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Monday 10am - 5pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm

http://www.childrenstherapycentre.ie/

Children's Therapy Centre, Ballymore, Mullingar (2025)

30/10/2025

I am delighted to let you know about the next live online workshop in Michelle Fahy’s series of CPD trainings for us. On Saturday 15th November, Michelle will facilitate a heartfelt, intimate, and reflective, live online workshop exploring love, loss and grief. Michelle designed this workshop “A Joint Journey Towards Healing: Navigating Love, Loss and Grief” specifically for therapists, counsellors and other mental health professionals, and it promises to be a unique and fulfilling experience. Through group discussions, theory and self-reflection this workshop will equip you with practical tools and insights to foster healing – for both your clients and you. Join us on the 15th November to navigate this shared human journey with empathy, connection, and growth.

💫A Joint Journey Towards Healing: Navigating Love, Loss and Grief
💫Facilitator: Michelle Fahy
💫Saturday November 15th 2025
💫Live Online 10am-5pm
💫Fee: €120

This reflective and interactive workshop is designed for therapists, counsellors, and other mental health professionals working therapeutically with clients of all ages, who are seeking to deepen their understanding and enhance their therapeutic skills and awareness in addressing the interconnected themes of love, loss and grief across different life stages. Participants will explore the various types and theories of love, loss, and grief, and how these experiences evolve from childhood to older adulthood. Interactive exploration of group experiences and strategies for integrating this knowledge into therapeutic practice, will foster personal and professional growth through self-reflection and dialogue to consolidate learning which aims to provide effective, empathetic, and developmentally appropriate attunement to clients navigating these complex emotional experiences.

Suitable For: Trainee and qualified counsellors, psychotherapists, play therapists, expressive arts therapists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals working within the range of psychotherapeutic modalities with clients of all ages.

You can book your place on our website www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

28/10/2025

Happy Tuesday!! If you are planning on applying for either of our 2026 MA intakes now is the time to get your application in. One cohort will start at the start of July 2026, and the second cohort will start in August 2026. We will formally process the applications at the start of December though, so it is necessary to submit it before then. The final deadline for receipt of applications is 30th November.

CTC’s Master of Arts in Creative Psychotherapy and Play Therapy is the first accredited programme of its kind here in Ireland to offer a comprehensive, experiential training in Play Therapy as part of a fully professionally recognised MA qualification as a Psychotherapist with a major emphasis on the practice of Play Therapy. Our focus on younger clients is unique in a humanistic and integrative psychotherapy training, as is our intense focus on utilising creative, action methods that bring neuroscientific learning and interpersonal neurobiological concepts into the heart of developmentally appropriate clinical practice. Graduates will be ideally placed to work as therapists with children and young people presenting with emotional difficulties that may be mild or severe in nature) our MA graduates practice as psychotherapists specialising in play therapy. This course incorporates both professional and academic training. The MA is awarded by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). It is an IAPTP recognised course - the only Play Therapy & Psychotherapy training in Ireland to receive this status. Graduates are eligible for accreditation with IAPTP as both a Play Therapist and a Psychotherapist. Our MA is also directly recognised by the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP).

CTC is the longest established, and foremost provider of training in this field here in Ireland. We are very proud of what we do! MA Application time is a very exciting time for us. We are very much looking forward to working our way through the applications and meeting lots of you at interview stage!

Full details and online application are available at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

An exciting journey awaits. Siobhán 💫

25/10/2025

If you are interested in learning more about the field of Play Therapy, we have the ideal short course for you. Our 1.5hour Live Online Course “An Introduction to Play Therapy” is on again on the 12th November. This is the final time we will run it this year so if this has been on your to do list now is definitely the time to book in!

