When to Make a Referral
There are many reasons a child may be referred to Play Therapy Northumberland including:
  • Anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, loss of confidence, withdrawn, continued unhappiness
  • Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
  • Difficulties making friends , bullying or being bullied
  • Sleep disturbances, night terrors, bed wetting
  • Bereavement or loss
  • Childhood or family illness or disabilities
  • Behavioural changes 
  • Family breakdown or separation
  • Children who are care-experienced, such as those in foster care, kinship care or adoptive families, who may benefit from additional emotional support
  • Experience of domestic abuse, substance or alcohol abuse within the home.
  • Physical, emotional or sexual abuse

Play Therapy Northumberland:
Empowering Children Through Play Therapy 

In a Safe Environment throughout Northumberland and the North East 

Commission Me

I welcome enquiries and referrals from voluntary organisations, schools and other statutory bodies.


Currently the following organisations commission me for Play Therapy:


  • Adopt North East
  • Northumberland Kinship Team
  • Newcastle Kinship Team
  • Northumberland County Council
  • North East Youth


Partnership Working


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. 


Pupil Premium

Many schools nationally use pupil premium funding as a way to finance their much needed play therapy interventions.

Pupils with SEND, together with disadvantaged pupils, benefit from additional government funding. Funds are used well to support pupils who have additional social,emotional and mental health needs. 

For example, pupils can share their worries and feelings with the play therapist who comes into school every week. This helps build pupils’ resilience and reduces their anxiety. 

Ofsted School Inspection
'Improving the Mental Health of Babies, Children and Young People: A Framework of Modifiable Factors'
In January 2024 the Government published the 'Improving the Mental Health of Babies, Children and Young People: A Framework of Modifiable Factors', which outlines how early life-experiences, family relationships, community environments and wider social systems all influence children’s mental health and life chances. 

The framework reinforces that children and young people’s mental health must remain a priority, and that early, joined-up, preventative support is fundamental to reducing long-term difficulties. 

There is significant support for innovative, collaborative approaches to children and young people’s emotional and psychological wellbeing — recognising that mental health challenges often appear alongside issues in education, social connection, and behaviour.

The evidence is clear that young people with mental health difficulties frequently experience broad impacts across many areas of life. 

For example:
  • Children and young people with mental health disorders are much more likely to face exclusion from school.
  • Smaller scale studies show that a significant proportion of children with emotional difficulties avoid school because of worries about what others might think.
  • Young people with identifiable mental health problems are more likely to fall behind in their schooling.
  • Longitudinal work shows that young people with mental health challenges often experience greater difficulty in employment, lower income, and increased welfare dependence in adulthood.
  • In certain youth-offender populations, emotional or mental health problems are reported by a high proportion of children and young people.
  • Research into conduct disorders shows elevated risks of further criminal justice involvement, substance dependence and social marginalisation.