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🧠 Counselling & Coaching  ·  Intermediate

Certified Play Therapist

Online Certification  ·  8 Week  ·  Globally Recognised  ·  (CPTH)

✅ 2026 Edition 🎓 CPD Accredited 🌍 100+ Countries 📜 Digital + Physical Certificate 100% Online
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Executive Summary

Certified Play Therapist

Designed for today’s high-impact professionals, the Certified Play Therapist (CPTH) delivers a rigorous Intermediate-level curriculum that equips participants with the knowledge, tools and frameworks needed to excel in counselling, coaching and psychological wellbeing.

This 8 Week programme is structured around recognised counselling, coaching and ethical practice standards, ensuring every graduate applies internationally validated methods to real-world challenges.

GLI’s CPTH holders are recognised by leading organisations across Africa, the Gulf, Europe and the Americas as qualified, results-driven professionals. Whether you are advancing your current career or transitioning into new responsibilities, this certification provides the competitive edge you need in 2026 and beyond.

Programme Overview

Certification at a Glance

Certification
Certified Play Therapist
Acronym
CPTH
Category
Counselling & Coaching
Level
Intermediate
Duration
8 Week
Delivery Mode
100% Online
Assessment
Online Examination
Certificate
Digital + Physical
CPD Eligibility
CPD Accredited
Alumni Benefits
GLI Network Access
Self-Paced
USD 349
Live Virtual
USD 549
Target Audience

Who Should Enrol?

  • Counsellors and Therapists
  • Coaches and Wellbeing Practitioners
  • Social and Community Workers
  • Helping-Profession Practitioners
Programme Inclusions

Everything Included in Your Enrolment

  • All study materials and study guide
  • Access to GLI online learning portal
  • Online examination and assessment
  • Digital certificate and digital badge
  • Physical certificate (shipped to you)
  • CPD credits for professional bodies
  • GLI alumni network membership
  • Facilitator and tutor support
  • Resource downloads and reference library
  • Automatic enrolment confirmation
Certification Benefits

Why This Certification Matters for Your Career

Career Advancement
Accelerate your career towards senior counselling, clinical and practice-leadership roles
Professional Recognition
Credential aligned with recognised counselling, coaching and ethical practice standards
Leadership Capability
Develop the strategic and operational skills to lead complex counselling functions
Organisational Impact
Design and implement counselling systems that drive performance and measurable results
Compliance Readiness
Master the standards, compliance and ethical governance central to counselling
Global Employability
Qualify for counselling roles across clinics, NGOs, schools, community organisations and private practice worldwide
Competency Framework

Core Competencies You Will Develop

✦Child-Centred Play Therapy
✦Symbolic Play
✦Sand-Based Play
✦Trauma-Informed Play Therapy
✦Behavioural Play Interventions
✦Parent Involvement
Course Curriculum

Programme Modules

The full programme, module by module.

