Opportunities for post qualifying training will be listed here when they are available.
All of the following training has been endorsed by BAPT:
CPRT TRAINING UK
Training in Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT):
A 10-Session Filial Therapy Model for groups
(2 Day course endorsed by BAPT)
Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September 2025
in High Holborn, central London
TRAINERS: LISA GORDON CLARK & MARY THORNTON
CPRT (Landreth & Bratton, 2020) is a 10-session evidence-based filial therapy model grounded in child-centered play therapy (CCPT) and based on Bernard and Louise Guerney’s group filial therapy model. The 10-week group format was originally conceptualized by Landreth in the 1980’s and manualised by Bratton and Landreth (2006) to provide researchers and clinicians with a tool for ensuring treatment integrity in delivering the intervention.
This intensive two-day training in the manualised CPRT model will focus on the dynamic relationship facets of training parents to be therapeutic agents in their children’s lives. The 10-week CPRT group programme uses a format of didactic instruction, demonstration play sessions, weekly at-home play sessions and supervision, to teach parents basic child-centred play therapy principles and skills including: tracking, responsive listening, reflecting feelings, returning responsibility to their child, the ACT model of limit-setting, building children’s self-esteem and how to structure weekly 30-minute play sessions with their children using a special kit of selected toys. CPRT’s preventative nature and relatively brief treatment time frame make this treatment model attractive in today’s mental health climate.
The practical ‘how to’ workshops include comprehensive training/treatment outlines for the 10-session CPRT programme. Participants will learn how to teach child-centred play therapy skills to parents, the toys and materials needed, techniques for involving parents in the learning process, how to balance training and meeting parents’ emotional needs, utilising group dynamics, and facilitative supervision. Demonstrations, role-plays and video segments of Landreth and Bratton’s CPRT parent training sessions clarify the training process.
Please note: This post-qualifying course is only suitable for practitioners with prior training and supervised practice in non-directive play therapy. Basic training and supervised experience of play therapy is a prerequisite. Evidence of qualification status will be required on applying.
NB THIS COURSE IS DELIVERED IN THE UK IN CONSULTATION WITH DR GARRY LANDRETH & DR SUE BRATTON although it is not equivalent to the Certified CPRT Practitioner offered through the ‘Center for Play Therapy’ in the US
Following the completion of this initial 2 day training, you will be eligible to apply for ‘Approved’ status as a CPRT Therapist. This will verify your competence to work as an Approved CPRT Therapist in the UK. This involves the submission to a panel of CPRT supervisors/approvers of video and written evidence of your course delivery skills, along with reflection on your practice in delivering the CPRT programme. There will be a further charge for this approval process.
Lisa Gordon Clark BSc (Hons) Psychology, Dip. Play Therapy, BAPT-reg Play Therapist ®, Fellow HEA, was until 2020 a Senior Lecturer on the Play Therapy MA at the University of Roehampton and was the Programme Convener there for a decade. For 12 years she also led the annual 20-week Play Therapy Foundation Course at Roehampton.
Lisa has been trained in CPRT by both Dr Landreth & Dr Bratton. Now retired from her private Play Therapy practice, PlayFully, based in Wiltshire she remains a BAPT-approved Clinical Supervisor. She is the long-standing editor of the British Journal of Play Therapy and co-edited Becoming and Being a Play Therapist: Play Therapy in Practice (Ayling, Armstrong and Gordon Clark, 2019). Lisa is also the current External Examiner for the Postgraduate Child & Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling programme at the University of Cambridge.
Mary Thornton BA (Hons), MA Social Work, PQSW, Post-grad Practice Teaching Award, Dip. Play Therapy, BAPT-reg Play Therapist ®, Approved Supervisor BAPT, completion of Dr Rise Van Fleet’s Filial Therapy model from Dr Virginia Ryan and Geraldine Thomas and CPRT training from Lisa Gordon Clark and Gill Catling. Her first career was in Children’s Services Social Work, initially field work and then in a Family Centre where she facilitated Solihull Parenting groups (including for foster and kinship carers) and ran Solihull Training courses for professionals. After qualifying as a Play Therapist at the University of Roehampton (2006), she has worked as a Psychological Therapist in CAMHS Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Foundation Trust since 2015. During her time at NSFT she has facilitated a rolling programme of CPRT Training with groups of parents and carers.
Course information
Dates: Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September 2025
Time: Registration: 9.15 on Day 1 Day 1: 9.30 -17.00 Day 2: 9.30 -17.00 (12 hours CPD)
A minimum attendance of 90% for successful completion and attendance certificate
Location: 8th Floor, Berkshire House, 168-173 High Holborn, London WC1V 7AA
Berkshire House - Google Maps (nearest Tube stations: Tottenham Court Road /Holborn)
Price: £400 (Includes a copy of the second edition of CPRT Treatment Manual and access to the accompanying resources website) also incl. coffee/tea, plus light buffet lunch both days
NB No payment is required until you have been informed your application is successful. Prompt payment will then secure your place (places limited to 12).
To request an application form please email: lisa@playgc.co.uk using email subject
‘CPRT APPLICATION FORM REQUEST – LONDON 2025’
Please note that your copy of the CPRT Treatment Manual (Bratton & Landreth, 2020, 2nd ed) will be given to you on the first day of training, and access to the Companion Website will be sent approx. 4 days before the course.
No advance reading is required although the CPRT textbook (Landreth & Bratton, 2020) is strongly recommended for a deeper understanding of the principles and application of CPRT. Discounted copies will be available.
COOPT Training Course - Best Practice Certificate in Outdoor Play Therapy
Additional Training (not affiliated with BAPT):
No training is available at the moment.
External Safeguarding Training:
The following sites offer safeguarding Training appropriate for Play Therapists.
NSPCC
E learning for Healthcare
Echo3
