LEARN TO PLAY THERAPY

The Learn to Play program was developed by Emeritus Professor Karen Stagnitti who is a Registered Occupational Therapist and Registered Play Therapist. During the Learn to Play sessions, the Play Therapist uses a directive approach to deliberately encourage extension of the child’s capacity in their presenting pretend play skills. During directive play therapy, a play therapist maintains high immersion and active participation within the intervention by using scaffolded play experiences and purposeful role modelling and engagement in pretend play.

At the beginning of the Learn to Play intervention, a standardised pretend play assessment called the Pretend Play Enjoyment- Developmental Checklist (PPE-DC) is conducted to enable a Play Therapist to score where a child appears to be sitting in six categories relevant to pretend play skills and also their perceived enjoyment during their play:

  • Play scripts

  • Logical sequences of actions in play

  • Doll or teddy play

  • Role play

  • Object substitution

  • Social interactions

The Learn to Play program is able to be provided in a block of 12 initial sessions and can be reassessed at around the 10-week mark as to whether a further block of 12 sessions will continue to benefit your child/ client.

Beck is certified in Learn to Play therapy and enjoys providing this directive approach for her clients.