Jan Cavanagh

I work independently, mainly as a play therapist, with children between the ages of three and fourteen living with their birth family, in foster and adoptive placements, and in transition to permanent substitute families.

I have completed formal training in Theraplay, a method of attachment based intervention where the child’s carer is guided in structured play exercises with the child. This intervention appears to be highly effective in achieving change in the child’s relationships within the family and elsewhere.

I am able to undertake the other types of interventions such as life story work, anger management, keeping safe, support during court proceedings or helping children move past trauma, fears and phobias. Children can also be assisted to move onto a permanent new family.

Play therapy combines the belief in the power of play to heal, and my practice is also informed by experience in early years work, play schemes, as a child care social worker and as a project worker for Barnardo’s New Families. I undertook training at Roehampton where the theoretical base is child centred, using the principles of developmental play, systems theory, and the importance of narrative.