You meet so many people when you’re in hospital with your child. Who are they all? And what do they all do? In this series, we explore the roles you might come across in hospital and meet the humans behind them!

I offer play therapy sessions for children who are struggling with the emotional effects of having cancer, to support siblings whose life has also been turned upside down because of the siblings cancer diagnosis. I also offer emotional support to children who are receiving palliative care and bereavement support to siblings.

I have been doing my role for 25 years, I work in the community and when needed will visit children in hospital. I work closely with the psychology team in the hospital. The children have access to the amazing hospital play specialists on the ward who help the children understand the treatment they are having, they also prepare the children for procedures and offer fun activities to help entertain the children on the ward. The play specialists have a different training from play therapists, and have a recognised hospital play specialist qualification.

The training for Play Therapists is not particularly aimed for hospital work. It is a postgraduate masters degree. Play Therapists can work in many settings, with a range of children, many work with looked after children or children who have experienced

abuse. There are a small number of Play Therapists who work in hospices and are  linked with hospitals, I spend around 6 hours a month in the hospital and on the ward, the rest of the time I visit children who are undergoing treatment at home or in school.

Play Therapy sessions are confidential, each session lasts about an hour and children have six to eight sessions, once a week or once a fortnight depending on what works best for them, after which we have a review.

Parents often get Play Specialists and Play Therapists confused due to the similarities in the names. We are very different! I have great respect for the amazing hospital play specialists who work on the ward, they are so important as they meet every child who is the ward. I only see children who are referred to me due to needing extra psychological support through their illness and treatment.

As a Play Therapists I may be referred a child who has a needle phobia, then a child who is struggling with issues around body image – putting on weight due to steroids or coping with hair loss due to chemo. I may be asked to offer sessions to a child who is struggling to eat after being tube fed, or a child who is worrying or scared. I could be referred a sibling who is very anxious, feeling lonely and unsettled and worrying about their brother or sister who has cancer. I also work with children who are very ill or when there is no more treatment for them, some may know they are going to die and i give them a safe space to talk and express their feelings, I also support children whose sibling has died.

I became a Play Therapist after working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for several years, I realised the importance of child focussed play to help children who were struggling and took an opportunity to train as a Play Therapist to work with children who had cancer. I have never looked back.

You can find out more about Kid’s Cancer Charity here. You can also find out more about Play Therapy from the British Association of Play Therapists.

Do you know the difference between a play therapist and play specialist? You’re not alone! They are different roles offering different benefits to children and families. You can find out more about the role of a play specialist here.

You can see more blogs from our Hospital Humans series on our website. We also have loads of information to guide you through a stay in hospital with your child, all created by parents who have been in hospital with their child. From admittance to discharge and everything in between, we’ve got you covered.

You can support the vital work we do by making a donation. Even a small amount can help us continue to help parents in hospital.