Play Therapy Certification Q&A

Starting your journey toward becoming a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) can feel overwhelming, but we've got you covered! Below are some essential tips to help guide you through the process and set you up for success. Whether you're just getting started or looking for clarity on specific steps, these insights will help make the path smoother and more achievable.

• “What do I need to do to start working toward my RPT?” 

  One of your first steps should be getting a supervisor with the credentials RPT-S (registered play therapist supervisor). It does not have to be the very first thing you do, but should be a priority. Your timeline starts when you take your first play therapy training! From that date, you have 10 years to complete all three phases of the RPT process. You cannot complete the process in any shorter of a time than 2 years. 

• “I’m provisionally licensed, can I start working toward my RPT?” 

  You sure can! That’s actually a wonderful way to save some money during the licensing process. You may already have a supervisor for your LCSW or LPC degree that is within the organization that you are working for, and that’s totally fine. You will need to go ahead and find an additional supervisor for your RPT certification. If you have to pay for external supervision, look for a supervisor that has both of the credentials that you need so you can “double dip” and count those supervision hours for both your professional license and your RPT license! The important thing to remember is that you can’t submit your RPT application until you have received your professional license.  

• “How do I find the play therapy training that I need?” 

  There are several wonderful resources out there to help you find play therapy training. Bud to Bloom offers several training sessions a year that you can check out here.

  The Association for Play Therapy (APT) also has several trainings listed on their website that you can access. If you become a member of APT you will also have accession to one free training a month through your membership! It is important that when you are signing up for a training that you make sure the provider has an APT number. This should be clearly listed either on the provider’s website or within the description of the training. That way you are ensuring that the training will count towards your RPT hours. 

workshops

workshops

• “Can all my play therapy training be online?” 

  No! This is an important thing to remember as you go through the process 75 of the 150 hours you need have to be in-person trainings. You also can only have 75 hours of live webinar trainings and 40 hours of non-contact trainings (recorded trainings that are not live). Play therapy is a skill

• “What if I don’t have a job where I am working with kids? Can I still get my RPT?” 

  It is a requirement that you have direct client hours where you are practicing the play therapy skills that you are learning. It is not a requirement that you are working with young children, as play therapy skills can be used while working with youth and adolescents as well! 

• “I’ve done some training, but don’t have a supervisor. Is that okay?”

  Item descriptionIt is okay, but we highly, highly recommend getting a supervisor ASAP.

  There are three phases to the RPT process (think of them like levels in a video game) you cannot move from one level to another until all the requirements of that level are met. So, if you have done some training, but do not have a supervisor, you may want to pause on doing more training until you obtain a supervisor in order to fulfill your observation and supervisor requirements necessary for Phase I.