Newsletter: February 2026
This months top news
Well January is usually a time of new beginnings but for us January saw the end of our first Relational Play and Creative Therapy for Young People and our first Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work cohorts. We had such a great time teaching and as usual learned much from these outstanding groups of students. We wish them all the best as they continue in their work with young people. One of the students wrote this.
“I would have never ever dreamed I would be working with young people at this point in my career but under your guidance, nurture and holding space I feel very blessed to be given this opportunity. I’m realising this is becoming my favourite client age group to work with therapeutically at the moment, which I’m very grateful for. It really has steered me into a new direction professionally.”
We also had the last weekend of teaching for our second cohort, Level 6 Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work Certificate. We are still looking forward to having the tutorials with them in the coming months. We had great feedback from them as well.
“Genuinely one of the most enjoyable, informative courses I have attended and I can’t wait to put it into practice.”
“A very competent and rich course which I feel like I have taken a lot from, personally and professionally “
If January was endings, February is going to be a month for new beginnings. On the 14th our brand new course, Relational Creative Therapy for Adults starts in Bedford. We are both very excited to be delivering this course as it will provide our students ways of working with adults through creative therapies. We feel this is a milestone course and cannot wait to get going with it. We will let you all know how it went next month!!
This month we are also presenting our CPD course, Considering Our Clients Through Creative Expression of Art and Masks – Online.
This hands-on, one day course offers you the opportunity to explore the therapeutic benefits of using art and creative expression to gain a deeper insight into our clinical work. See more details below.
Coming soon...
Last chance to book!
Unlock Your Potential with the Level 6 Certificate in Relational Creative Arts Therapy for Adults.
Go to our website for more information and to book:
https://schoolofpact.com/courses/l6-certificate-relational-creative-therapy-for-adults/
Qualification Accredited by CpCAB
Dates: 14/02/2026 – 21/02/2026
Location: Stagsden Village Hall, Bedford
NEW Online CPD Course “Considering our Clients Through Creative Expression of Art and Masks.”
Art has been a powerful form of expression for centuries, used across cultures to heal, communicate, and transform. In many traditions, masks symbolised death and rebirth during rites of passage, stimulated fertility and prosperity, and supported emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Today, these same symbolic tools offer profound insight into therapy and practice.
This training invites practitioners to explore what lies behind the mask the hidden emotions, unmet needs, and authentic self that clients may struggle to express with words. In therapy, “masking” refers to hiding one’s true self to gain acceptance, often leading to anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and low self-worth. Children in particular may wear emotional masks when fear of rejection prevents them from expressing who they really are.
Through the use of colour, symbolism, and creative exploration, this training deepens your understanding of the unconscious process. You will gain practical techniques to help clients release internal conflict, strengthen self-belief, and reconnect with their true identity.
When: 28/02/2028
Time: 9.00-4.00am.
Venue: Live Online
CPD Points: 6
Level 7 Diploma Relational Play and Creative Therapy Children and Young People – Bromley
It would be great if you can help Spread the Word about our unique Play Therapy course.
We have new courses in Bromley March 2026. Marlow May 2026. Dubai August 2026. More new courses will be announced soon.
Qualification Accredited by: CpCAB
For more information about this dynamic course, dates and venues visit: https://schoolofpact.com/level-7-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. This course is 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/
Qualification Accredited by CpCAB.
Dates: (This course begins with the first day online, followed by six in person days.)
14/03/2026 Online
18/04/2026 – 19/04/2026 In-person
16/05/2026 – 17/05/2026 In-person
13/06/2026 – 14/06/2026 In-person
Quarterly tutorials: Dates and times will be agreed with the cohort.
Location: CIM Business Centre, Moor Hall, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 9QH
Qualification Accredited by: CpCAB
Geek Therapy makes a spectacular return in April.
If you are into Marvel, Dungeons and Dragons, Manga art, Stranger Things, Dr Who or if you have clients who are into any geeky stuff then this is a must attend course.
