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Play Therapy International (PTI)

Our site is intended to provide an international information resource for therapeutic play, play therapy, filial play and creative arts therapies. It's designed for anyone interested in helping children with emotional literacy, behaviour (EBD) or mental health problems.

Monika Jephcott, PTI President, Welcomes You

Interested in training as a Play Therapist, Filial Play Coach or in extending your skills as a counsellor, nurse, occupational therapist, paediatrician, psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker or teacher to work with children using therapeutic play please visit Career Development.

About PTI

Play Therapy International is the largest and most progressive organisation governing therapeutic play, and play therapy.

Helping Children

Play Therapy International helps children with emotional, literacy, behaviour and mental health problems.

Training & Careers

Attend a training course. Play Therapy International offers a range of fully accredited training courses, and other courses, in therapeutic play and play therapy.

Membership

Membership is available at various grades for anyone interested in working with children using play and creative arts therapies.

Resources

We provide our members exclusive resources as well as lists of publications, books reviews, articles and recommended reading.

Research

How effective is Play Therapy? Look at our research, policies and activies showing between 77% and 84% positive change.

Standards

PTI leads the way when setting the standards to ensure high quality of care when play therapy, therapeutic play skills and creative arts therapies are used with children.

Certification

Looking for a career in play therapy? PTI has developed a Career Development Map and a four stage training model as a part of the Profession Structure Model.

If you are:

Parent/Carer

Therapeutic play, (including play therapy) , is a well established discipline based upon a number of psychological theories. Research, both qualitative and quantitative shows that it is highly effective in many cases. Recent research by PTUK, an organisation affiliated to PTI, suggests that 71% of the children referred to play therapy will show a positive change. If you are a parent or carer interested in how play therapy may help your child please visit How Does Play Therapy Work.

Potential Service User

Finding therapeutic help for children with emotional, behaviour and mental health problems can be found by contacting an independent play therapist or practitioner (for which you will have to pay a fee) or by using a therapist whose services are fully or partly funded by local authority children's, education, social, or health services, a charity or some other agency. If you are a potential service user please visit: Finding Help.

PTI has two main roles:

Unifying Body

To act as a support and unifying body for affiliated play therapy professional organisations in a number of countries.

Professional Support

To provide professional support for play therapy practitioners in countries which do not have an organisation affiliated to PTI.

Career Development

Are you interested in training as a Play Therapist, Filial Play Coach or in extending your skills as a counsellor, nurse, occupational therapist, paediatrician, psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker or teacher to work with children using therapeutic play please visit Career Development?

If so visit: PTI in relation to other professional organisations or Proposed Taxonomy of Children's Conditions.

YouTube Videos

See our YouTube video channel PlayTherapyTV. Videos include Aspects of Play Therapy, PTI World Congress, PTUK Conferences, and much more...

Affiliated Organisations

These are autonomous organisations representing and governing the use of play therapy and filial play in their own countries. They adopt PTI’s standards for the certification of practitioners and accreditation of training. These organisations also contribute to PTI’s pool of knowledge, research and innovation.

Three countries have well established play therapy organisations affiliated to PTI with their own web sites.

They are in the process of developing their play therapy infrastructure. If you live or work in the following countries please visit their developing web sites for the latest information.