Child Parent Relationship Therapy

​Strengthening connection through therapeutic play

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Sometimes the most helpful way to support a child is not to work with the child alone, but to work with the relationship between child and parent.

 

Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is a structured, evidence-based intervention that teaches parents specific play therapy skills to use with their own child.

 

Rather than your child attending individual play therapy with me, I work directly with you as the parent or caregiver. You learn how to hold regular, child-centred therapeutic play sessions with your child, with support, coaching and reflection along the way.

 

Over time, these sessions create a protected space where your child can experience being heard, understood and accepted — while you develop new ways of responding, setting limits and connecting with them.

 

 

WHY PLAY?

 

Children often communicate through play in ways they cannot yet communicate through words.

 

Through play, children can express feelings, explore experiences, test out relationships and show us something of how they are experiencing their world.

 

CPRT brings some of the principles and skills used in child-centred play therapy into the parent-child relationship.

 

You don't need to become a play therapist. Instead, you learn a specific set of therapeutic skills that help you follow your child's lead, recognise and respond to their feelings and experiences, set limits when needed, and communicate understanding and acceptance.

 

The focus isn't on teaching your child how to play or using play to get them to talk.

 

It is about creating a different kind of space within your relationship - one in which your child can lead and you can practise being alongside them in a new way.

 

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

 

CPRT is practical as well as reflective. Throughout the process, you will learn and practise skills that can help you:

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• Follow your child's lead during therapeutic play

• Recognise and respond to the feelings your child is communicating

• Communicate understanding and acceptance

• Build your child's sense of capability and responsibility

• Set clear, appropriate limits while maintaining connection

• Respond differently when difficult feelings or behaviours arise

• Become more aware of your own reactions and patterns as a parent

• Strengthen trust, connection and communication within your relationship

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These skills are first practised within the special play sessions, but parents often find that what they learn begins to influence everyday interactions with their child as well.

 

THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IS THE FOCUS

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Children develop within relationships, and the relationship they have with their parent or caregiver can be an important source of safety, connection and emotional support. CPRT gives us an opportunity to slow down and pay attention to what happens between you and your child.

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As you practise the skills, we can reflect together on what you're noticing in your child, what is happening for you, and the patterns that emerge within the relationship.

 

Sometimes this also brings awareness to our own experiences of being parented and the responses we have learned over time.

The aim isn't to parent perfectly. It is to develop greater awareness and confidence in how you respond, while creating more opportunities for connection and repair with your child.

 

WHO MIGHT CPRT SUPPORT?

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CPRT may be helpful for families where:

• Connection between parent and child feels strained or difficult

• A child is experiencing anxiety, big emotions, withdrawal or difficulties with emotional regulation

• Parent and child seem to become caught in repeated patterns of conflict or disconnection

• The family is navigating separation, grief, trauma, a new sibling or another significant change

• Parents want to better understand what their child communicates through behaviour and play

• Parents want a more active role in the therapeutic process

• A child has previously engaged in play therapy and the family wants to strengthen and extend relational work at home

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WHAT DOES CPRT INVOLVE?

 

Unlike general Parent Support, CPRT follows a structured process.

 

We meet regularly while I teach and support you to develop specific child-centred play therapy skills.

 

You then hold designated therapeutic play sessions with your child outside our sessions, putting those skills into practice within the parent-child relationship.

 

When we meet, we use a combination of teaching, reflection, supported practice and discussion of your play sessions. This gives us an opportunity to build your confidence, work through challenges and think together about what you and your child are experiencing.

 

You don't need any previous knowledge of play therapy. The skills are taught and developed gradually throughout the process.

 

PARENT SUPPORT OR CPRT?

 

Both approaches recognise that sometimes supporting a child means working with the adults around them, but they offer different ways of doing that.

 

Parent Support is flexible and individualised. Sessions focus on understanding your particular child, what may be underneath their behaviour, your parenting responses and the patterns within the parent-child relationship. We can draw on practical strategies, reflection and developmental and relational understanding according to what your family needs.

 

CPRT is a structured intervention. You learn and practise specific play therapy skills and use them in designated therapeutic play sessions with your child.

 

CPRT IN WHEELERS HILL

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Child Parent Relationship Therapy is available through my practice in Wheelers Hill, Melbourne.

 

Because much of the work is undertaken directly with parents, some components may also be suitable for telehealth.

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