QQI Level 9 Certificate in the Therapeutic Use of Play, Creative Media & Expressive Arts

***Subject to validation by QQI***

Award: QQI L9 Certificate (subject to validation)

Start Date: 2024-2025 Academic Term – Dates TBC

Language requirement: If English is your second language you are required to submit an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) cert at Level 6.5, or equivalent. For more information, please click HERE

Course Fees: €975.00 [A deposit of €292.50 secures your place]

Who Should Apply:

This course will be of interest to those who are working in a supportive capacity with children and adolescents i.e. counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, social care workers, keyworkers, mental health nurses, guidance counsellors, SNAs, teachers etc.

• Applicants are required to evidence attainment of a minimum of Level 8 in counselling and/or psychotherapy or a minimum of a Level 8 Degree in cognate discipline, or equivalent.
• Applicants are required to be able to demonstrate relevant experience in working with people in a responsible and caring role.
• Applicants must be in a work setting or role which will provide them with opportunities to implement their learning from this module, such as paid or voluntary work with children within the helping professions, counselling support services, psychological settings, social care settings and /or project / youth /community work.

Course Structure:

In this module, learners will engage in formal didactic lectures, skills practice, group discussion, reflective exercises and experiential exercises related to the following:

• (a) The theoretical underpinnings to play/creative media/expressive arts in therapy.
• (b) Creative counselling and therapeutic play skills
• (c) Therapeutic use of Sensory and Embodiment activities and tools
• (d) Projection; use of metaphor, bibliotherapy
• (e) Use of Role-Play
• (f) Sand in therapy
• (g) Art in Therapy
• (h) Development Considerations
  • Creative mediums and Development
  • Developmental art stages and play development.
  • Stages in therapeutic play, and stages of creative process
  • Developmental considerations in sand tray
• (i) Therapeutic Process
  • Lusebrink’s Expressive Arts Continuum
  • Norton’s Stages of Developmental Play
  • Jennings EPR Developmental Play Paradigm
  • Play and Creative Themes

Delivery:

The Certificate in the Trauma Informed Practice with Children & Adolescents is delivered using blended learning. This consists of a rotational module, where learners attend onsite classes and online classes. We do not utilise hybrid approaches, therefore onsite classes are integral to the programme.

Student Benefits & Support

We hold that it is not enough to simply teach the skills of Paly, Creative Media & Expressive Arts. Learners are given the space to learn, practice and be supported as they integrate Play, Creative Media & Expressive Arts into their professional practice, in their particular context.

Work Based Learning:

Prior to commencing on the programme, learners must be working or volunteering in a setting where they are actively supporting children and/or adolescents. The programme requires that you evidence a minimum of 20 hours of practice where play, creative media and expressive arts are integrated into your professional practice, in your specific context. This must be supervised at a ratio of 1:5, so one supervision session should occur for every 5 hours of practice.

Assessment:

Learners must produce a comprehensive case study that showcases integration of play/creative/expressive arts interventions with a clinical case. The case study should commence with a literature review of the evidence supporting this approach to work with children and adolescents and should include research demonstrating its efficacy (if available, learners may also want to include evidence of its efficacy specific to the presenting issue in the case). The case presentation should demonstrate how creative therapeutic methods were used to join with and assess the client. Learners must evidence how they selected and used interventions that were developmentally appropriate. Learners must bring the case to supervision and demonstrate how the learning and insights obtained in supervision were addressed in the clinical room. Word Count: 4,000.

Validation & Accreditation of Award:

This Certificate is awarded as a Minor Award at Level 9 on the NFQ and is subject to validation by QQI.

Credits:

10 ECTS

Protection for Enrolled Learners

This programme is covered by arrangements under section 65 (4) of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012 whereby, in the event of IICP College ceasing to provide the programme for any reason, enrolled learners may transfer to a similar programme at another provider, or, in the event that this is not practicable, the fees most recently paid will be refunded. Current PEL arrangements consist of a 2% levy on course fees. IICP do not pass the cost of this on to learners.

For further information visit our website 

QQI Level 9 Certificate in the Therapeutic Use of Play, Creative Media & Expressive Arts - IICP College

or contact:
IICP Office – 0879055330
Email: admissions@iicp.ie