💫CTC Training Course: Specialised Courses for Parents, Carers and Professionals
💫An Introduction to Play Therapy
💫Live Online Course
💫Course Fee: €35
💫Course Date: Wednesday 12th November 2025
💫Session Time: 4:30pm-6pm

This live online course will provide participants with a great introduction into the world of Play Therapy. This experiential workshop is a hands on, skill building session that will allow the participants to experience the therapeutic powers of play in action. The workshop will demonstrate non directive therapeutic play, explore play skills and how to set up a non-directive play session. A range of therapeutic play techniques will be engaged in which will encourage expression and communication. Adult led activities and therapeutic play tools will be explored. Relaxation and regulating activities will also be practiced and developed. Participants will learn how to use play as a communication method, explore creative ways to resource children and explore difficulties that they are experiencing in a child centered way. During the workshop participants will:

· Experience the therapeutic powers of play in action.
· Learn about non directive therapeutic play, explore necessary play skills and learn how to set up a non-directive play session.
· Learn therapeutic play techniques which will encourage expression and communication.
· Explore adult led activities and therapeutic play tools.
· Learn about and practice relaxation and regulating activities.

We look forward to welcoming new faces to CTC!

You can book in at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

23/10/2025

We are delighted to launch our 2026 Diploma in Creative Supervision course schedule. Currently, there is a major shortage of creative supervisors available across the country, so we are super excited to deliver this training and have more creative supervisors working in the field.

Yet again, we are delighted to be able to deliver this training with input from international experts in the field: Joan Wilmot, Karen Jesnick, and Maggie Feran are all scheduled to teach modules. As are some of our very experienced staff team - Michelle Fahy, Majella Ryan and Emer McDonagh.

Creative Supervision includes the use of action methods and creative approaches in the supervision of therapists and other professionals involved in direct work with clients of all ages, utilising a variety of theoretical frameworks, and in a variety of circumstances. These strategies also prove useful in the mentoring and consultative roles that are part and parcel of many professional lives. This course focuses on utilising new and innovative approaches utilising the creative arts, lateral thinking, and playful activities in the supervision process. An aim is to facilitate supervisors to connect more fully with supervisees, and facilitate them in fully exploring and finding solutions to dilemmas in client work and in the management of clinical teams. There is a focus on learning to match supervision style and process to supervisee needs, ensuring that the continuum of needs of those with varying degrees of experience are responded to in an integrated manner. Central to this is the use of informed intuition to hypothesise, blended with advanced skills in understanding intrapersonal and interpersonal processes, and knowing when and how to apply diverse approaches.

This course is suitable to therapists adopting a variety of approaches in their work, regardless of the specific core training that they have undertaken. It is an experiential training with a substantial theoretical component and equips trainees to undertake the multiple roles of the supervisor.

Full details and online application available at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

20/10/2025

Finishing work on a HIGH!!!! I am taking a break from all things work related, for the next few weeks, as my family and I have a very big adventure ahead.

I had the absolute pleasure of spending my final few days in work, before signing out, with our incredibly playful, creative, dedicated, and super fun 1st year MA students. From sensory play to creative groupwork, to puppet play and beyond, we covered a lot over the past few days. The therapeutic powers of play were definitely out in force!!! It was an incredibly rich learning experience. Thank you so much to our amazing students for engaging so fully, it was a true delight to spend these past few days with you all.

I think you can probably tell from these photos that I love my job!! And I can definitely say that I immerse myself fully in my work. I am incredibly passionate about my work, driven and very dedicated to CTC. I will be ready to bring my passion and dedication back to work again after my break!! But right now I am logging out and switching off. I have some other passions and dreams to follow with my loves, so I am taking a total break from work!

I will be on leave from CTC until the 17th of November. All CTC work will of course continue whilst I am on leave. Audrey will be in the office and available at ctccourseinfo@gmail.com Our website is live at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie You can book into, and apply for, all of our courses there. All of our courses will continue to run whilst I am on leave. Our dedicated CTC team have it all in hand!! Thank you as always for all the support I receive. I look forward to reconnecting with CTC life on my return. For now though I am signing out.

Siobhán 💫💛🌟

20/10/2025

Happy Monday!! We have a few spaces remaining on our upcoming course “Building Inner Besties: Strategies to Boost Children’s Self-concept and Self-Esteem”. This course is part of our series of specialised courses for parents, carers and professionals. This is the final time it will run this year so if you want to attend this one now is your time to do so.

