Play Therapy Graduate Certificate

Explores the ways children use fantasy, play, and art as means for communication, growth, and healing. Emphasis is placed on clinical skills, therapeutic limit setting, counseling theory, and developmentally appropriate interventions. Purchase of some basic art supplies is required.

EDC 245 is a 3-unit seminar course designed for the advanced study of play therapy and builds upon material taught in EDC 242. Students will have the opportunity to expand on their basic play therapy skills through actual play therapy experiences with children and receive both instructor and peer feedback. Students will study the application of play therapy theories with diverse populations, as well as additional advanced topics, including trauma and play therapy, and play therapy across the lifespan.

EDC 246 is a 3-unit seminar course designed for the advanced study of play therapy and builds upon material taught in EDC 242. Students will study the theory, tenets, and implementation of filial therapy and group play therapy with diverse populations. Students will have the opportunity to apply group play therapy skills with children and adolescents, as well as practice an evidence-based filial therapy model, and receive both instructor and peer feedback.

EDC 477 is a 1-unit advanced counseling course designed to provide students with specialized supervision in play therapy from an instructor who possesses the RPT-S credential. This course is intended to be taken concurrently with practicum, internship, or while earning post-graduate hours in the field. Students will participate in a weekly one-hour supervision group, as well as receive tri-weekly individual supervision to fulfill the play therapy supervision requirement for the Registered Play Therapist and/or School-Based Registered Play Therapist credentials.

Students enrolled in the Certificate in Play Therapy complete coursework concurrently while earning supervised direct contact play therapy experience hours. Each term is designed to allow students to complete the minimum play therapy instructional hours alongside the minimum play therapy direct experience and supervision hours required for each phase.

Yes. Students only need to enroll in EDC 477 one time to earn the Certificate in Play Therapy from Sacramento State. However, students must enroll in EDC 477 each term to complete the supervision hours required for the RPT™ or SB-RPT™ credential.

Students may continue to enroll in EDC 477 after completion of the certificate to finish earning their required direct contact play therapy experience and supervision hours.

Yes. Direct contact play therapy hours may be earned at a ratio of 1:10 (one hour of supervision for every 10 hours of experience). Students may enroll in multiple sections of EDC 477 each term to increase their hours of supervision and the number of direct play therapy experience hours they earn each week.

Students enrolled in the Certificate of Play Therapy will study Adlerian Play Therapy, Child-Centered Play Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Play Therapy, Gestalt Play Therapy, and Filial Therapy. Students will receive a minimum of 25 hours of instruction in Child-Centered Play Therapy in EDC 242 and a minimum of 25 hours of instruction in Filial Therapy in EDC 246.

No. Students enrolled in the Certificate of Play Therapy program should already be employed at or volunteering with a private practice, community organization, hospital, school, or other clinical setting where they provide counseling services to clients on a regular basis.

Anyone who has an interest in applying play-based approaches in their work with children, adolescents, and/or adults may apply for the program as long as they have already earned a postgraduate degree or are enrolled in a graduate-level or postbaccalaureate credential program. This can include counselors, school psychologists, social workers, teachers, child development specialists, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, speech language pathologists, etc.

Students enrolled in the program must be employed at or volunteering with a school, private practice, community organization, hospital, school, or other clinical setting where they are providing direct services to children, adolescents, and/or adults on a regular basis. If volunteering, students must be doing so in an official capacity and have completed fingerprinting and a background check with the sponsoring agency, as well as receive supervision from the agency.

Students enrolled in the Certificate who are not enrolled in a degree program that prepares them for licensure as a counselor or psychologist or credentialing as a school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker will NOT be eligible for credentialing through APT as a Registered Play-Therapist™ or School-Based Registered Play-Therapist™, but they are eligible to earn the certificate from Sac State, and they will be able to find the information directly applicable to their work with children, adolescents, and/or adults.

To earn the Certificate in Play Therapy from Sac State, students would not need to retake EDC 242 if their equivalent class was completed virtually. However, it will limit their ability to apply the coursework toward credentialing as an RPT^TM or SB-RPT^TM through the Association for Play Therapy because APT requires a minimum of 75 of the 150 instructional hours to be completed in person. Since EDC 245 and EDC 246 are offered only virtually through our CCE program (except for 8 hours of the EDC 245 micro-practicums, which are in person), that means they would still need to fulfill 67 additional hours in person through another avenue.