Play Therapy Training Colorado

Getting into Play Therapy Training in Colorado

Colorado has a fair number of paths for play therapy training, but most people get confused about which credentials actually count and which ones are just nice-to-haves. The real question is whether you need APT approval or something state-specific. Let me walk through how this actually works on the ground. The main credential people are looking for is the Registered Play Therapist (RPT) designation from the Association for Play Therapy. To qualify, you need a master's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or a related field, plus specific play therapy coursework and supervised hours. Colorado doesn't have its own separate state play therapy license, which trips a lot of people up. You're really working toward the national RPT credential, not a Colorado-specific one. For the coursework requirement, APT demands 30 hours of play therapy-specific training. Many Colorado-based programs bundle this into longer certificate tracks. The University of Northern Colorado offers a play therapy certificate that covers the core 30 hours, and it's one of the more established programs in the state. The Colorado School of Professional Psychology also runs modules that feed into the requirement. But here's the thing nobody emphasizes enough: not all 30 hours can be continuing education. At least 15 of those hours must be live, interactive instruction, not recorded webinars or self-paced courses.

Supervision is where things get complicated. You need 100 hours of play therapy-specific supervision, and at least 50 of those must be individual. The supervisor needs to be an RPT or RPPT themselves. I've seen a lot of people try to count group supervision toward that 50-hour individual threshold, and it simply doesn't work. APT audits this section rigorously. I learned this the hard way when I reviewed a colleague's application and spent three weeks retroactively converting recorded group sessions into documented individual consultation hours because her original submission got flagged during the credential review process. If you're already a licensed therapist in Colorado, you can count your general clinical supervision toward part of the requirement, but only up to 25 of the 100 hours. The remaining hours must be explicitly play therapy focused. This means your regular supervisor might not qualify for the bulk of what you need unless they hold an RPT credential and are specifically supervising your play therapy cases.

Practical Considerations Nobody Talks About

Cost is a real factor. A full APT-approved play therapy certificate program in Colorado typically runs between $2,000 and $4,500 depending on whether it's university-affiliated or run by a private training institute. Private programs like those offered through the Denver Play Therapy Center or similar groups tend to be on the higher end but often include supervision hours bundled into the tuition. University programs are cheaper upfront but you usually arrange your own supervision separately. The timeline is another thing. Most people underestimate how long this takes. If you're working full-time, completing the 30-hour coursework and 100 hours of supervision while maintaining your regular caseload typically takes 12 to 18 months. Some intensive formats condense the coursework into weekend blocks over a year, but the supervision hours still accumulate at whatever pace your cases allow. You can't accelerate the supervision requirement no matter what program you enroll in. Here's a counter-intuitive point that catches people off guard: having a trauma-focused certification does not substitute for play therapy training. I've worked with licensed clinicians who assumed their EMDR or TF-CBT training would count toward the APT coursework requirement. It doesn't. APT is very specific about what qualifies. The training has to be grounded in play therapy theory and technique, not adjacent modalities. You can take those courses for your own professional development, but they won't move the needle on your RPT application.

Another common pitfall is the case documentation requirement. You need to document a minimum number of direct play therapy sessions, and the documentation standards are stricter than most people expect. APT wants session notes that clearly demonstrate play therapy techniques being applied, not just general counseling notes. I once had a trainee submit session records that were technically thorough but entirely missing the play-specific interventions, and the entire section got returned for revision. The fix was straightforward once I showed her how to annotate her existing notes with the specific play therapy frameworks she was using, but it cost her two months of delays.

Alternatives if the RPT Path Doesn't Fit

If the APT route isn't working for your situation, there are other options. The Colorado Coalition for Children's Services occasionally runs play therapy workshops that provide useful skill-building, though they don't lead to any formal credential. Some private training institutes in the Denver and Boulder areas offer shorter intensive courses in child-centered play therapy or directive play therapy approaches that can supplement your practice even without leading to certification. There's also the Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor (RPT-S) track if you eventually want to supervise other trainees. That requires you to first hold the RPT credential, then complete an additional 30 hours of play therapy supervision training and 25 hours of supervised play therapy supervision practice. It's a separate application with its own fees and review timeline. I recommend thinking about this later rather than trying to plan it from the start, since most people spend their first few years as an RPT building their own practice before considering supervision credentials. The biggest bottleneck I see in Colorado is finding qualified RPT supervisors, particularly outside the Denver metro area. If you're in Pueblo, Grand Junction, or further west, your options narrow significantly. A few supervisors offer telehealth supervision, which has expanded the pool considerably since 2020, but not all APT-approved supervisors are comfortable with remote supervision formats. Check with each potential supervisor about their modality preferences before committing to a training program in the area.