⭐️Building Inner Besties:Strategies to Boost Children’s Self-concept and Self- Esteem

⭐️ Live Online Course

⭐️ Course Fee: €35

⭐️ Course Date: Thursday November 6th

⭐️ Session Time: 7:30pm-9pm

This live online course will look at how we can help children develop positive self-concept and self-esteem. It is suitable for parents and carers and also for professionals working with children. The interactive course will be facilitated by a highly experienced trainer and child & adolescent psychotherapists with a specialisation in play therapy. During the course we will:

· Explore - esteem and self-concept.
· Look at how we internalise messages about ourself.
· Learn how to use and develop affirmations.
· Learn how to support talking back to our inner critic.

The course is designed to equip professionals, and parents and carers, with helpful tools for the children in their care.

⭐️You can book in on our website: www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

Please do share with anyone you think might be interested. As always, thank you for your support. Siobhán 💫

19/10/2025

MA training, CTC style!! I love this little collage from Y3G2’s weekend in beautiful Ballymore with

I can confirm that there has also been rich playing and learning in CTC Limerick this weekend, as I have had the joy and privilege of spending the past two days with Y1G2 - more fun in store for us tomorrow too!!

I also know from Cathy that Y2G2 have had an incredibly rich and deeply insightful weekend online.

And our dissertation supervisors are very impressed with the ongoing work our 4th year students are putting into their ethics applications for their upcoming dissertation research. They are all systems go!!

Another busy CTC MA weekend was had for sure!!

Go team CTC, I am so proud of us all! What a crew 🥳🤩🥰

17/10/2025

We only have a couple of places remaining on our upcoming QQI Level 6, 15 Credit, Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate Course starting next month. This is the final course of 2025 so if you want to take one of the last remaining spots please apply online today!

CTC’s Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate, a QQI Level 6 Minor Award, is a fantastic course for professionals working with children, or parents/carers, interested in developing new skills to make more therapeutic use of play within their current professional role. It is also ideal foundation level training for anyone considering applying for our MA course. CTC’s Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills is offered on a part-time basis and equips participants with the relevant knowledge, skill and competencies to plan, deliver and evaluate both group and individual play-based interventions.

The November intake is being offered as a “remote” live online learning programmes with experiential learning opportunities built in throughout. Participants engage in creative activities that enhance personal development, develop insight and awareness, and contribute to understanding, and meeting, the needs of all children including those living in adverse circumstances.

Course content includes coverage of many therapeutic play interventions, including creative visualisation, interactive play, use of puppets and creative storytelling, skills to support self-directed play and running groups for personal and social development. Directive and non-directive therapeutic approaches are addressed.

November Intake Dates: November 8th & 9th, 22nd November, 6th & 7th December, 10th & 11th January. Assignments due by February 11th. 10am – 5pm live online each day.

Course Facilitator: Edel Lawlor

You will find full details and online application at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

16/10/2025

I am so excited to let you know that we are launching our new CTC training in Child Parent Relationship Therapy: CPRT: A 10-Session Filial Therapy Model for Groups. We are thrilled to be able to bring this highly successful training to Ireland with input from world renowned leader in the CPRT field, Dr. Sue Bratton, and also UK based experts in the field Lisa Gordon Clarke and Liz Hancock, plus our very own Cathy O’Byrne too!

Our first intake begins on 6th February 2026. There are very limited places available, so you need to act fast if you want to join us for this one!! CPRT (Landreth & Bratton, 2020) is a 10-session evidence-based filial therapy model grounded in child-centered play therapy (CCPT) and based on Bernard and Louise Guerney’s group filial therapy model. The 10-week group format was originally conceptualized by Landreth in the 1980’s and manualised by Bratton and Landreth (2006) to provide researchers and clinicians with a tool for ensuring treatment integrity in delivering the intervention. This intensive four-day training in the manualised CPRT model will focus on solidifying your CCPT skills, and on the dynamic relationship facets of training parents to be therapeutic agents in their children’s lives. The 10-week CPRT group programme uses a format of didactic instruction, demonstration play sessions, weekly at-home play sessions and supervision, to teach parents basic child- centred play therapy principles and skills including: tracking, responsive listening, reflecting feelings, returning responsibility to their child, the ACT model of limit-setting, building children’s self-esteem and how to structure weekly 30 minute play sessions with their children using a special kit of selected toys. CPRT’s preventative nature and relatively brief treatment time frame make this treatment model attractive in today’s mental health climate.

