Newsletter: August 2025
This months top news
Our course is officially a Level 7!
We are delighted to share that our Level 6 Diploma in Relational Play and Creative Therapy during a recent CpCAB review has been reclassified to a Level 7 qualification. The course was originally written to Level 7 Standards, so it is great to receive this professional independent recognition.
New CPD training
Creative Supervision Online and In-Person and Geek Therapy! More details can be found within this newsletter.
Last month!
We had the pleasure of delivering Web Therapy: Supporting Families in Crisis and Once Upon a Trilogy. We would like to thank those who joined us for these training days, we were inspired by your contributions.
Coming soon...
Level 7 Diploma – Relational Play and Creative Therapy, Children and Young People.
If you know someone who wants to become a play therapist? Relational Play and Creative Therapy offers innovative training in therapeutic play and creative practice for children and young people aged 4–18, extending to 25 for Care Leavers and those with Special Educational Needs please spread the word!
Empower lives through relational, creative therapy.
Taught over 2 years, commencing:
04/10/2025 Bristol – Bookings close 03/09/2025.
28/03/2026
Accredited by: CpCAB
For more information about this dynamic course visit: https://schoolofpact.com/level-6-diploma/
Level 6 Certificate, Relational Play and Creative Therapy, Young People
The Relational Play and Creative Therapy for Young People Qualification is designed to expand play therapists’ skills and confidence in working ethically with clients aged 11–25.
This course deepens your theoretical understanding while providing practical tools for safe, effective practice. You’ll explore key legal aspects such as consent, safeguarding, and risk assessment. Ideal for those supporting adolescents, Care Leavers, or young people with Special Educational Needs.
Full details of this qualification can be found at https://schoolofpact.com/courses/post-qualifying-relational-play-and-creative-therapy-for-young-people/
Accredited by CpCAB.
Dates: 25/10/2025 to 31/10/2025.
Quarterly tutorials: Dates and times will be agreed with the cohort
Location: In Person – Mercure Bristol North the Grange Hotel, Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne, Bristol, BS36 1RP
Level 6 Certificate, Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work
Are you a therapist or a professional working within children’s residential care, looking to deepen your work with vulnerable children and young people? Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work is a powerful, trauma-informed approach that helps clients understand their past, process difficult experiences, and build a stronger sense of identity. This 8-day training equips you with practical, creative tools to work effectively with children who are adopted, in foster or kinship care, under SGOs, or displaced. Gain specialist skills that enhance your therapeutic practice, meet growing professional demands, and make a meaningful difference in young lives. Empower your clients—and your career—with this transformative and highly valued qualification.
Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work Qualification is Accredited by CpCAB.
Dates:
27/09/2025 – 28/09/2025
18/10/2025 – 19/10/2025
29/11/2025 – 30/11/2025
24/01/2026 – 25/01/2026
Quarterly tutorials: Dates and times will be agreed with the cohort
Location: Online
More details about this courses can be found at https://schoolofpact.com/courses/post-qualifying-creative-therapeutic-life-story-therapy/
Level 6 Certificate Relational Creative Arts Therapy for Adults
Looking to expand your qualifications? The Level 6 Certificate in Relational Creative Arts Therapy for Adults is an innovative programme designed to build on your existing qualification and experience, enabling you to work creatively and ethically with adults.
This course explores client-centred talking therapy combined with creative arts such as sand trays, clay, art, movement, and music, to support clients with trauma, neurodiversity, and attachment difficulties. Drawing on influential theories from Rogers, Jung, Bowlby, and others, you’ll develop skills to strengthen the therapeutic alliance and help clients express emotions and gain insight through metaphor and symbolism bypassing their inner critic and connecting more directly with their unconscious.
You will experience a blend of experiential creative practice and theoretical learning to underpin your development of therapeutic counselling skills. Relational Creative Arts Therapy places the adult at the centre of the entire therapeutic process.
Dates: 14/02/20256-21/02/2026, plus quarterly tutorials to be agreed with the cohort
Location: In Person Bedford
Cost: £1250.00 Payment options are available.
NEW CPD!
Delivering Creative Supervision – Online and In-Person
A Two-Hour Interactive Webinar for Clinical Supervisors
As play therapists, we understand the transformative power of creativity in the therapeutic space, this webinar explores how we as supervisors can bring that same creative energy into their supervision practice, especially online.
This dynamic two-hour webinar is specifically designed for clinical supervisors in the creative arts field who want to confidently integrate creative techniques into their supervision whether you’re meeting face-to-face or over Zoom.
Emma will explore how creative approaches can deepen reflection, enhance engagement, and support professional growth in supervisees. You’ll learn practical, adaptable strategies to use in remote and in-person settings, and gain insight into how to support supervisees who may be hesitant to engage in creative supervision.
