Hello I’m Lisa
I’m a qualified BAPT Registered Play Therapist based in West Oxfordshire, with over 15 years of experience supporting children in both the UK and Africa.
After completing my degree in Early Childhood Studies and Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Studies, I trained as a Play Therapist. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with children facing a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, low self-esteem, trauma, and school-related difficulties.
I feel incredibly fortunate to do this work. Helping children feel safe, understood, and able to make sense of their experiences is at the heart of everything I do.
“Toys are like the child’s words, and play is the child’s language,”
Garry Landreth
What is Play Therapy
Every child deserves to feel understood, confident, and emotionally secure.
Play is a child’s natural language. Through play, children express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences that they may not yet have the words to explain. It is how they make sense of their world, build resilience, and develop healthy relationships.
Play Therapy is a gentle, child-centred approach that provides a safe space for children to explore difficult emotions and experiences. Rather than expecting children to talk about their feelings, Play Therapy allows them to communicate through play, using toys and creative materials to express what may be difficult to put into words.
By feeling heard, understood, and accepted, children can begin to process their emotions, develop healthier ways of coping, and grow in confidence and emotional wellbeing.
How Play Therapy can help
Play Therapy can support children to:
- Express and understand their emotions
- Learn that all feelings and emotions are accepted
- Build confidence and self-esteem
- Develop healthy coping strategies
- Strengthen and build emotional regulation
- Process challenging life events and experiences
Is Play Therapy right for my child?
Children may benefit from Play Therapy if they are experiencing:
- Anxiety, separation anxiety or low mood
- Behavioural or emotional difficulties
- Bereavement or family changes
- Trauma or loss
- Friendship or social challenges
- Difficulties at school
- Low confidence or self-esteem
Every child is unique, and no concern is too small if it is affecting their wellbeing.
Support for parents and carers
It can be difficult to see your child struggling, and many parents worry they are somehow to blame. They are not. Seeking support is a positive and caring step, and together we can help your child develop the emotional tools they need to thrive.
Play Therapy provides children with a safe space to explore their feelings, make sense of their experiences, and discover healthier ways of coping—helping them build resilience, confidence, and emotional wellbeing for the future.
What happens in a Play Therapy session?
Play Therapy takes place in a safe, private, and child-friendly space where your child meets with the same Play Therapist each week. Sessions are held at the same time and place to provide consistency and help build a trusting therapeutic relationship.
The sessions are child-led, allowing children to choose how they play and express themselves without pressure to talk. Through play, they can explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a way that feels natural and comfortable, while the Play Therapist supports them with empathy and understanding.
To help children feel secure, what happens during sessions remains confidential. Parents, carers, and professionals will receive updates on progress when appropriate, but the detailed content of each session is kept private to protect the child’s trust and the therapeutic process.
Testimonials
Quotes taken from parent/carers feedback forms
Better school attendance.
“Prior to spending time with Lisa the pupil in my class was attending school for a maximum of 8 hours a week, now they attend for around 28 hours each week. This is an amazing and unexpected result.”
A new zest for life: The power of Play Therapy.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; social situations/groups/clubs, family life, and in their educational setting.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, confidence and/or self-esteem, their behaviour, friendships and relationships, coping with changes, challenges or transitions and Play Therapy has helped our child to be out to be more willing to try new things.
Play Therapy has had a significantly positive effect on our family life, we feel like we have a better understanding of our child’s behaviour and how better to support them.
“The review meetings have been helpful for Lisa to feedback on her findings in the session. She has offered resources and advice with how to help our child manage his emotions which has been useful for us to help him at home.”
“We are so pleased with the work that Lisa has done for our child. We couldn’t be happier with the progress he has made emotionally and socially. He is like a different child from when he started, he has more confidence and a new “zest” for life which was missing previously. Thank you so much Lisa.”
“Our child was hesitant at first to attend the Play Therapy sessions but after a few weeks looked forward to coming. Now that his sessions have come to an end, he is actually disappointed that he won’t have his “special play time” with Lisa which I think shows how far he has come and a reflection of how lovely and welcoming Lisa has been.”
