Child Centred
 Holistic 
Play Therapy
Play Therapy Northumberland :
Empowering children through therapeutic play in Northumberland and beyond
About Me

My name is Debbie Blyth and I am a Certified Play Therapist, working as Play Therapy Northumberland.


Before qualifying in Play Therapy, I spent over 16 years working closely with children, young people and their families as a Childminder.


During this time, I was honoured to achieve a hat-trick of  consecutive ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgements, recognising the quality of care, support and connection I offered to the families I worked with.

PTUK Membership

I chose to train as a Play Therapist in 2016 after noticing the increasing pressures and emotional challenges many children were experiencing. I wanted to offer a safe, nurturing space where they could express themselves, explore difficult feelings and build emotional resilience through play.


I hold a Post Graduate Diploma in Practice Based Play Therapy, a qualification that is clinically accredited by PTUK and validated by Leeds Beckett University.


I am a Play Therapist and one of the Directors of Holding Hearts Therapeutic Services , a Community Interest Company based in Blyth. Holding Hearts offer a variety of high quality therapeutic services for children aged 4-14 years.


I also work in partnership with Cavallo Therapy (Part of Psychological Consultancy RC Ltd) who integrate evidence based psychological models and the EAGALA Model of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy & Learning. 


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The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care 
PSA oversees statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK. They assess their performance, conduct audits, scrutinise their decisions and report to Parliament. They also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them.
They share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas to our sector including our concept of right-touch regulation. They monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice on issues relating to professional standards in health and social care. 
The PSA does this to promote the health, safety and well-being of users of health and social care services and the public. They are accountable to the UK Parliament. The PSA values are at the heart of who they are and what they do. The PSA are committed to being impartial, fair, accessible and consistent in the application of our values.

Animal Assisted Play Therapy®

I have a keen interest in combining my Play Therapy practice with both outdoor play and involving animals. I have two lovely dogs, Rufus a Labrador and Elvie a Cocker Spaniel.


I completed the Level 1 Animal Assisted Play Therapy® training in Berwick in September 2019, and plan to pursue further training and supervision in this method of Play Therapy.

IIAAPT Training

Pictures of Happy Children

Everyone loves  to see pictures of happy children and so does Play Therapy Northumberland! However I do not use pictures of my clients on my website or social media. Many of the pictures on my website have been taken by me or a professional photographer, however all of the fab pictures and lovely images of children are stock images provided as part of the '123 Reg' web building package.