The art of child's play

pioneer in that area of care for almost 70 years in Scotland.

The Notre Dame Centre, an amalgamation of Notre Dame Child Guidance Clinic, founded by psychologist Sister Marie Hilda and the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1931, and Fern Tower Adolescent Unit, is world renowned and the new part-time course, a postgraduate certificate in play therapy, has coincided with reports of an alarming increase in such problems over the past few years.

Course leader Janet Barr explains how it has evolved.

''We have been practising play therapy at the centre since it opened in 1931 - with the millennium approaching, this is the right time for us to formalise what we do and hand on our skills,'' she says.

''The need for the course arose from our experience of doing brief in-service work with professionals like psychologists, social workers and teachers, who were asking for more help to develop their skills in working with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

''In addition to that, in recent years there have been several pieces of research carried out in Scotland, and the UK as a whole, showing that the incidence of mental health difficulties in young children and adolescents seems

to have risen sharply and is spreading.

''Research from Glasgow University, for example, shows that the main factors were unemployment, the rate of change in family circumstances.

''Once the need had been identified, I gathered together four members of staff and we discussed the possibility of offering a course. We realised that in the

climate in which we live, it is

necessary for people not only to be trained but to have that marked in some way by an academic

qualification.''

The team at Notre Dame Centre approached an enthusiastic Bill Thomson at the Professional Development Unit based at Strathclyde University's education campus in Jordanhill. The Unit had already run a recognised training in counselling. Coincidentally, the Notre Dame clinic had been established on the recommendation of a Dr Rush, a professor of education at Jordanhill at that time.

The staff group met regularly on Saturday mornings, and they developed the course content over a two-year period, with accre-

ditation by Strathclyde University.

The programme aims to provide training in play therapy within an educational context and is offered on a two-year, part-time basis.

It comprises four modules: child and adolescent development, play therapy theory and practice, the child in society, and clinical theory process and practice, and will involve periods of observation of children in various settings.

''The first module was really looking at the family factors and the personal factors which affect development, and the second looks at external factors in the wider environment that affect the child, so observations are built-in throughout those two modules,'' explains Barr.

''The other two modules deal more with the history, the theory and the practice of play therapy, and an essential part of that involves clinical work within their work setting.''

According to the definition of the British Association of Play Therapists: ''Play therapy is the dynamic process between child and play therapist in which the child explores, at his or her pace and with his or her own agenda, those issues past and current, conscious and unconscious, that are affecting the child's life.

''The child's inner resources are enabled by the therapeutic alliance to bring about growth and change. Play therapy is child-centred, play being the primary medium and speech the secondary medium.''

The therapy is deliberately non-directive and non-structured, and the children are free to play in whichever way they can, individually, in the company of a therapist, who can help them understand what they are doing and why they are doing it.

''It is really providing a forum where the child is free to explore things and the therapist is helping them to think,'' says Barr.

''They have really created a space where the child can think about things that are going on for them so that they can, in fact, bring about the changes that would make things better for them.

''The therapists will be trained to recognise signs in the children's imaginative play, for example, where they may act out, using toys, an abusive situation. Or perhaps a child who has witnessed a trauma, or has been in an accident, uses play to act that out.

''The way they do it may also give clues as to what is going on inside the child and sometimes the therapist's job is to verbalise that for the child.''

The team at Notre Dame is aware of the potential for the wrong kind of people to be attr-acted to work of this nature, and they take a number of precautions to try to ensure that such people are discouraged.

There are the necessary police checks and a further safeguard has been built into the course whereby all of the participants will undergo their own personal counselling.

The course itself is very interactive and experiential, and has supervision built in, so it is highly likely that candidates deemed unsuitable would be quickly recognised.

''Where someone might potentially be abusive, or may not be able to manage that kind of work, or where someone is experiencing difficulties, one would hope it would come out,'' Barr explains.

''If someone was too controlling, for example, and could not allow the child the freedom, obviously they would not be the best person for this kind of work.''

Those people wishing to enrol on the course would be expected to have worked with children over a period of time, and have a

previous qualification. They would also be expected to provide references.

The entry qualifications include a professional qualification from areas like social work, education or health and the candidates should have at least two years experience of working with

children, with a guarantee of

continuing work with children while they are on the course.

As with many higher learning programmes today, it is also open to people who can demonstrate relevant prior training and prior experiential learning which has taken place within five years of applying for the course.

At the present time, there are still relatively few posts available for play therapists and the course is designed primarily for those already employed in work with children, but that is likely to change in the future.

There are play therapy posts available in England, and the British Association of Play

Therapists is working hard to have it recognised as a profession in its own right.

Organisations like Barnardos are financing some of their staff to attend the course and there is clearly potential for people

choosing to work in a private capacity.

There are plans to develop the course to diploma and masters level, offering a wider choice of modules, with greater flexibility built into both the location and the timescale of the programmes.

Notre Dame Centre will run

an open day about the course on 25 October. For further information, contact Barr on 0141 339 2366.