FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 4–16
PLAY THERAPY
Play Therapy helps children and young people understand confused feelings and make sense of upsetting situations. Play lets children act out what's going on for them rather than explain it — so they don't need to rely on finding the right words.
What is Play Therapy?
In sessions, I offer a carefully chosen therapeutic toolkit of toys and creative arts media, including sand and symbols, clay, paint and craft, music, puppets, dressing-up, role play toys and therapeutic books.
Your child chooses what to use, and I follow their lead within safe and consistent boundaries.
Individual therapy usually takes place once a week for 40 minutes, for a minimum of 12 weeks. I also meet regularly with parents, carers and school to review progress and support everyone involved.
Where appropriate, group play therapy is available for children who are being referred for similar reasons.
40 Minutes Sessions
Usually once a week
Minimum 12 Weeks
With regular reviews
Working Together
With parents, carers and schools
Group Play Therapy
Available where appropriate
Who can benefit from Play Therapy?
Play Therapy may benefit children and young people aged 4–16 who are finding aspects of school, relationships or family life difficult.
Reasons for referral can include:
Anxiety, worries or feeling overwhelmed
Big feelings, anger or difficulty managing emotions
Low confidence or self-esteem
Friendship or social difficulties
Changes in behaviour or difficulties at school
Bereavement, loss, separation or family changes
Trauma or other upsetting experiences
Difficulties with relationships, attachment or feeling secure
Challenges linked to fostering, adoption or being looked after
Play therapy can also be particularly helpful for children who are looked after, adopted, or living in foster care.
My Approach
Child-led. Responsive. Individual.
I work using an Integrative Holistic Play Therapy approach. At its heart, this means your child leads — they choose what to use from the room, what to play and where the play goes, while I follow closely alongside them.
This child-led space allows a child to explore, often unconsciously, the worries, trauma or changes they are facing, at their own pace and in their own way.
Alongside this, I stay attentive to when a more directive approach might serve a child better. When I sense a child is ready, I may introduce more structured techniques or interventions — gently guiding rather than taking over, and always staying responsive to how they respond.
At times, I may use open questions and gentle reflections to help a child notice and develop their own thinking. I do not direct them towards a particular answer. Instead, I might reflect what I notice in their play or wonder aloud what a character could be feeling or what might happen next.
This can support insight and understanding while allowing the child to move at a pace that feels safe.
This blend — following the child's lead while knowing when and how to introduce more direction — allows sessions to stay genuinely responsive to each child's unique needs rather than following a fixed structure.
THE PLAYROOM
A warm, safe and consistent space
Sessions take place in my own dedicated playroom at home, thoughtfully designed to be a warm, safe and consistent space for your child.
The playroom is located right next to the front door, with its own bathroom and dedicated parking space, so arriving and leaving feels easy and predictable each week.
If your child prefers, you can see them from the window while you wait — giving them the reassurance of knowing you're close by, alongside the independence of their own private space to explore.
In the playroom
Each session is 40 minutes. The room is set up with a carefully chosen range of toys and creative materials — including sand and symbols, clay, paint, puppets, dressing-up, role play toys and more.
Your child decides what they use and how they use it. I follow their lead rather than direct the session, within clear and consistent boundaries that keep the space feeling safe.
What To Expect
We usually begin with an initial conversation with you and, where relevant, your child's school or other professionals. This helps me understand what is bringing your child to therapy and what you hope the support will offer.
I then meet your child, introduce them to the playroom and explain what Play Therapy is and what they can expect.
If you decide to proceed, we complete a working agreement and consent form before arranging weekly sessions at the same time and in the same space. This consistency and predictability help therapy feel safe.
Sessions are usually held weekly at the same time each week. Each individual session lasts 40 minutes. Therapy typically runs for a minimum of 12 weeks, with progress reviewed regularly. Together, we'll decide whether more sessions would be helpful.
While the sessions themselves are your child's private therapeutic space, I meet regularly with parents and carers and, where appropriate, school to review progress and make sure everyone supporting your child is on the same page.
Where useful, I use the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), completed by teachers or carers at the start and end of therapy, to help track change over time.
What happens in the playroom stays largely confidential, which is part of what makes it feel safe for your child to explore difficult feelings.
I don't share the details of what your child plays with, says or does in the room with parents, carers or school. That privacy is part of what makes the space feel safe enough for them to explore difficult feelings freely.
Your child is completely free to tell you or anyone else whatever they'd like about their sessions — nothing is off-limits from their side.
The exception is anything that raises a safeguarding concern. I have a duty to act on safeguarding concerns and will always explain this clearly before therapy begins.
Endings are planned rather than abrupt. An appropriate therapeutic ending typically needs a minimum of three weeks, giving your child the time and space to process that therapy is finishing rather than the sessions simply stopping.
This ending period is planned and gentle. Your child knows in advance how many sessions are left, which helps them feel a sense of control and closure rather than surprise or loss.
It is also an opportunity to celebrate — to reflect together on how far they've come, what they've learned about themselves and the progress they've made, in a way that feels positive and affirming rather than simply being 'the end.'
Once sessions have finished, I write an end-of-therapy report summarising progress, outcomes and any recommendations, and I'm always happy to discuss this with you and other professionals involved.
Many children do genuinely look forward to their sessions. The playroom is a safe, calm space with their own dedicated one-to-one adult attention, and the freedom to play, create and choose what they want to do.
At the same time, Play Therapy isn't the same as playtime. There will be moments where a child is quietly working through something difficult — sitting with a hard feeling, revisiting a worry or processing a memory — and that can look less like fun and more like thinking, even if it doesn't show on the surface.
This is a normal and important part of the process. While many children come to value their time in the playroom, enjoyment isn't really the goal. The goal is to provide a safe space to process and make sense of things at their own pace.
Level 3 Safeguarding training
Enhanced DBS check
Professional Insurance
I hold Level 3 Safeguarding training, the level typically required for a Designated Safeguarding Lead role in a school, and I’m trained to know how and when to raise a concern.