Description
Structured games can sometimes be overlooked in play therapy practice in favour of more open-ended materials, yet they can offer powerful and intentional opportunities for therapeutic engagement. When used thoughtfully, games provide a contained and predictable framework in which children can explore emotional regulation, relational dynamics, competition, cooperation, and self-esteem. Far from being “just play,” games can become meaningful therapeutic encounters where patterns of behaviour, attachment, and emotional responses are gently revealed and worked with.
This Continuing Professional Development (CPD) webinar invites participants to reconsider the therapeutic value of structured games within the playroom. The session will explore how gameplay can reflect wider relational and systemic dynamics, including family roles, power struggles, fairness, control, and unmet emotional needs. Participants will consider the emotional significance of winning and losing for children, and how these experiences may connect to broader themes of identity, resilience, shame, and relational safety.
The training will also introduce a range of practical applications, demonstrating how games can support emotional regulation, build therapeutic relationships, and foster engagement, particularly with children who may find open-ended play challenging. Participants will explore how familiar or nostalgic games can provide comfort and safety, while also considering how to adapt and modify games to meet individual therapeutic needs. Emphasis will be placed on maintaining flexibility, curiosity, and clinical thinking when integrating games into a child-centred, play-based approach.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this webinar participants will be able to:
Understand the therapeutic value of structured games within play therapy practice.
Explore how competitive and cooperative dynamics in games can reflect relational patterns, family systems, and emotional needs.
Reflect on the emotional meaning of winning, losing, success, and failure for children in the playroom.
Recognise how games can support emotional regulation, engagement, and therapeutic relationship-building.
Develop confidence in selecting and using games intentionally within clinical work.
Learn how to adapt and modify games to meet individual developmental and emotional needs.
Understand how games can support children who struggle with open-ended or unstructured play.
Explore the use of games to facilitate emotional expression, resilience, and relational insight.
Integrate games flexibly within a broader play therapy framework while maintaining child-centred practice.
Why Attend?
Games can offer a unique bridge between structure and spontaneity, providing children with a safe and predictable space in which to explore complex emotional and relational experiences. When used with clinical intention, they can deepen therapeutic engagement and offer valuable insight into how children relate to themselves and others.
This webinar provides a reflective and practical exploration of how structured games can enhance therapeutic work, supporting practitioners to use them with greater confidence, creativity, and sensitivity.
