Child-Parent Relationship Therapy: 3 things you need to know

3 ways Child-Parent Relationship Therapy is different to Play Therapy.

"My child wouldn't trust a therapist as far as they could throw them…"

Are you worried about how to support your child but don't know where to start? Are you afraid to even type in the words, Therapist for children? Have you stopped yourself from looking for a Therapist for your child because they won't leave your side? In this blog we're going to share about our 10 week Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) programme and why it can make a big difference to the atmosphere in your home.

3 ways CPRT is different to play therapy sessions.

1. CPRT is for you - the adult, as well as the child

In Play Therapy, your child has weekly 50 minute play therapy sessions for a minimum of 12 weeks (3 months in term-time) and you meet the Therapist for reviews at the start, middle and end of the therapy.

With CPRT, up to 6 families meet for 2 hours a week for 10 weeks. Not until Week 3 or 4 (depending on each family) do you begin running your own therapeutic play sessions with 1 of your children, once a week. We give you the skills to do this, and instead of your child coming to a therapy session, you getting frustrated when the therapist sticks to the confidentiality you contracted and you not being clear what is happening - you're learning the skills to use at home, again and again.

2. CPRT 'isn't' confidential

We encourage you to share the play sessions with us and your peers. I know, that sounds terrifying! But I promise you, everyone is so keen to support each other and so pleased to find out they're not on their own, that this is a safe space for you to share.

Of course - what happens in the CPRT course stays on the CPRT course. Your information will not be shared with anyone else, and any play session recordings are for you alone. This means there is a confidential nature but it's not like when a Play Therapist can only share the themes of a session and not the exact play. You are right there in every play session with your child, so you'll know everything that has gone on.

3. CPRT doesn't (always!) take place at school

Lots of my therapy sessions involve either me coming to your child, or your child coming to my play therapy room. Here, you attend the CPRT course, whether online or in a community venue, and then the play sessions take place at home. You don't need a big or clean house to do this, just a space that will be free from interruption for up to 30 minutes. This is just once a week! And not until you feel ready. Being at home means this is place both you and your child know, and that there isn't a stranger coming in to your safe space. This is especially important for children in foster care or who have been adopted, as sometimes they may have been taken from their home by professionals as well as not having been in one home for a long period of time.

To summarise, CPRT gives you, the parent, a chance to re-connect with your child, alongside a community doing the same thing at the same time. You use your existing relationship with your child, whether good or bad or somewhere in between, to give them the chance to feel better and return to the loving child you know they are. Our previous parents have said "Our relationship is stronger for it, and we connect much more" from K.

Want to find out more?

We are running an online CPRT course in the New Year for some local families. This is being funded and so there are some additional conditions that would need to be met to access We will be putting on a taster session for those who have more questions. Click here to sign up for that taster session today.

Categories: families, Family, Guidance, Mental Health, play therapy, Popular, support