Centre for Play Therapy and Training

The Centre for Play Therapy and Training focusses on the training of Social Workers, Psychologists, Counsellors. Educationalists and Occupational Therapists working with children that are referred to them for assistance, intervention and therapy.

Gestalt Play Therapy

The Gestalt Approach forms the underlying foundation of our play intervention training programmes.

The Gestalt approach with its strong emphasis on bringing the child into awareness of his situation, empowers the child most successfully to understand his situation, accepting and building a new awareness and to change his behaviour accordingly. The child is supported by the practitioner to express and communicate by means of play. In doing this the practitioner will make use of different awareness techniques and mediums such as for example sand and clay. The child will express and communicate their needs in form of thoughts, wishes, dreams and fears.
They also like to demonstrate their foreground needs by playing with toys like for example puppets or clay figures.

The following awareness techniques are important in the training:
• The dream technique.
• The wish technique,
• The rosebush technique;
• The object technique;
• The monster technique
• Technique of exploration

The emphasis during these training courses is on an experiential and practical level. Learning objectives are based on safe and effective practice with children and in the framework of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).

• The emphasis is upon experiential work underpinned by theory. Course member’s work in two’s during the exercises.
• The environment is therapeutically safe to participate being able to deal with their personal psychological issues that rise in the experiment. They make contact with their inner child by applying awareness exercises onto the self.
• Practical assistance in helping trainees to master the techniques.

A GESTALT INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK FOR PLAY PRACTITIONERS by Hannie Schoeman (D.Phil) will be available as from the second week of February 2019. The book consists of 520 pages and is printed in a comfortable letter size.  This book on intervention in Play Therapy provides a framework for the play practitioner, designed in sixteen chapters focussing on 16 themes. A support for the practitioner and skill to validate the child as the architect of their own life. The practitioner will be able to make use of the book as a reference in doing intervention and to provide a fresh new way in approaching children with their needs, on their level, without having an agenda. There are focal points, exercises and case studies to equip the practitioner with a framework, skills and awareness. It aims to assist the practitioner to manage their professional role as play practitioner, and work with the child in need with controlled self-knowledge and confidence.The comfortable style and many examples provide easy associability to the intermediary and advanced student working with the child in a professional way. Although not a necessity for better integration, the reader will benefit to do the short courses, level one two and three of the Centre for play Therapy and training. This book underpins the framework step by step and offers extremely valuable support for the practitioner. The grounded Gestalt philosophy is integrated with the structure to give the reader theoretical based material.

BOOK ORDER FORM

Key Features:

• Assessable and student friendly presentation of theory and practice integration
• Examples in real situations and relevant to an international audience
• The provision of a relaxed, non-static framework applicable to the users process of doing
• To use this book as a reference guide in working with children.
• Opportunity to have self-growth and introspection.

Orders can already be placed via email or telephone:
info@gestaltplaytherapy.co.za
0283880348 or 0727302597

The book can be posted to any place in the country. If posted the postal fee needs to be added. Please consult the venue programme of the Centre for Play Therapy and Training to collect the book personally and save the postal costs. The price of the book without postal costs is R550.00

BOOK ORDER FORM

Accredited Gestalt Play Therapy Courses

The Centre for Play Therapy and Training has developed the following courses:

Play Therapy Level 1, Level 2 and the Sand and Clay workshop are CPD accredited with SACSSP,  SAAP and we are awaiting HPCSA specified accreditation numbers and accreditation which are assigned on a yearly basis.

Upon completion of every course or workshop the course members receive certificates originally signed by Dr Hannie Schoeman, with their names printed, the CPD points and accreditation number as well as the date and venue of the course.

The Centre for Play Therapy and Training courses are aimed at Social Workers, Psychologists and Counsellors, Educationalists and Occupational Therapists working with children that are referred to them for assistance, intervention and therapy.Different disciplines deal with traumatised children. With the skills they integrate as part of their equipment they use the power of play not only to communicate with the child but to engender them to optimal use their own potential of what they can be. With the knowledge that course members gained in their pre studies and also in the level one course they will be able to channel the underlying meanings for needs, wishes and behaviour both inside and outside the play room. The practitioner will understand and respect the uniqueness of the child in a natural way without any pretentions from the child’s side. Interpretation and assumptions will be lessened by the mutual awareness of just playing. In doing this the practitioner will be able to bring the child and him/herself into the present moment. – What a gift! Children always play for and with a reason. It will be in this moment that the child can get the message or the permission from the practitioner just to be.

Forty two hours of training is not enough to give the practitioner the equipment of practical experience. For this reason the SLP (Service Learning Programme) was introduced. For the course member it is offering that extra mile to have hands on learning experience in real life.