FAQ's About Becoming a Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor
The following are brief answers to some of the most frequently asked questions (or "FAQ's) about becoming a Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor when you practice in Florida. For ALL the facts and information, contact APT at 559-252-2278 or visit them on the web at www.a4pt.org.
What are the educational requirements for becoming a Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor?
You must have a graduate degree in a mental health profession (e.g. social work, psychology, counseling, marriage & family therapy) from an institute of highet education. If you do not have a traditional degree (e.g.. PhD, MSW), APT's Registration Committee may need to review your degree for appropriateness. Your course work must have included Ethics, Child Development, Theories of Personality, Principles of Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.
Highly specialized degrees (e.g. Art, Music, Drama Therapy, or even Play Therapy) are generally NOT eligible to meet registration requirements, since they may not provide the strong clinical foundation required. If you're not sure if your master's degree will be accepted, get a copy of your transcripts and copies of your syllabi and call or email APT. The staff at APT is very knowledgeable and helpful, and always willing to assist its members.
Play Therapy Education: You also need 150 clock hours of instruction in play therapy. Within the 150 hours, you must have covered History of Play Therapy; Theory, Techniques/Methods; and Applications to Special Settings or Populations. In Florida, this is often the most difficult requirement to meet, since so few Florida schools have graduate courses in play therapy. If you have been fortunate enough to have had a class in Play Therapy (or, as its often called in MSW programs, "Social Work Practices with Children"), APT can help you figure out how many clock hours the course will provide towards meeting the 150.
You may also use the educational hours you've acquired at play therapy workshops and conferences. Any hours accumulated after 1/1/99 must have been provided by an APT-approved continuing education provider. A maximum of 120 hours may be earned from the same instructor, and a maximum of 30 of the 150 clock hours may be earned via non-contact training (e.g. online or at-home course work). Click here for more information on distance learning.
Many unlicensed clinicians don't bother to get continuing education certificates when they go to workshops, since they don't yet need to earn continuing education for a license. Remember: if you're working to become an RPT, you need to collect those certificates as proof of the play therapy educational hours you've earned.
If you want to become a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, you also need to document that you have completed 4 hours of training in the theory and practice of clinical supervision. Since Florida requires that all approved clinical supervisors have 16 hours of the same type of training, you'll have that covered.
APT provides a checklist of additional items necessary for inclusion with the Registration application for both Registered Play Therapist and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor on their website at www.a4pt.org.
I'm licensed in Florida, and have been seeing children and adolescents in play therapy for six years. I have all of the clinical requirements met, but I'm still working on getting those 150 clock hours of play therapy education. It's hard when you can only afford to earn them at local half-day and one day workshops. Is there a time limit as to when I have to get these hours completed?
No, there is no time limit. As mentioned previously, it can be a challenge to get a good play therapy education if you don't have play therapy classes in your graduate program APT understands that not everyone has the ability, time, or the money to take week-long seminars or master's level university coursework after they've finished their masters degree.
Do I have to register as an intern with APT, like we register as interns in Florida?
No, you turn in all the paperwork once you meet the requirements.
Do I need to be licensed to be a Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor?
Yes. Effective February, 2003, all Registered Play Therapists/Supervisors must be licensed or certified by their primary state boards or their professional associations. This policy was adopted to better assure protection of and accountabilitiy to the general public and our clients.
You can work on becoming an Registered Play Therapist/Supervisor as you work towards your license in Florida.
If you are license-eligible in the state of Florida, you've probably met most, if not all of the main coursework requirements for becoming an RPT. If you're seeing play therapy clients under clinical supervision, you can probably accumulate the required clinical experience and supervision at the same time you're accumulating them for your Florida license.
Registered Play Therapists/Supervisors have always been licensed or certified.
What are the clinical experience requirements?
To become an Registered Play Therapist, you must be able to document that:
You have two years (2,000 clinical contact hours) of clinical experience, of which 500 hours were supervised play therapy experience. One of the years (1,000 direct clinical hours) must be post-Masters; and
You have obtained the required hours of both general and play therapy-specific clinical supervision.
You are licensed or certified by their primary state boards or their professional associations.
To become an Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, you must be able to document that you are licensed and:
Have five years (5,000 clinical contact hours) of clinical experience, all
post-Masters, of which a minimum of 1,000 hours were play therapy experience; and
You have obtained the required hours of both general and play therapy-specific clinical supervision.
I provide play therapy to the children I work with, but my supervisor isn't a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. She's an LCSW with ten years of experience with children. Does this mean that all of my supervision hours won't count?
If you are supervised by a clinician who is designated as a qualified supervisor in Florida, and who can demonstrate that they are qualified to supervise you in play therapy, then your supervision hours should count. If you're not sure they meet the play therapy qualifications, contact APT and ask. The APT website is also a wealth of information, including the guidelines outlined on "Meeting the Supervision Requirements" (see links below).
What do you mean by "the required hours of both general and play therapy-specific clinical supervision?"
There are a lot of specific requirements, and the number of hours of required play therapy-specific supervision varies, depending on your supervisor's qualifications. For example, if your clinical supervisor is not a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor you will need more hours of play therapy-specific clinical supervision than if your supervisor is an Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. If some of your hours were provided by an Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, but some weren't, you'll need to follow a specific formula to figure out how many play therapy supervision hours you need. The number could be as high as 50 and as low as 35. Again, you should go to APT for the details, or check out APT website's guidelines to "Meeting the Supervision Requirements" for becoming a Registered Play Therapy/Supervisor
There are also different rules regarding the types of supervision: face to face, face to face with videotape review, telephone, telephone with videotape review, telephone with simultaneous videotape review, and, beginning in October of 2000, applicants must receive at least 10 hours of supervision with one person, and be observed for at least one hour by any supervisor who provides 10 or more hours of supervision.
APT can provide you with all of the details, and you can obtain the forms and information at www.a4pt.org.
Is my registration fee included in my membership fee?
NO! That can be a source of confusion for Registered Play Therapists and Regsitered Play Therapist Supervisors who think that they've paid all their fees, when they've only paid one or the other. Your annual APT and Branch membership dues are paid on your anniversary month and entitle you to play therapy publications, discounts, and voting. Your annual Registered Play Therapist or Registered Play Therapist Supervisor registration fees must be paid annually by April 1 in order to maintain your active Registered Play Therapist or Registered Play Therapist Supervisor designation.
Remember: for ALL the facts and information, contact APT at 559-252-2278 or visit them on the web. If you go to the website, you can download the forms, read all of the requirements, and email questions to APT.
APT link:
As was stated previously, APT staff are there to assist you. They are invariably patient, helpful, and responsive.
We look forward to publishing your name and Registered Play Therapist or Registered Play Therapist Supervisor credential in the "Congratulations" section of the newsletter!
