Professionals

Why Play Therapy?

Jade works from a holistic and child centred theoretical perspective and provides a psychologically safe space for children to work through challenging issues and traumas, which often helps children to make significant changes in their lives. In addition to this Jade works closely with the child’s support network and can offer advice and strategies to aid the child and family outside of therapy.

Personal benefits to children can include restored and deepened relationships, increased self confidence and self esteem, reduction in fear and anxiety, resolving of traumas, increased concentration, improved behaviours, reduction in aggressive behaviours in addition helping the child return to normal functioning.

Who is Play Therapy for?

Jade can work with children aged between three and eleven years of age, and occasionally adolescents, suffering from a range of psychological difficulties and complex life experiences. Psychological difficulties include (but not limited to) challenging behaviour, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, aggression, ASD, learning difficulties and ADHD. Difficult life experiences include (but not limited to) abuse, grief, family breakdown (including parental divorce and separation), parental mental illness, domestic violence and trauma.

Making a referral for Play Therapy?

To make a referral to Play Therapy you can fill-out the referral form linked above. This information will come directly to Jade. Alternatively you can contact Jade using the details below.

What happens once you have made a referral?

Once you have made a referral Jade will make contact with the parents/carers. Jade will arrange an initial FREE meeting to understand any difficulties the child may be having and find out about any stresses the family have been through so that she can help the child make sense of it. It is possible that Jade may want to seek additional information from school, agencies involved with a child and other significant adults in their lives. An assessment is made of the child’s strengths as well as their difficulties. Jade will talk with parent/carers about what to tell the child about their Play Therapy and how to anticipate and answer the child’s questions. A referral to other professional interventions may be suggested as part of the provision and this might include support for parents and carers.

It may be that at this stage Jade will need to carry out further assessment of the child and family. This assessment could include joint parental and child sessions, individual child assessment sessions, observing the child at school, and meetings with the class teacher.

Play therapy assessments or sessions can only take place once a parent/carer (person holding parental responsibility for the child) has signed a Play Therapy Consent Form. This form will be provided to parents/carers at the introductory meeting.

During the first session with the child Jade will age appropriately explain why they are coming to Play Therapy, and will outline the procedures of the Play Therapy space. During the Play Therapy sessions Jade will provide a wide range of resources and will enable the child to use these to express him or herself without having to provide verbal explanations.

Jade will carry out regular review meetings or telephone consultations with the child’s parents/carers and where appropriate other professionals throughout the Play Therapy process. When the Play Therapy intervention comes to an end Jade is able to provide a report if requested.

Where will the Play Therapy take place?

Jade currently runs a mobile play therapy service that mostly takes place in schools or other organisations. For more information please visit the "Find Jade" section or use the contact details below.