Licensed mental health professionals throughout the United States are reminding the public of the value of play, Play Therapy, and Registered Play Therapists during National Play Therapy Week, Feb. 7-13.
Play is our first language, according to the Association for Play Therapy (APT), the national professional society that advances Play Therapy.
APT says that, just as adults use words to communicate, children use play to express thoughts and feelings that might otherwise remain hidden. APT adds that thousands of licensed mental health professionals within and outside of the United States use play therapeutically to help their clients, especially children, to describe and manage their behaviors and mental health problems.
Licensed professionals include counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, clinical social workers, and many school counselors and psychologists.
Many professionals using Play Therapy are identified by their Registered Play TherapistTM (RPT), Registered Play Therapist-SupervisorTM (RPT-S) or School Based-Registered Play Therapist (SB-RPT) credentials. These credentials require that they obtain specific Play Therapy training and supervised experience beyond their general licensure requirements and enable them to publicly advertise their Play Therapy expertise.
For more information, contact a local play therapist or APT (a4pt.org).