Newsletter: May 2026
Thankyou!
A big Thank You from Eileen and Alun!
Gosh we cannot believe we are in May, where did April go?
Being a small business we really appreciate you being part of our community. For those of you on social media thank you for liking, commenting and sharing our posts. We loved hearing about your favourite games you have in your therapy spaces. Being a small fish in a big pond means we are working very hard, your support inspires us so much.
At a recent Relational Play and Creative Therapy Young Peoples course, we had a conversation about the books we shared. The conversation turned to developing a book club. If you would be interested in being part of a therapist book club, reading the same book and then meeting (online) to chat about it please let us know [email protected].
We are excited to launch our Level 7 Certificate in Creative Clinical Supervision course this month. Delighted Susannah Bradley will be teaching this course.
Coming soon...
Last Call for Geek Therapy
Do your clients love K Pop Demons or gaming? Do they have favourite characters with super powers? If so, this 2 hour course is for you!
We are delighted to welcome Josué Cardona’s from Geek Therapy® to deliver another Certification Course. He will explore innovative ways to connect with clients through what they love! This creative therapeutic approach uses elements of geek culture such as gaming characters, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, and fandoms to make therapy more engaging, relatable, and meaningful.
Geek Therapy® is an affinity-based model that recognises the power of personal interests in building connection and supporting emotional expression. Particularly effective with young people, it offers a client-centred way to explore thoughts, feelings, and experiences through familiar and motivating mediums.
This course introduces the Geek Therapy® Model, equipping you with practical tools to integrate client passions into your therapeutic work ethically and effectively. You will learn to identify affinities, apply key techniques, and incorporate this approach alongside existing models.
Open to therapists, educators, and community practitioners, this certification demonstrates your commitment to creative, inclusive practice.
Make a date: May 16th, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Online: via zoom
Level 7 Certificate Creative Clinical Supervision
Accredited Level 7 Creative Clinical Supervision qualification equips you with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to provide safe ethical supervision within a clear professional framework.
Delivered part-time over one year, this course balances intensive learning with flexibility for busy professionals. You will develop the ability to establish and maintain effective supervisory relationships, respond creatively to complex clinical issues, and support supervisees’ professional growth through creative reflective practice. A strong emphasis on self-awareness, ethics, and professional standards ensures you can navigate relational, ethical, and challenges with confidence.
A distinctive feature of the course is its creative approach, integrating theory, practical application, and reflective practice to foster development-focused supervision. You will also explore how to embed equality, diversity, and inclusion into supervision, supporting culturally responsive and anti-oppressive practice.
Written by Emma Nagle for the School of Play and Creative Therapies, this recognised Level 7 qualification prepares you to deliver ethical, supportive, and impactful supervision across a wide range of professional settings.
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
July and beyond 2026
Level 6 Certificate Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work
Transform Lives with Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work – Starting 18 July 2026
Join our Creative Therapeutic Life Story Work course and gain the skills to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and young people. Designed for Play Therapists, Counsellors, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, Social Work Assistants, Foster Carers, and professionals working with displaced children, this course provides a clear, ethical framework to support children in care, adoption, or displacement.
You will learn how to help children construct a concrete, sequential narrative of their life, strengthening their identity, emotional wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Grounded in key therapeutic theories, the course covers trauma-informed practice, attachment, developmental stages, and the impact of displacement.
Through four practical modules, you’ll develop skills in session planning, communication, and creative delivery of life story work. Developed in consultation with practitioners and adoptive families, this course equips you to help children safely explore their history, understand past experiences, and build meaningful connections.
Secure your place today and start making a lasting impact.
18 & 19 July 2026
19 & 20 September 2026
17 & 18 October 2026
14 & 15 November 2026
Quarterly tutorials: Dates and times will be agreed with the cohort
Level 7 Diploma Relational Play and Creative Therapy Children and Young People – Dubai, Crewe and Bristol
It would be great if you can help Spread the Word about our unique Play Therapy courses.
We have new courses in Dubai August 2026, Crewe and Bristol commencing in October.
Qualification Accredited by: CpCAB
For more information about this dynamic course, dates and venues visit: https://schoolofpact.com/level-7-diploma/
Something to ponder on...
Somewhere Between the Car Park and the Couch!
I recently had the pleasure of cover teaching two days of a recent Relational Play and Creative Therapy Young Peoples course. I found myself in conversation with students about empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. We explored how these core conditions form the foundation of meaningful therapeutic relationships how they create safety, foster growth, and communicate deep respect for the person sitting opposite us.
As I drove home afterwards, the conversation lingered with me. There is something about being behind the wheel that creates space for reflection perhaps it is the rhythm of the road, the familiar route, or the fact that no one can interrupt you mid-thought (unless, of course, you miss your turning while deep in reflection… which may or may not have happened).
I became aware that in my roles as a therapist, children and young people’s counsellor, and clinical supervisor, I consistently strive to offer empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard in my clinical work. I extend them to the families I support, to colleagues, to friends, and to those I care about. They are woven into my professional identity and my personal values.
Yet somewhere between the traffic lights and the roundabout, a quiet question surfaced “When do I offer these same conditions to myself?” It struck me that while I am quite skilled at navigating complex emotional terrain with others, I can be surprisingly less generous when navigating my own internal landscape. My inner critic can appear quickly, sometimes faster than a driver who forgets to indicate, especially when things do not go as planned. When an intervention does not land as hoped, when the day runs behind schedule, or when I replay a conversation in my mind with the benefit of hindsight, those old inner scripts can become activated. If my inner critic had a driving style, it would probably be the backseat driver commentating on every move: “You should have taken that turning.” “Why did you say that?” “You could have handled that better.” Meanwhile, I would never speak to a client, colleague, or friend in that tone. I would offer patience, understanding, curiosity, even reassurance. Yet to myself, I can sometimes deliver a running commentary that is less compassionate and more like a sat-nav that has lost signal but still insists it knows best.
This realization felt both humbling and, if I am honest, a little bit amusing. Because there I was, talking all day about empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, and then driving home being gently reminded that these conditions are not just professional tools they are life skills… including for the person holding the steering wheel.
Perhaps the work is not only about offering these conditions to others, but about practicing them in the small, ordinary moments like sitting in traffic, missing a turning, or realising you have been replaying the same thought for the last three miles.
Maybe offering myself empathy looks like saying, “That was a tough day, you did your best.” Maybe congruence means admitting, “I am tired,” instead of pretending I am running on unlimited fuel. Maybe unconditional positive regard toward myself means believing that my worth does not depend on perfect decisions, flawless sessions, or never taking a wrong turn on the road or in life.
As I pulled into the driveway, engine off and mind still gently ticking over, another thought arrived, this time with a smile! If I can allow my sat-nav to calmly reroute when I take a wrong turn, perhaps I can learn to do the same for myself. No judgment. No dramatic announcements. Just a steady voice saying, “Recalculating… carry on.”
After all, growth is not about never getting lost. It is about trusting that we can find our way again with patience, kindness, and maybe the occasional three-point turn.
If your interested in our Relational Play and Creative Therapy Young Peoples course, news dates will be available soon. https://schoolofpact.com/courses/coming-soon-level-6-certificate-relational-play-and-creative-therapy-for-young-people/
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