’s degree from a University, such Deakin University, who offer the master’s degree in play therapy.
After you have completed your Learn To Play Therapy training, we suggest you identify 1 or 2 children on your case load who would be suitable for Learn To Play Therapy. That is, to begin, children whose play is delayed and whose language is delayed. It is better to start with children who have less complex developmental issues. The Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist (PPE-DC) is an informal assessment and it would be useful to start with this. The ChIPPA-2 is a more sophisticated assessment, and if you have completed your ChIPPA-2 training, you can start with this. Our Learn to Play Therapy Trainers offer supervision sessions if you are not quite confident and would like some extra guidance (see information on Supervision here).