Core CurriculumModules 1–20 · specific to Certified Play Therapist · module 20 is the capstone
1
Play Therapy Foundations
Creative and expressive therapies: the practice frame · Person-centred and humanistic therapy · Formulation-driven therapy · Outcome measurement in practice: knowing whether therapy is working
2
Child-Centred Play Therapy
Child-centred communication and specialist interviewing · Career counselling and guidance as a therapeutic practice · The therapeutic alliance and rapport · Clinical supervision and reflective practice
3
Therapeutic Playroom Design
Staffing a clinical service: skill mix, rosters and safe levels · Medicines and clinical supplies management · Where to play and how to win · Managing health workers and clinical teams
4
Play-Based Assessment
Organisational maturity, assessment and improvement programmes · Security assessment, vulnerability management and remediation · Competency-based assessment · Experiential and body-based practice in the session
5
Symbolic Play
Couples and relationship work: holding more than one client · Boundaries, dual relationships and the power difference · Sustaining the practitioner: exposure, caseload and personal work · Silence, pacing and presence
6
Pretend Play Interventions
Managing boundaries and dual relationships · Building a practice and caseload · Confidentiality and its limits · Informed consent and capacity
7
Creative Play Materials
Creative technique: generation, association and getting unstuck · Online and telephone counselling · Outcome and process measures · Digital and online therapy platforms
8
Sand-Based Play
Situation analysis and diagnostic assessment · Portfolio of evidence and reflective practice · Animal nutrition, ration formulation and feeding systems · Participatory rural appraisal and needs assessment
9
Puppet-Based Interventions
Solution assessment and validation · Control environment and risk assessment · Key account management and growing existing clients · Chair and chief executive: the relationship that shapes the board
10
Art and Play Integration
API design and integration · Community entry, mapping and building the relationship · Designing engaging online sessions · Energy and pacing online
11
Trauma-Informed Play Therapy
Working with trauma histories: safety, pacing and the practitioner’s limits · Trauma-informed delivery and its limits · Risk assessment and safeguarding in practice · Referral, multi-agency work and the client pathway
12
Attachment-Based Play
Formative and summative assessment · Accreditation and certification · Reflective practice and journaling · Disaster risk assessment: hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity
13
Emotional Regulation through Play
Analysis and diagnostic assessment · Regulatory impact assessment · Environmental compliance and impact assessment · Risk assessment without theatre
14
Behavioural Play Interventions
Culture assessment and organisational climate · Confidentiality and health data · Hazard and risk assessment · Risk assessment methodology and matrices
15
Play Therapy with Families
Risk assessment and judgement · Supervision: daily oversight, standards and correction · Is training the right intervention? · Assessment design, validity and fairness
16
Play Therapy with Adolescents
Supplier relationship management and segmentation · Assertiveness: saying no and setting boundaries at work · Programme management: coordinating projects toward an outcome · The policy cycle: formulation, instruments and implementation
17
Parent Involvement
Security risk assessment and proportionate response · Guard force management and supervision · Responding to gender-based violence: survivor-centred practice and referral · Referral pathways and advocacy: getting people to the help that exists
18
Play Therapy Session Planning
Planning a session: structure, timing and flow · Demand planning, forecasting and the distortion of signals · Confidentiality, consent and safeguarding · Wellbeing and the biopsychosocial model
19
Play Therapy Progress Evaluation
Evaluation design: attribution, comparison and honest claims · Diagnosing client problems before prescribing solutions · Handling client resistance and difficult conversations · The agro-ecosystem: farm boundaries, flows and off-site effects
20
Play Therapy Practicum
Treatment planning: goals, interventions and review · Coaching supervision models and reflective frameworks · The coaching session: structure, pacing and the contract for the hour · Wellbeing coaching: stress, energy and sustainable working
Professional ElectivesModules 21–30 · common to all GLI certifications · broaden your professional range
21
Strategic Communication and Executive Presentation
Vision, purpose and translating direction into work · Audience-centred communication and message structure · Executive leadership: the board interface and enterprise stewardship · Persuasive structure: framing, evidence and the ask
22
Leadership and Team Effectiveness
Leadership identity, style and the limits of style · Leadership assessment, feedback and continuous self-review · What critical reasoning is and what it is not · Situational and adaptive leadership
23
Analytical Thinking and Evidence-Based Reasoning
Creativity and critical-thinking development · Analytical techniques and bias · Evidence-based improvement · Problem framing: symptoms, definition and scope
24
Professional Decision-Making
Managerial decision-making, bias and decision rights · Escalation and decision-making · Decision support: briefs, options and judgement under pressure · Decision frameworks: criteria, weighting and trade-offs
25
Negotiation, Influence and Stakeholder Management
Negotiation preparation: interests, options and the walk-away · Power, followership and organisational politics · Negotiation: preparation, interests and value creation · Concessions, anchoring and the shape of a bargain
26
Project and Execution Management
Proposals, bids and the business case · Project roles and the project manager · Developing the project business case · Planning, scheduling and personal workflow systems
27
Financial Literacy for Professionals
Financial reporting standards and their application · Financial management for the operating manager · Liquidity, funding and balance sheet management · Management accounting: costing, budgeting and decision support
28
Digital Skills, AI and Technology for Professionals
Digital workplace, collaboration and user support · Productivity, collaboration and workflow tools · Tools for interaction and collaboration · Working with data: quality, interpretation and honest presentation
29
Ethics, Governance and Professional Accountability
Ethical leadership: integrity, tolerated behaviour and moral courage · Ethics, conduct and speaking up · Business development risk, ethics and integrity · AI for managers: adoption, oversight and governance
30
Personal Effectiveness, Productivity and Career Growth
Emotional competence: awareness, regulation and expression · Self-awareness, strengths and the accuracy of self-image · Emotional intelligence and self-regulation · Priority: outcomes, importance and the urgency trap

Every module opens in the learning portal with its full lesson set, worked examples, further reading and video masterclasses. 30 modules · 150 lessons.