The changes have been obvious and significant, he is calmer, happier and more confident.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; social situations/groups/clubs and family life and in their educational setting.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, in their confidence and/or self-esteem their behaviour, their friendships and relationships and coping with changes, challenges or transitions.
Play Therapy has significantly helped in our family life and has helped me to better understand my child’s behaviour and how best to support them.
“Therapy has helped my son to manage his emotions much more effectively, which has led to a significant reduction in meltdowns, outbursts and aggression. This has made for a calmer home life.”
“There has been a subtle but clear improvement over time. The impacts have not been immediate or obvious but cumulative and visible over time. My son has an increasingly strong sense of self-worth, and he is clearly maturing as a result of the therapeutic process.”
“Lisa has been a wonderful therapist for my son. They have formed a strong bond and he looks forward to seeing her every week. I have seen Lisa grow and develop over time, and her increasing confidence has been very reassuring for me. My son has made great strides as a result of the therapy and has made progress in every area for which we have set goals. He is calmer, more aware of his emotions, more comfortable in social situations, increasingly successful at school and has started to build meaningful relationships. I didn’t realise the impact for the first few months but with time and patience, the changes have been obvious and significant. Thank you, Lisa”
“We would just like to recognise Lisa’s patience, support and professionalism. She has had an enormous impact on my son’s life.”
Helping my child feel seen, heard and supported.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; social situations/groups/clubs and family life.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries and in their confidence and/or self-esteem.
“The biggest benefit was to have somewhere that our child gets a chance to process his big emotions, a space that’s just for him where he is seen and valued.”
“It’s been a really positive way for our child to end each week and an absolute highlight for him – especially when school has been so challenging this year. I’m sure he’ll have very fond memories looking back.”
“Just wanted to say a big thank you to Lisa for all the support and care shown to our child over the past few months.”
Support that made a difference at home and beyond, there was a huge improvement in self-regulation. Our son looked forward to his sessions every week. We have seen him blossom again.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; social situations/groups/clubs, family life, and educational setting.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, their confidence and/or self-esteem and their behaviour.
Play Therapy has helped me a great deal in understanding my child’s behaviour and has helped me know how best to support them.
“Lisa has created a safe, welcoming environment where our son actually looked forward to going each week. We’ve noticed a huge improvement in his ability to self-regulate and manage his big feelings. Lisa also gave us tools and strategies to use at home, which has helped us support our son away from the sessions. We are really grateful to see our son blossoming again. We would Highly recommend Lisa to support any family/child.”
Supporting our child through life’s challenges.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in family life.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries and coping with changes, challenges or transitions.
“I have benefited from learning techniques that best support our child.”
Remarkable progress, lasting impact.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; family life.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, confidence and/or self-esteem, their behaviour and coping with changes, challenges or transitions.
Play Therapy has helped significantly in our family life, I feel like I have a significantly better understanding of my child’s behaviour and how to support them.
“The impact that our child’s sessions have had on our family has been so incredibly positive! I am immensely proud of the progress that our child has made, but none of it would have been possible without Lisa. We will miss her, but we know you will go on to change other family’s lives too.”
“Lisa has been amazing and has supported not only my child but also my husband and I.”
Calm, confident and connected: Thriving at home, school and beyond.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; social situations/ groups/clubs, family life and their educational setting.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, confidence and/or self-esteem and their behaviour.
From understanding to thriving: Supporting growth at home and school.
Since starting therapy my child is now more able to engage in; family life and in their educational setting.
Play Therapy has helped my child in these areas; emotional well-being, managing big feelings or worries, their behaviour and coping with changes, challenges or transitions.
Play Therapy helps significantly benefit to our family life, and I feel that I have a better understanding of my child’s behaviour and how best to support them.
The treatment plan was very useful in tracking progress towards our therapeutic goals that we created during intake.