You’ll leave with:
- A refreshed, inspired approach to supervision
- A toolkit of creative supervision activities you can use immediately
- Confidence in adapting these tools for both online and in-person sessions
- Ideas to foster deeper connection and insight with supervisees
Whether you’re new to creative supervision or ready to revitalise your practice, this training will equip you with the skills and inspiration to lead more engaging, reflective, and effective supervision sessions.
Date: 03/10/2025
Location: Online
Cost: £40.00
NEW CPD!
Geek Therapy®
We are working in collaboration with Josué Cardona, MS to bring Geek Therapy to the UK
This certification course introduces the Geek Therapy® Model, an affinity-based model of psychotherapy.
Unlock the Power of Geek Therapy: Engage Clients Through Their Passions
Geek Therapy® is a form of creative therapy that uses elements from geek culture like computer games, comics, Sci-fi and fantasy movies or series, Manga, tabletop games, and other fandom interests as tools or mediums in therapeutic settings. It leverages the interests and passions of clients who identify with “geek” or “nerd” culture to engage them more deeply in therapy, making the process relatable, enjoyable, and meaningful.
In practice, it is especially effective with young people or those who feel more comfortable expressing themselves through the lens of their hobbies and interests. It blends psychology with popular culture to create a unique, client-centered approach to mental health.
This certification is designed to be accessible to all therapists, educators, and community practitioners.
Dates: 22/11/2025
Location: Live Online
Cost: £40.00
Something to ponder on...
The Power of Silence!
As a child my mother used to say silence was deafening, I never really understood this figurative expression. As an adult, I have pondered on many of my mother’s sayings, tales but this one keeps coming back to me! Did she not like silence being partially deaf. Did silence feel uncomfortable to her, because she was the eldest of many children. Unable to ask her because she is no longer with us, I am still intrigued what silence meant to her.
There have been many occasions of silence in my life. During the eclipse as the moon covered the sun, there was a stillness that descended upon us, a stillness that could be felt all around, it felt eerie but also exciting. The work of the universe was so powerful! When my energetic, fun loving, outgoing children were very quiet it was so noticeable. During these times there was often a sense of them working something out, the concentration on their faces, their breathing shallow, my spoken word not heard!
Silence in therapy can be misunderstood. Many a therapist can feel they are not doing enough when the session becomes still and silent, a sense of discomfort. For both therapist and client, the instinct may be to fill the space, to feel the space. Yet, in therapeutic work, silence is not the absence of meaning. It is a presence. For many clients how often in the business of the day can they have the choice of silence? Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom, Francis Bacon.
There is a certain power to silence in the therapy room. It provides space for doing essential work. Silence can be a container, holding emotions that have no words yet, holding trauma that needs time to emerge gently, holding insight that is still developing beneath the surface.
Therapists are trained to listen, to observe, to attune, to reflect and to mirror. But one of the most powerful forms of attunement is knowing when not to speak. To be able to sit in stillness with another human being and allow the silence to breathe is a skill, a practice, and an offering. It is not passive; it is a quiet, receptive presence that invites trust and depth.
Therapists may initially experience silence as awkward, especially in early stages of therapy. They may wonder, Am I supposed to say something? Is something wrong? Clients may also share these thoughts. This is possibly a reflection of how little space we are given in everyday life to simply pause. When did you last have a moment of quiet reflection? The therapy room offers a space where stillness, and silence are not only permitted, but honoured.
Not all silences are equal, though. Some are heavy with avoidance or fear. Some signal rupture, confusion, or disengagement. Part of the therapist’s role is to be curious about the silence, to gently wonder with the client what the silence might be saying. “I notice we’ve gone quiet, I wonder what’s happening for you right now?” can be an invitation to explore, not interrupt.
In other moments, silence is sacred. The unconscious coming into conscious awareness enables a client to sit with a realisation, holding a deep emotion, or simply needing a moment to breathe. In those moments, speaking would be an intrusion. Silence can also be a way of regulating nervous systems both the therapist’s and the client’s. It is a pause, a moment of mutual grounding.
There’s something deeply human about being together in silence. It says: I’m here with you, and we don’t need to rush. It makes space for things we don’t yet know how to say, for emotions that speak their own language. “Silence is a source of great strength.” Lao Tzu.
The next time silence enters the therapeutic space, perhaps we can welcome it as a third presence in the therapeutic relationship. Not something to be fixed or feared that you are not doing enough, but something to notice, respect, and work with. In a world full of noise, silence can be its own kind of healing.
Spotlight
OPPORTUNITY! We are looking for qualified clinical supervisors who are therapeutically qualified to work with children and young people to join our supervisors list. Currently for our Bristol course.
You will need to be a member of a registering body, hold a current Enhanced DBS, ICO and Liability Insurance. If you are interested iOurn being added to our list of clinical supervisors, please let us know. Contact details are below.
Please contact us if you have any questions about our current menu of training opportunities or other relevant topics you would like to discuss with us.
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