The Big Black Hole: Exploring, Through a Case Example, How Messy Play Facilitates the Healing Process in Play Therapy, and the Challenges it may present for the play therapist

Siobhán Prendiville is Course Leader for the MA in Creative Psychotherapy (Humanistic & Integrative Modality), which incorporates a Postgraduate Diploma in Play Therapy, at the Children’s Therapy Centre in Ireland. The Children’s Therapy Centre is the longest established and foremost provider of professional play therapy training in Ireland. It is the only institution in Ireland where students can gain a dual qualification as a Play Therapist and Psychotherapist with full academic and professional validation. Siobhán is a child and adolescent psychotherapist, play therapist, clinical supervisor, author, presenter and trainer. She also maintains a private child and adolescent psychotherapy and play therapy practice. Siobhán is certified as an integrative psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor with the European Association for Integrative Psychotherapy. She is fully accredited with the Irish Association for Play Therapy and Psychotherapy and the Irish Association of Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy.

Siobhán contributed a chapter on “Accelerated Psychological Development” to the 2nd edition (2014) of Dr Charles Schaefer’s and Dr Athena Drewes’ seminal text, “The Therapeutic Powers of Play: 20 Core Agents of Change”. She has written about the use of puppets in therapy and education settings in “Play Therapy Today: Contemporary Practice with Individuals, Groups and Carers” and in “Puppet Play Therapy: A Practical Guidebook.” Another chapter, Coming alive: finding joy through sensory play, is in “Creative Psychotherapy: Applying the principles of neurodevelopment to play and expressive arts-based practice.” Siobhán also co-authored a chapter exploring the use of messy play in education settings in Sue Jennings’ and Clive Holmwood’s book the “International Handbook of Play, Therapeutic Play and Play Therapy”. Her latest chapters include “Sensory Play Therapy” in Heidi Kaduson and Charles Schaefer’s 2021 book “Play therapy with children: Modalities for change” and “Calming Christopher: The regulating powers of sensory play” in Eileen Prendiville and Judi Parson’s 2021 book “Clinical Applications of the Therapeutic Powers of Play: Case studies in child and adolescent psychotherapy”.