Full details and online application form on our website www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

14/10/2025

We have a wonderful short online course coming up soon – Being with Big Feelings! See details below, please share with anyone you think may be interested!

💫Specialised Course for Parents, Carers and Professionals💫

🌟Being with Big Feelings - Live Online Course
🌟Course Fee: €35
🌟Thursday 23rd October
🌟7:30pm-9pm

This live online course will look at how we can help adults to support children in their care who are experiencing big or overwhelming feelings. It is suitable for parents and carers and also for professionals working with children. The workshop will be facilitated by Emer McDonagh, a highly experienced trainer and child and adolescent psychotherapist with a specialisation in play therapy.

During the live online course we will:

· Learn about the how feelings are processed in the brain.

· Look at how to grow the child’s capacity to experience big feelings without experiencing overwhelm.

· Learn how to soothe and regulate the child while the big feelings are present.

· Learn how to support yourself in regulating the child.

The course is designed to equip professionals, and parents and carers, with helpful tools for the children in their care. We have a few places available and you can book in on our website www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

12/10/2025

We are delighted with the response to the launch our next intake on our Practitioner Certificate in Multi-Sensory Trauma Processing and EMDR Principles across the lifespan, which is starting this December. There are only a few places left at the discounted rate so if you want to get the €200 discount you really need to get your application in! Read on for full details on this IACP CPD Approved course (48 CPD Points).

💫Multi-Sensory Trauma Processing (MTP ©) and EMDR Principles Across the Lifespan Practitioner Certificate

💫 Facilitator: Linda McGuire MA, MIACP, EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner and both an Adult and a Child and Adolescent Consultant, and Certified Trainer of MTP

💫 This exciting training programme, utilises two core models to address and resolve trauma. As this is a practitioner award, engagement in 20 clinical practice sessions, and 5 supervision sessions, are required. This supervision is included in the course. This course is designed to equip participants to utilise the MTP model and EMDR principles in their work with traumatized clients throughout the lifespan. The training will weave techniques from EMDR phase II into the MTP model as a necessary part of a client’s readiness to process traumatic experience.

Both modalities are designed to assist with the processing of unresolved issues and to activate the client’s internal healing processes. Treatment may be a single session or may span multiple sessions. It may also be incorporated as an ongoing or intermittent part of the treatment being provided. Clinical decisions are made in accordance with the complexity of issues that the client is struggling with. The course is designed for professions working with adults, adolescents and/or children over three years who have experienced traumatic events and are exhibiting PTSD symptoms.

💫 Suitable for:trainee & qualified play therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists, expressive arts therapists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals working with clients of all ages.

💫 Course Fee: €1200 - €200 discount for first 10 participants to enrol 🎉

Full details & online application at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

10/10/2025

We are currently filling the final places on our upcoming online workshop “Play Therapy Techniques” taking place on Saturday 25th October 2025. If you are interested in learning more about play therapy, possibly thinking about training as a play therapist, or just keen to learn more about what it is and how it works then this one-day course is ideal for you. This course is suitable for professionals and parents.

💫CTC Live Online Training Event
💫Play Therapy Techniques
💫25th October 2025
💫10am -5pm
💫Fee: €120

This live online course will introduce participants to play, its therapeutic benefits, and a variety of developmentally appropriate techniques used by play therapists and therapeutic play workers. It is an introduction and skill building session that will introduce the therapeutic powers of play and a range of therapeutic, enjoyable, educational, and resilience enhancing play techniques. Participants will develop skills which can be used to enhance relationships with children with whom they have contact in their personal and/or professional life. There will be lots of play and experiential learning built into the day – take home skills galore! It is an ideal introduction to the field and will aid decision-making in regard to possible subsequent training in the field.

Learning Outcomes: Participants will develop specific therapeutic play skills and an awareness of:
· The therapeutic powers of play
· Play therapy techniques for improving children’s self-esteem and self-confidence
· Play therapy techniques for reducing children’s anxieties
· Play therapy techniques for improving children’s emotional understanding
· And an increased ability to foster children’s holistic development

You can book in online at www.childrenstherapycentre.ie

Please do share with any friends of colleagues you think may be interested. Thank you, as always, for your support. Siobhán 💫

Children's Therapy Centre

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Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm