Play & Filial Therapy

07/08/2025

…be brave and PLAY!

06/08/2025

Dr Kate Renshaw is a proud BAPT Approved International Professional Play Therapist! She completed a BAPT accredited course at The University of York!

BAPT Accredited Play Therapy courses are professional training programmes approved by the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT), designed to equip individuals with the knowledge, skills, and ethical foundations required to become qualified Play Therapists. These courses integrate theory and practice, focusing on child development, attachment, trauma, and therapeutic play techniques.

Trainees gain hands-on experience through supervised clinical placements and are required to engage in personal therapy as part of their professional development.

Currently, BAPT accredited courses are offered at a select number of UK universities, including the University of Roehampton, the University of South Wales, and Queen Margaret's University.

Completion of a BAPT Accredited course allows graduates to register as BAPT Play Therapists, ensuring they meet high standards of competence, safeguarding, and professional integrity in their work with children and families.

05/08/2025

This is why play therapy and filial therapy skills such as empathic listening through a playful relationship is so effective in enhancing emotional regulation (through co-regulation) and increasing emotional literacy!!

And an important consideration for older children and adolescents processing early childhood adverse experiences. Skills aligned with developmental processing of emotions are remain important

How Kids Learn What Emotions Really Mean

Children’s ability to interpret emotions evolves as their cognitive skills mature.

The study found that younger children rely heavily on visual facial cues, while older ones draw on learned emotional concepts.

Using EEG, word association tasks, and behavioral games, researchers tracked how emotion processing transforms between ages 5 and 10.

Results showed that while perception remains stable, understanding becomes more precise and differentiated with age.

This developmental shift reveals how experience and knowledge shape emotional insight.

These findings may guide strategies to support emotional learning in early education and therapy.

03/08/2025

“Playing always teaches you something new and this is always positive because, after all, always learning is what really keeps us alive,"

Relearn how to play or re-engage in play for greater lifetime health and wellbeing ❤️‍🩹

02/08/2025

Sunday reset: swap your to-do list for a want-to-do list. What would bring you joy today, just because? The world needs more adults who haven’t forgotten how to play.

01/08/2025

📺 Excited to share my recent interview on the ‘Beyond Education’ show for Ticker NEWS discussing human flourishing in education!

We explored the student-teacher relationship as the most significant indicator of student success

Additionally, we discussed the importance of emotional support for educators to prevent burnout

Check out the segment to hear more about universal approaches that prioritise both student and teacher well-being to create thriving school environments

Thanks for the great discussion Greg and Mike!!

Exploring ways to create schools where every student can thrive beyond traditional learning methods

31/07/2025

Thrilled to announce I've been selected to speak at SXSW Sydney 2025! A huge thanks for supporting us through the selection process 🎉

I'll be sharing the stage with a fantastic lineup of panelists (Camey O'Keefe and Reanna Browne); with Odette Barry guiding our discussion on shifting from 'just surviving' to thriving through play

Can't wait to connect with fellow innovators and dive deep into the vitality of play for humanity

Come and play in Sydney this October! Who's coming?

29/07/2025

In play therapy, we don’t push or probe. We don’t force children to open doors they’re not ready to unlock. Instead, we become something softer, a gentle presence that illuminates without overwhelming

Through dollhouses and sandtrays, stories and games, we hold space for what emerges. We follow their lead, at their pace

Sometimes the most profound work happens in whispers, in metaphors, in the language children speak most fluently, play!

29/07/2025

Play can soften our defenses and shake up any rigid patterns 🙂🙃

When we are playful, we become more open. We create space for wonder to slip in, for creativity to take root, for joy to find us in unexpected moments 🎈

The beautiful cracks that play creates can open spaces where something new can enter ✨

28/07/2025

“It creates an opportunity to examine the social conditions and societal factors linked to intimate partner violence, child mistreatment and violent crime.”