Narrative play therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Ann Cattanach · 1997 · UK

What it is

Narrative play therapy is a non-directive, play-based way of working with children in which child and therapist make stories together, using toys, small-world figures, sand, role-play, rhymes and told or read stories. Its core idea is that identity is formed by narrating experience, and that…

Format

• The sources do not set out a fixed phase model or session count. They state that Cattanach offered practical ways to begin play therapy, intervention models adapted to the child's needs and to the therapist's work setting, short- and medium-term interventions, and individual, sibling and group…
• Phase 0. Referral, assessment and agreement (1 to 3 meetings with adults; 1 to 2 with the child). Goals: understand the child's history and current care situation; identify who holds parental responsibility (for a looked-after child this may be the local authority with or instead of the birth…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. Practise this only if you are a trained play therapist or a child psychotherapist, arts therapist or clinical/educational psychologist with additional supervised play therapy training. In the UK the main bodies are the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT, registered play therapist after an accredited postgraduate training) and Play Therapy UK (PTUK); in Ireland, the Irish Association of…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Phase 2. Middle: making and developing stories (most of the work). Goals: stories and play scenes appear, recur and change; the child's themes and metaphors (monsters, creatures, families of animals, rescues, journeys) are developed within the play; the child gains a way to hold and communicate…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• a book too close to the child's story can feel exposing; let the child put it away.
• your own reading of the stories filling the gaps; the child's account of the story outranks yours.
• one child dominating the plot or re-enacting family roles harmfully; give structured turns or move to individual work.
• play that is mainly sorting and lining up may be a child organising a frightening world; do not hurry it into narrative.
• a story of bullying that sounds like a current, real situation needs real-world action through the school, not just play.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.