Learning Outcomes

What You Will Achieve

  • Establish a comprehensive understanding of Certified Play Therapist principles aligned with recognised counselling, coaching and ethical practice standards
  • Apply evidence-based methods to improve counselling, coaching and psychological wellbeing
  • Master counselling theories, models and approaches and assessment, case formulation and treatment planning
  • Apply therapeutic skills, alliance and communication and specialised populations and presenting concerns in real-world settings
  • Lead risk management, quality and compliance relevant to your field
  • Design stakeholder engagement and professional communication strategies
  • Use data-driven decision-making and performance-measurement tools effectively
  • Apply internationally recognised best practice to advance your career in counselling
Enrolment Process

How to Get Certified

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Work through 15 structured modules and 75 lessons at your own pace, with downloadable resources and expert-designed content — all inside the LMS.
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Sit your final examination online, earn your certificate instantly, and receive a globally verifiable Certificate ID — plus GLI Alumni Network access.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions

What is the CPTH certification?

The Certified Play Therapist is a professional certification awarded by the Global Leadership Institute. It covers 20 core modules specific to Play Therapist, culminating in the capstone “Play Therapy Practicum”, plus 10 professional elective modules common to all GLI certifications. Candidates study through the online portal, submit the capstone project and sit a final examination; those who pass receive a verifiable certificate carrying a unique certificate ID.

Who should enrol in the CPTH?

This certification is ideal for Counsellors and Therapists, Coaches and Wellbeing Practitioners, Social and Community Workers and Helping-Profession Practitioners, and other professionals seeking to formalise their expertise in counselling, coaching and psychological wellbeing with a globally recognised credential.

How long does the CPTH certification take to complete?

The programme is structured over 8 Week and offers flexible learning modes. Self-paced learners can progress at their own schedule, while live virtual participants follow a structured cohort schedule with facilitator-led sessions.

Is the CPTH internationally recognised?

Yes. GLI certifications are recognised across 100+ countries and are aligned with recognised counselling, coaching and ethical practice standards. Graduates receive a digital certificate, a physical certificate and CPD credits recognised by employers worldwide.

What is the cost of the CPTH certification?

The Certified Play Therapist is offered in two formats: Self-Paced at USD 349 and Live Virtual at USD 549. Corporate group rates are available for organisations enrolling 5 or more participants. Contact GLI for a bespoke corporate training quotation.

What does the CPTH certification include?

Enrolment includes all study materials and study guides, access to GLI's online learning portal, online examination, digital certificate and badge, physical certificate (posted), CPD credits, GLI alumni network membership, and ongoing facilitator support.

What is the assessment format for the CPTH?

The Certified Play Therapist is assessed through an online examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, case study analysis, and practical application assignments. The assessment is designed to evaluate real-world competency, not just theoretical recall.

What CPD credits do I earn from the CPTH?

The Certified Play Therapist carries Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits, which can be applied towards professional body requirements including recognised international professional associations.

Can I study the CPTH while working full-time?

Absolutely. The self-paced option is designed for busy working professionals and allows you to study when and where it suits you. Live virtual sessions are typically scheduled in the evenings or on weekends to accommodate professional commitments.

What career outcomes can I expect from the CPTH?

Graduates progress towards senior counselling, clinical and practice-leadership roles. The CPTH strengthens your expertise in counselling, coaching and psychological wellbeing and positions you for advancement across clinics, NGOs, schools, community organisations and private practice.

Graduate Voices

What Our Alumni Say

“

The curriculum was directly applicable to my daily work. I immediately applied what I learned and saw results within weeks of completing the programme.

Clinical Lead
Private Sector
“

GLI's certification is the most practical professional programme I have attended. The international frameworks gave me credibility with my employer and clients.

Senior Counsellor
NGO Sector
“

I earned my CPTH while working full-time. The self-paced format made it possible, and the quality of the content is genuinely world-class.

Wellbeing Programme Manager
Government
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