My October newsletter is out.
If you’ve been thinking about training in Using Minecraft as a Therapeutic Tool, there’s still time to save £80 when you enrol on Level 1 and Level 2 together. The bundle offer ends on 31 October 2026. Both courses are certified by the CPD Certification Service and offer play therapy non-contact CE hours. APT Approved Provider 26-839.
I also highlight three new blog posts: I’ve been awarded a Hatch Fund grant by Hatch Enterprise UK, which will help build capacity so this work can reach more practitioners, children and families. On Monday 2 November I’ll be at the Gaming the Mind conference at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, presenting a poster about my systemic therapy work with families in Minecraft. If you’re going, do come and say hello. And the Sandtray Therapy Minecraft World, which Dan Noble and I created, has been shown at the Meaningful Play Conference Play 2026 games exhibition at Carnegie Mellon University.
You’ll also find dates for our next community meet-ups, our impact report and lots of free resources.

I have some lovely news to share this month. PlayMode Academy is now an Approved Provider with the Association for Play Therapy (APT), so we can offer play therapy CE hours for our Using Minecraft as a Therapeutic Tool training programme. It's something I've been working towards for a while, and I'm really pleased it's finally here.

If you've been thinking about joining the training, there's also a limited-time offer: you can save £80 when you enrol on Level 1 and Level 2 together.

 In this month's Service Spotlight, we're sharing the work of Ormiston Families, who have been using Minecraft to support children who have experienced the imprisonment of a parent or close family member. It's a thoughtful example of how Minecraft can open up space for children to express what's happening for them.

CPD certification is now confirmed across all our practitioner courses, and we've got a full academic year of Level 2 dates in place. For a limited time, you can also save £80 when you enrol on Level 1 and Level 2 in Using Minecraft as a Therapeutic Tool together. I'm delighted to share I've been awarded a UnLtd Scaling Up Award, there's a service spotlight on NeuroPathways, the latest blog posts including one on the social media ban, and more.

This edition has some big news - CPD certification confirmed for our live courses: Level 2 in Using Minecraft as a Therapeutic Tool and Using Creative Digital Tools Therapeutically, a full academic year of Level 2 dates now confirmed, and our brand new impact survey report produced in collaboration with Costello Medical, which puts some real numbers behind the difference the practitioners we've trained are making to the lives of children and young people. There's also a research spotlight from the Anna Freud Centre, two books from colleagues I'm really pleased to see out in the world, and more.

This month's newsletter includes a review from a recent Level 2 training - from a practitioner who came in as a complete gaming novice and left genuinely excited to get started with clients; a reflection on what Games for Change London sparked for me around parents and their children's digital worlds; and upcoming events including the Geek Play Therapy Summit this week. Plus resources, training dates, and a 20% discount code for Level 1.

This month's newsletter includes a reflection on presenting at the BACP Children, Young People and Families Conference, a 20% discount on Level 1 for subscribers, upcoming Level 2 training dates, and lots more.