| Group | Explanation |
| Expectations of a health professional | Professional autonomy, accountability and professional relationships |
| Skills required for the application of practice (enabling competencies) | Competencies needed by a therapist in order to be able to apply their therapeutic skills including promoting play therapy, obtaining funding, setting up the service and integration into other children's services |
| Therapeutic competencies for practice | The clinical skills that the therapist use to assess clients, set therapeutic objectives, establish a therapeutic relationship and apply therapeutic play skills to achieve the therapeutic objectives. Competencies in this group form the backbone of the framework. |
| Filial play competencies | The competencies required to train parents/carers in filial play. ie to become a Filial Play Coach or Mentor |
| Practice management | Competencies required to manage clinical work including the planning, recording and control of cases; managing communications with referrers, parent/carers, commissioners, funders and other professionals. |
| Clinical governance (quality management competencies) | Clinical governance (quality management competencies) |
| Competencies required for using play therapy in specific settings | Competencies to enable the therapist to provide support for clients in a multi-disciplinary team. An understanding of settings' special requirements to determine and deliver effective play therapy interventions. |
| Competencies for using play therapy for specific conditions | The play therapy skills that the therapist uses to assess and alleviate specific psychological conditions. |
| Competencies required to conduct original research | Competencies required to conduct original and systematic research to develop the play therapy knowledge base as a contribution to good mental health. |
| Clinical supervision competencies | Competencies required to carry out effective clinical supervision |
| Competencies required for play therapy training | Competencies required for training practitioners of therapeutic play, play therapists and filial play coaches/mentors. |
| Management of play therapy services | Competencies required for the line management of services providing therapeutic play, play therapists or filial play. |
