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MA in Practice Based Play Therapy

The MA is the final section of the MA in Practice Based Play Therapy course, following the Certificate and Diploma awards.

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A complete guide to training for carers in play and creative arts therapies

Summary

  • 18-month course
  • 6 x Workshop tutorials
  • Practice-based evidence
  • Live and online
  • Course Fees are £3,570.00

The final section of the MA in Practice Based Play Therapy course, following the Certificate and Diploma awards. It is live and online, and so accessible to APAC Diploma Graduates around the globe. The Course Director actively seeks out innovative online learning tools that will help students meet the learning objectives, and stimulate their thinking. Cohort numbers continue to increase. The course is taught via 1.5 hour-long online tutorial workshops, once a month for 6 months with the expert guidance of an Academic Supervisor.

All students have access to our private online forum, SLACK, for help and tips along the way, forming study groups with peers and creating a research community around the world. This is a unique course where you get to create and carry-out an original piece of research, gain academic ground, and then share that advance across the profession.

This will establish you as an authority on your specialised subject, benefiting your own practice and providing openings for new employment, renumeration and commissioning opportunities. This will provide you with greater professional credibility through opportunities to publish in PTI’s International academic research journal, Play for Life magazine and other academic or non-academic avenues. Many of our graduates have published their research, or written training for other play and creative therapists.

 

Disability Support

To view the full disability support information click here

What is Research?

Research is developing innovative practice-based evidence, to advance the play therapy profession.  Research explores new ideas and approaches, applications and combinations.  Research is a collaborative process, each piece building on what has gone before, and setting the scene for the next idea.

Research is not that far removed from the clinical practice that you already do, where we foster a spirit of openness to enquiry.  Our sessions with clients involve: the piecing together of information and understanding, the testing of hypotheses as they emerge from what has been going on, the use of reflection and dialogue.  We hold in mind ‘official’ theories, and add our own individual experience from practice, supervision, reading and reflection.  As well as being accustomed to enquiry and theory-making from the therapy room, the academic syllabus for the Certificate and the Diploma have prepared you for this next stage, as the three tiers make up the MA Course Practice Based Play Therapy and have been designed to lead on to each other.

The MA Course Practice Based Play Therapy is an exciting opportunity to design and deliver an original piece of work that will contribute to what we know about children’s mental health from a play therapy perspective.  Research is a collaborative effort, with each finding coming from those before it and leading to the next discovery.

1.) Developing a 4,000-word Research Proposal. Working within the limits of what is viable within a nine month or year long, dissertation-based research project; the proposal will address a subject of the student’s own choosing, highlighting the philosophical, conceptual and strategic processes necessary to design and implement a robust and ethical research study.

By the end of the module students will be able to:

  • Identify an area of play and creative arts therapies research (education, health and social care practice) that needs systematic investigation and present a clear rationale for the proposed research
  • Critically analyse the ethical dimensions of research, highlighting methods of engaging participants in ways that respect their rights and needs
  • Defend the aim of the proposed study and the research question(s) and selection of a research paradigm and research approach
  • Anticipate the type(s) of data that are likely to result from the proposed study and critically evaluate their relevance to the aim of the study and the research question/s

2.) Producing a 13,000-word dissertation, organised into discrete chapters to meet the learning outcomes.

By the end of the module students will be able to:

  • Organise documentation to convey clearly and accurately the processes undertaken and what has been achieved
  • Critically evaluate relevant literature utilising an appropriate theoretical framework and prior empirical studies
  • Select and justify an appropriate research design, sample population and data collection instruments and adopt a critical, ethically sensitive stance towards the conduct of the research study
  • Summarise, analyse and interpret data using suitable statistical or other tools where appropriate
  • Synthesise findings in relation to theoretical perspectives, prior empirical studies and professional practice issues
  • A wide range of topics is encouraged that will take the play therapy profession forward. In the case of clinical topics, students are required to develop a clinical philosophy based upon an integrative holistic approach. This is to be related to an understanding and implementation of evidenced therapeutic models. Students are required to apply this clinical philosophy to a specific aspect of working therapeutically with children. Other topics that are a part of the play therapy systemic environment should be considered including clinical supervision, therapist attributes, cultural considerations, training methods, social and economic factors affecting demand and joined up working.
  • Original research may be either qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods in nature. Students have 18 months to complete their dissertation.
  • In addition students will be expected to present and submit dissertations in accordance with accepted conventions of academic writing and in accordance with the requirements set out in the University’s published Dissertation Guidelines.
  • The Dissertation must be of publishable quality in terms of written accuracy.

Each taught online Tutorial Workshop introduces concepts, and signpost students to further reading and resources that is relevant to their own work.  Additional reading materials and filmed sessions are available on APAC ALMS pages, with the UoC library offering further study skills and academic development opportunities and support.

