How Does Consultation Improve Play Therapist Growth?

Let’s be honest. Most of us say we value consultation, but how often are we actually doing it?

I’ve been in the mental health and play therapy field for almost 35 years now, and I’ve noticed a pattern. Consultation is something we talk about all the time—it’s both ethically and clinically important—but in reality, many of us treat it like a luxury instead of a necessity. And I get it. We’re busy. We’ve got clients to see, notes to write, families to support, and our own lives to manage. But without consistent consultation, we’re often left second-guessing our clinical decisions and feeling like we’re navigating complex cases in isolation.

My Journey: From Group Practice to Feeling Alone

When I owned a group practice filled with play therapists, consultation was built into the culture. We could just grab each other and process cases together. But when I moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, I found myself alone—literally. Other than my husband, kids, and dogs (who, let’s be real, are emotionally considered people in my household), I didn’t know a single soul.

I remember going to a play therapy training soon after we moved and thinking, I found my people again. That longing for community is what led me to create both Play Therapy Academy (a more hands-on, structured consultation program for those working toward their RPT credential) and later Play Therapy Elevation Circle (a membership community for ongoing support). But more on those later.

What the Research Says About Effective Consultation

When I started reflecting on consultation—what works and what doesn’t—I went down the research rabbit hole and found two articles that really resonated:

Peer Consultation: Enriching Necessity Rather Than a Luxury for Psychologists During and Beyond the Pandemic (Joseph et al., 2022)
Therapist Perspectives on the Effective Elements of Consultation Following Training (Betas et al.)

Both articles emphasized that training alone isn’t enough. You can attend all the play therapy workshops in the world, but if you don’t have a space to process and implement what you learned, those insights often fade away or never fully land in your sessions.

Here are four key ingredients the research identified as essential for effective consultation:

1. Ongoing

Quick one-time consults might help you get unstuck, but ongoing consultation is where real growth happens. It supports you across different stages of therapy and helps you deepen your application of your chosen play therapy model.

2. Relational

We can’t show up with vulnerability unless we feel safe. Effective consultation is rooted in human connection—professional, yes, but warm, trusting, and supportive. That sense of “we’re in this together” matters deeply.

3. Safe, Not Performative

Consultation isn’t about proving anything. It’s not a performance. The most valuable spaces are where we can be real, bring our tough cases, and say “I’m lost” without fear of judgment.

4. Real Cases

Hypotheticals are fine, but real learning happens when we talk through actual cases. That’s where feedback gets specific, tangible, and truly helpful.

Why Play Therapy Consultation Is Unique

Here’s what the research doesn’t say—but what many of us already know in our bones:

Play therapy adds another layer of complexity that general mental health consultation often doesn’t address. Many of us have had supervisors who didn’t understand children, teens, or play therapy. They might say things like, “You’re doing a good job—they’re playing, right?” or “Just use a worksheet.”

I hate worksheets.

Okay, maybe hate is strong—I have some. But I only use them as a stepping stone toward more experiential work when it fits the treatment goals.

Play therapy requires nuance. It’s nonlinear. Kids don’t follow agendas, and our work is rarely straightforward. So we need consultation that helps us:

Decide when to follow the child’s lead vs. gently structure the session
Co-regulate in the playroom
Apply treatment goals through our specific play therapy model
Avoid activity hopping and throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something sticks

Without that guidance, we’re left overwhelmed, confused, and often questioning our competence. That’s where consultation becomes the bridge from theory to real-life impact.

Stop Second-Guessing. Start Practicing With Intention.

The deeper I’ve gotten into this work, the more I’ve realized that consultation isn’t about doing more—it’s about being more intentional with the tools you already have.

Many therapists tell me, “I’ve gone to all these trainings, but I don’t know how to bring them together.” Consultation—especially in a trusted community—is what helps you connect those dots. It helps you develop a cohesive framework and show up with more clarity and confidence in your sessions.

And here’s the beautiful part: when consultation is done right, your competence grows in connection. Your confidence builds in spaces where you feel safe and supported. And your ability to sustain this work over the long haul increases because you’re no longer doing it in isolation.

So What Now?

If you’ve been second-guessing your play therapy skills or feeling like you’re working in a vacuum, I want to invite you to stop doing this alone.

If you’re working toward your RPT credential and want more structured, hands-on support, check out Play Therapy Academy.
If you want ongoing community and consultation, but don’t need the full RPT path, Play Therapy Elevation Circle might be a better fit.
And if you’re just starting out or need help developing a clear framework for your clinical decisions, I also offer a foundational course called Getting Grounded in Case Conceptualization.

Oh—and don’t miss my free webinar:
How to Provide Play Therapy Without Second-Guessing Every Clinical Decision (Even in Complex Cases).

When: January 25, 2026 at 4pm PT

In it, I’ll share my 3-part framework that applies to any play therapy model. Register here.

Let’s stop seeing consultation as optional. It’s not. It’s the support you need to keep doing this beautiful, hard, meaningful work—for the long haul.

Here are the citations for articles I discussed during this episode:

Beidas, R. S., Edmunds, J. M., Cannuscia, C. C., Gallagher, M., Downey, M. M., and Kendall, P. C. (2013). Therapists’ perspectives on the effective elements of consultation following training. Admin Policy Mental Health, 40(6), 507-517. Doi.10.1007?s10488-013-0475-7

Mui, A. S., Joseph, A., Hakim, E., Cox, E. D., and Greenwald, E. (2022). Peer consultation: An enriching necessity rather than a luxury for psychologists during and beyond the pandemic. Journal of Health Service Psychology, 48, 13-19. doi.10.1007/s42843-021-0005-3

Categories: : Burnout, Community, Imposter Syndrome, Play Therapy, Play Therapy Academy, Play Therapy Elevation Circle, Podcast, Self care