My name is Helen McCann and I am a qualified Certified Play and Creative Arts Therapist, registered with PTUK and BACP.   I work at Cambridge Park Academy for half a day each week, to deliver both individual and group play therapy sessions.

Play therapy is a form of child led counselling.  When we experience events that cause anxiety, upset or distress (ranging from mild to severe) we speak to a counsellor, who we can  share our feelings with, and they will empower us to make sense of the experience, challenging our unconscious mind.  Children don’t always have the vocabulary to be able to express what they are feeling,  or indeed the ability to recognise and explain their emotions.  However, play is innate to every child. By providing a safe and secure space, with  specific therapy play kit, your child can explore their feelings and emotions about past experiences, allowing the unconscious mind to process and make sense of their experiences, and enable them to move forward in their lives. The result is an empowered child, who is less likely to be affected by negative experiences.    Play Therapy can also improve a child’s self-confidence, resilience, self-esteem and particularly reduce anxiety.

‘Each Play Therapist has undertaken extensive academic and clinical training, with close clinical supervision and monitoring.  Playing together in the therapy room with the full Toolkit of play and art materials creates the facilitative environment for the reflective discovery of therapeutic change.  The therapeutic relationship means that crucially the child is not alone with their experiences.  With the therapist holding the session via the predictable boundaries and materials and by creating a containing experience for the child’s emotional experience.  This means that the child feels supported, understood, safe and able to approach deep and strong feelings.’