Age: 28
Job title: Play therapist
Employer: Sure Start, Crewe
Duties
As most practitioners are aware, Sure Start is dedicated to bringing together early education, childcare, health and family support. It aims to deliver the best start in life for every child, with better opportunities for parents, affordable, good quality childcare and stronger and safer communities. A vital part of the programme involves improving the emotional development of young children.
As a play therapist my job is to help children with emotional and social problems. Play therapy can offer children a space in which feelings caused by traumatic experiences can be expressed and contained safely within healthy boundaries and limits. Once a trusting relationship has been built between child and therapist, the child will feel safe enough to share thoughts, feelings and ideas.
Every child is helped to be mentally healthy through the feelings of control that play provides.
My main duty is to provide an accessible play therapy service in three identified Sure Start cluster areas of Crewe, utilising opportunities for working in partnership with parents.
My role includes one-to-one work with identified children, disseminating valuable play skills to parents, attending regular reviews to ensure the play therapy is appropriate, along with monitoring and evaluating outcomes relating to Sure Start aims, objectives and targets. This is a job which keeps me extremely busy.
To determine if play therapy is needed, I gather appropriate information from the child, family and other external professionals and agencies. Once the need has been assessed, then the play therapy is implemented.
I work closely with a speech and language therapist who is part of the programme. Children's communication difficulties can sometimes stem from emotional problems - or it can work the other way around. The aim is to implement a preventative strategy and help those children who may be difficult to reach. In line with this, the programme's remit is to go out and actively find these children.
Therapy sessions have to be friendly, relaxed and accessible for all families and can sometimes take place in the child's own home. At the drop-in centre we provide a model for good practice and lots of ideas to promote good behaviour. Our team is currently producing a leaflet which provides a list of suggestions for parents.
Another important area of my role is to liaise with other agencies and professionals for regular reviews and family focus meetings, reporting on developments and matters relevant to the management of the case.
Likes
I love the variety of the job, building relationships with children and watching their progress over the weeks as they become far happier and much more confident within themselves.
I enjoy working within our drop-in sessions where I get to meet a variety of people. I enjoy being able to support parents and carers as they engage in play with their children.
Dislikes
My one dislike is the fact that I don't have a playroom to call my own. I have to share rooms at various venues depending on the day. However, this will become resolved as our first Children's Centre is due to open in January. This is something I am very much looking forward to.
Best achievement
Bringing up my two-year-old little boy and gaining my paediatric nursing qualification.
Career progression
I gained my NNEB in 1994 and was a private nanny for a year, then completed my Diploma in Children's Nursing in 1998. For two years I worked as a paediatric nurse in a general hospital. The shortage of therapeutic services for children stimulated my interest in play therapy.
To gain some community experience, from the year 2000 I became a family support worker for Cheshire County Council and completed a diploma in play therapy in 2001. This role opened my eyes to many community problems and child protection issues increasing my awareness of the need for play therapy once again.
In April 2004 I began my postgraduate diploma in play therapy at Hope University in Liverpool. This will further develop my skills. In a couple of years I would like to work as an independent play therapist. I love my job and would recommend this wholeheartedly as a career.
Advice For this job you need to be a patient, friendly person who can relate well to children and be able to build trusting relationships. You also need to be able to work as an individual and as a supporting team member.
Interests
I enjoy spending my spare time with my family and socialising with friends.
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