Play Therapy Supervision: Thinking About the Work Together

There can be a lot to think about when you're working therapeutically with children.

In play therapy, we're paying attention to what happens in the playroom, the themes that emerge over time, the therapeutic relationship and what we know about the child's history and wider family experiences. We're also working within a system around the child, which may include parents, schools and other professionals who have their own concerns and expectations about what therapy will achieve.

This is part of why I value supervision so much in play therapy practice. It gives us somewhere to slow the work down, think out loud with another person and make sense of what we're noticing.

Thinking about what happens in the playroom

A lot of my supervision conversations with play therapists involve thinking together about the child and their play.

We might notice themes that are appearing repeatedly and think about how they could connect with what we know about the child's history, relationships or family experiences. We might notice that something in the play has shifted, that the child keeps returning to a particular dynamic, or that the therapist is being given a particular role over and over again.

We can hold those observations alongside what the therapist is experiencing in the relationship with the child. Working closely with children can evoke strong responses. We might feel protective, frustrated, helpless, pulled towards rescuing, worried that we're not doing enough, or find ourselves wanting to take control of something that feels chaotic.

Thinking about these responses in supervision can help us understand our own reactions, and consider what they might tell us about the child's experience and what is happening within the therapeutic relationship.

Child playing

Holding the child in a complicated system

Children come to therapy as part of families, schools and communities, and many of the difficulties they bring are connected to circumstances that neither the child nor therapist can simply change.

A therapist might be working with a child whose parents are separating, who is living with family violence or conflict, or whose school environment is difficult for them. There may be significant instability around the child.

At the same time, parents and schools may understandably be looking for improvement in behaviours that are challenging at home or in the classroom. There may be pressure to provide strategies, explain what's happening or demonstrate that therapy is producing change, while the therapist is also recognising that the child's behaviour makes sense in the context of what they're experiencing and that some of the things contributing to their distress remain outside the therapist's control.

These are important things to bring to supervision because thinking analytically about the situation often helps clarify what has become muddled. We can consider what might be happening for the child, what the adults around them are asking for, what the therapist can realistically influence and what sits outside their role or control.

There may be practical things that can change as a result of that discussion. At other times, the work is about helping the therapist understand what they're holding and find a way to remain therapeutically present with a child whose circumstances can't simply be fixed.

Good supervision helps keep the child's perspective in the middle of all of this. When there are multiple adults, behaviours, systems and concerns involved, it's easy for the child's experience to become overshadowed by everything happening around them.

Having somewhere to be uncertain

I also think good supervision needs to be somewhere therapists can bring the parts of the work they aren't sure about.

There can be a vulnerability in talking about a session that didn't go particularly well, a child you're struggling to connect with, a strong emotional response you've had, or a case where you simply don't know what to do next. If supervision becomes somewhere we feel we have to demonstrate competence, we lose much of what makes it useful.

For me, supervision isn't about the supervisor having the answer and telling the therapist what to do. There are certainly times when knowledge, guidance or practical suggestions are helpful, particularly when someone is developing their play therapy practice. But there is also enormous value in being able to think through the work together.

The process of reflecting can help us recognise patterns, put behaviour back into context, understand our own responses and separate what we can influence from what we can't. Often the therapist already holds much of the information they need, but having someone alongside them who can ask questions, notice things and think analytically with them helps bring that information together.

You don't necessarily leave supervision having solved the problem. You may leave understanding it differently, which can change how you go back into the work.

Choosing a supervisor for play therapy practice

There are many excellent clinical supervisors from different professional backgrounds, and therapists may seek different things from supervision at different points in their practice.

If you're looking for supervision specifically focused on your play therapy work, you may find it helpful to work with someone who has experience in play therapy themselves. This provides a shared understanding of the approach and creates space to focus on the work itself: the child's play, the therapeutic relationship, your own responses as the therapist, and the developmental, relational and systemic context around the child.

If you're working towards Registered Play Therapist status, your choice of supervisor is also important for meeting registration requirements. Australian play therapy associations require supervision used towards registration to be provided by a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor from an association they recognise. As the specific requirements and recognised associations can differ, it's important to check the current requirements for the registration pathway you're pursuing before commencing supervision.

Beyond qualifications and registration requirements, I'd also think about the supervisory relationship itself. You need to be able to bring the work that feels messy and uncertain as well as the work that's going well, and to talk openly about your own responses to the children and families you're working with.

For me, that's an important part of good play therapy supervision. It gives us an opportunity to step outside the immediacy of the work, look at it from different angles and make sense of what's happening while keeping the child's experience at the centre.

Clinical Supervision for play therapists

I'm a Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor with the Australian Play Therapists Association (APTA) and provide individual and group clinical supervision for play therapists, social workers and other therapists working with children and families.

You can read more about my approach, individual and group supervision options and fees on my Clinical Supervision page.