Family Futures is one of the UK centres for Theraplay training with qualified UK-based trainers who specialise in working with traumatised children and their families.  Theraplay is used in the UK and internationally, with around 1,500 professionals attending our training since 2002. Our  courses are active and rewarding. We limit participant numbers so you can receive the personal attention that will allow you to develop your skills in a way that will be relevant to your work.

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How will Theraplay help the children and families I work with?

Theraplay is a short-term and long term, therapist-guided therapy for children and their parents or caregivers that enhances attachment, self-esteem and trust in others through play and interaction. It is based on the natural qualities found in healthy parent and child relationships, and focuses on four domains: structure, nurture, engagement and challenge.

Theraplay works on creating an active and empathetic connection between a child and their parents. This process helps children to view themselves as worthy and lovable, and change their perceptions of relationships to ones that are positive and rewarding.

You’ll learn how to carry out Theraplay’s assessment process called the Marschak Interaction Method (MIM), which is a structured technique for observing and assessing the interaction between caregivers and child. The MIM is a valuable tool in planning treatment and determining how to help parents and children strengthen their relationships. The assessment consists of a series of simple tasks, which the caregivers and child perform together. This is used to evaluate the caregivers’ capacity for structure, nurture, engagement and challenge; and the child’s response to a caregiver.

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What is Group Theraplay?

Group Theraplay is an adaptation for settings in which the therapist or other professionals work with groups of children or with groups of parents and children to improve interaction, communication and relationships.

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To attend, you are required to:

• Complete the Theraplay UK training eligibility form*, confirming that:
  
  • you, or your employer, hold clinical responsibility for your work and have a complaints procedure in place; and
  • you, or your employer, hold professional liability insurance.

• Read chapters 2, 4 and 6 of Theraplay: The Practitioner’s Guide by Vivien Norris, Dafna Lender and Phyllis Booth (2020) before the training. The book is available from CairnsMoir Connections or Amazon.

*The Theraplay eligibility form will be emailed in advance of the training.