The last time We had Geek Therapy® with Josue Cardona it was a sellout with 75 people attending.
Make it a date: April 1st from 7.00pm to 9.00pm. (This is not an April Fool joke!)
Level 7 Certificate Creative Clinical Supervision
That’s right! A Level 7 qualification!
The Level 7 Creative Clinical Supervision course is an advanced qualification designed for experienced healthcare, counselling, and therapeutic professionals who are ready to move into a clinical supervisory role. The course equips supervisors with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to provide safe, ethical, and legally sound supervision within a clear professional framework.
Book this on our website: https://schoolofpact.com/courses/level7-certificate-creative-clinical-supervision/
16 May 2026 – 17 May 2026
6 June 2026 – 7 June 2026
27 June 2026 – 28 June 2026
Something to ponder on...
I have been so privileged to work therapeutically with children and young people, to witness the pain, distrust, anger, and some of the deepest hurts children and young people bare. At this time of year, I often think about the new year not as a demand for change, but as an invitation to hope.
As a therapist working with children and young people who live with trauma, hope is not loud or performative. It is quiet, steady and compassionate, able to sit alongside pain without trying to rush it away. For many of the young people I work with, the past has been unpredictable, unsafe, or overwhelming. Time has not always felt reassuring; sometimes it has felt like something that simply keeps happening to them.
When a new year arrives, it isn’t about resolutions or fresh starts in the way the world often frames it. It is about possibility gentle and earned. The turning of the year can be a pause, a moment to acknowledge survival. Each child has already carried so much into this moment. The new year becomes a marker that quietly says: you are still here. And that matters.
Hope, in trauma work, lives in small moments: a young person taking a risk to trust, finding language for a feeling, regulating after a hard day, or laughing without scanning the room for danger. The new year holds space for these incremental steps. It reminds us that healing is not about forgetting the past, but about creating safety and connection in the present.
For children and young people, the idea of a “new” year can gently open the door to imagining a future sometimes for the first time. Not a perfect future, but one where they might feel calmer in their bodies, more understood in relationships, or less alone. Even imagining that life could be different is a powerful form of hope.
Alongside the children, I also hold hope for their parents and caregivers. Trauma does not live in isolation; it weaves itself through families and relationships, often leaving parents carrying guilt, exhaustion, fear, and self-blame. Many wonder if they have already failed their child, or if things will ever feel easier.
Part of my role as a therapist is to hold hope when parents feel they cannot. To notice their effort when they feel unseen. To recognise the strength, it takes to keep showing up for a child who is struggling, especially when progress feels slow or unclear. The new year offers parents’ permission to soften toward themselves to remember that change does not require perfection, only care, repair, and persistence.
Hope for parents may look like understanding their child’s behaviour through a trauma-informed lens, learning new ways to respond, or allowing space for their own healing. The new year reminds us that growth remains possible for families, even after long periods of pain.
As a therapist, the new year renews my commitment to walk alongside children, young people, and their parents with patience and steadiness. Trauma can make the future feel fixed and unforgiving. The new year gently challenges that belief. It says change is possible, even if it comes slowly, unevenly, and one moment at a time.
The hope of the new year is not found in grand promises. It lives in compassion, in consistency, and in the belief that every child and every parent deserve a future that holds more safety, understanding, and connection than their past.
“Genuinely one of the most enjoyable, informative courses I have attended and I can't wait to put it into practice.” - Level 6 Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work Certificate attendee
Spotlight
OPPORTUNITY! We are looking for qualified clinical supervisors based in Bromley, Buckinghamshire and Crewe who are therapeutically qualified to work with children and young people to join our supervisors list.
You will need to be a member of a registering body, hold a current Enhanced DBS, ICO and Liability Insurance. If you are interested in being added to our list of clinical supervisors, please let us know. Contact details are below.
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