Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Postgraduate Studentships - Search for funding opportunities.
Study Details: 2 years (full-time)
3 years (part-time)
The MA Play Therapy programme at the University of Roehampton is dedicated to nurturing compassionate, reflective, and ethically grounded practitioners who can make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families.
This programme integrates theoretical learning, clinical skills, and personal development to prepare you for professional practice as a play therapist in both public and private sectors.
Grounded in a humanistic, person-centred model, the course emphasises the use of play within the therapeutic relationship to facilitate positive change. You will engage in a combination of theoretical, practical, and experiential learning, including:
Lectures and seminars to build your core knowledge
Experiential workshops to develop practical skills
Reflective practice to integrate learning and support personal development
Applicants will normally be required to hold an honours degree at undergraduate (at 2.2 or above); in most cases this will be in a modality-relevant degree such as in psychology, childhood studies, education or health & social care.
Applicants with a relevant degree will be expected to have the equivalent of at least two years of full-time experience of working with children and young people, especially between the ages of 5-11, in a professional capacity.
All applicants should demonstrate a maturity of personality and self-awareness compatible with training as a therapist.
Applicants need an appropriate degree of psychological mindedness including the capacity to form and maintain appropriate empathic relationships with clients.
They should also demonstrate emotional literacy, robustness and an ability to be self-reflective.
This will be ascertained by a combination of health screening, experiential activities and in-depth discussions at interview
Graduates of the MA Play Therapy programme are well-prepared to work as registered play therapists across both public and private sectors. You will leave the programme with a strong professional identity, equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to practise as competent, ethical, and reflective practitioners.
The curriculum is carefully designed to ensure you are not only academically prepared but also emotionally and practically ready to respond effectively to the complex needs of children and families. You will develop the ability to work therapeutically with children using child-centred play therapy approaches, grounded in key theoretical frameworks including:
Child development
Attachment theory
Neuroscience
Psychotherapeutic modalities
Child-centred Play Therapy: Preparation for Practice
Professional Practice in the Arts and Play Therapies
Play Therapy Theory and Skills: Application and Process
Research Informed Professional Practice
Play Therapy Advanced Theory and Skills: Application and Process
Play Therapy Capstone Project: Advanced Practice
The University of Roehampton is based in southwest London on a 54-acre green and sustainable campus. The University is focused on providing educationa...
Sat 09 May 2026