This course is facilitated by Sophia O’Neill, APAC MA Course Director, PTUK Research Writer, Play Therapist MA.

Workshop Tutorial Workshop Tutorial Contents Outline 
Pre-Course Preparing for your MA, guidance and suggestions sent out at enrolment.
 1  An IntroductionOverview of the programme – the whole team around the students.

Course requirements, timings and modules.

Choosing a research topic, formulating a Research Question.

 2 

 

 

 

 

Both in Tutorial 2 and as a stand-alone filmed resource.

 

Literature Reviews & EthicsThe purpose of a Literature Review.

Effective and efficient searching, reading and note-taking.

Managing references and citations.

A strategy for writing a literature review.

 

Ethical application process and skills.

 3 Research Methods Pt. 1Ethics round-up.

Research Philosophy and debate.

Methods to fit research questions.

 4 Research Methods Pt. 2Questionnaires.

Systematically presenting Quantitative Data.

Interviews, Focus Groups.

Making logical sense of Qualitative Data.

Observation.

Case Study.

Narrative Inquiry.

Triangulation, using methods together.

 

Tailored detail on relevant research methods according to needs of students.

 5  Analysis TechniquesWhat is a number?

Analysing Quantitative Data.

Descriptive statistics, statistical analysis, presenting results.

Analysing Qualitative Data.

Thematic analysis, grounded theory, presenting results.

 

Tailored detail on relevant analysis techniques according to needs of students.

 6  Writing UpWriting for an academic audience.

Presentation requirements & submission.

Working with large documents.

Writing an abstract.

Supporting yourself during the writing up process.

 7  Publication & DisseminationExploring avenues for the sharing and publishing student’s unique research.

Why publish?

Where to publish?

Writing for different audiences.  Finding openings to share your work.

 On-going support    Throughout the 18-month course, ongoing support from APAC and LBU staff is provided. 
Upcoming Courses

NB. ALL students must be active members of PTUK before enrolling onto APAC Courses

Several intakes per year. To submit an application, please click here

 

MA in Practice Based Play Therapy
Start Date: May 16, 2025
Online
Training Blocks:
Block Number 1: 16/05/202516/05/2025
Block Number 2: 06/06/202506/06/2025
Block Number 3: 04/07/202504/07/2025
Block Number 4: 01/08/202501/08/2025
Block Number 5: 05/09/202505/09/2025
Block Number 6: 03/10/202503/10/2025
   

  • Students progressing onto the MA in Practice Based Play Therapy course must have completed both the Postgraduate Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills and Postgraduate Diploma in Play Therapy. Students must have received a Merit or Distinction on both Certificate and Diploma courses (marks above 60).
  • A current membership with Play Therapy UK / Play Therapy International will be required upon enrolment on the course as a Certified Play Therapist. MA students can apply for the unique grade ‘MA – Non-Practising Practitioner’ if they are not practicing but want to study on the MA.
  • All Postgraduate Diploma in Play Therapy fees have been paid in full.

The Masters Course Fees are £3,570.00 plus the university registration fee of £370.00. The fees are currently inclusive of 18 hours of Academic Supervision; should you require more when writing your dissertation, you may make private arrangements with your Academic Supervisor at an average additional cost of approximately £50.00 per hour.

If you require additional years to complete the Course, this would be charged at £1,400.00 per year.

Enhanced DBS/ Access NI/ Garda Vetting/ Scottish PVG Check under the role of Trainee Play Therapist or Play Therapist – please email contact@ptukorg.com for information on the associated fees.

The Jeff Thomas MA Research Bursary

  • The Research Bursary has been created to provide an opportunity for one student per cohort to receive £1,000 towards their course fees.
  • The opportunity runs alongside PTUK/PTI’s continued championing of researched and evidence based practice, to promote and progress Play Therapy as an intervention and a career.
  • On your application form you will be asked to apply for the Bursary should you choose to do so. – Please tick Yes or No. If you tick yes, please write a maximum of 500 words about the research you plan to carry out. It should discuss its relevance to the Play Therapy profession and child mental health, and comment on its contemporary relevance, as well as list any academic research previously undertaken in the relevant fields.
  • Applications will close 2 months before the course start date.

Duration

The MA course is 18 months long; giving 9 months for the production of a Research Proposal and a further 9 months for data collections and the write up of the dissertation.  The first 6 months have one online Workshop each (one per month), on Saturdays, for 1.5hours.  These Workshops are compulsory to attend, as part of the course.  The exact timing of the Workshop depends on the mixture of time-zones each cohort of students are spread across.  Most usually they run at 12noon UK time.  By the start of the 3rd Workshop, all students will have been allocated their own specialist Academic Supervisor.  The Dissertation must also be completed within 10 years of starting your PG Certificate course.

To submit an application, please click here

Next Steps

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