Sandstory Skills Reflection by Suzie Niven At first, I approached the training of sand story skills with a degree of scepticism. The idea of storytelling through sand play, or simply stating what is seen, felt overly simplistic. We have a Play therapist at my school and like Sand Story Skills I wondered how such exercises […]
From Doubt to Discovery – a POP Wellbeing Play Skills story Read More »
I’m Maria, and I’m a Certified Play and Creative Arts Therapist. Let me tell you a little bit about me. I have well over 20 years of experience working with children aged 4-17 in three countries: the UK, Spain and Germany. I have two teenage children of my own who keep me very busy. Sometimes I joke about being
Always for the Children – Say Hello to Maria Guerrero! Read More »
Jess Gainfort Play Therapist at POP Therapy About Me I’m Jess and I am a qualified Play Therapist with POP working part-time within various schools in Aylesbury. A ‘fun fact’ that my colleagues might not know about me is that as a teenager I was a member of a marching band, playing the side drum
Meet Jess – The Heartfelt Play Therapist Read More »
Lucy Bell Play Therapist at POP Therapy Who I Am I’m Lucy; a teacher, a mum and of course, a play therapist. I started my training to become a play therapist with PTUK in 2022. I have been working with Mim at POP since July 2024. I have two daughters, a stepson and a wonderful
Meet Lucy – A Gentle, Insightful Play Therapist Read More »
Edward Hernaez Operations and Admin at POP Therapy Hello, I’m Edward — a engineer by profession, based in the Philippines 🇵🇭, and a proud father of two, Liz and Samuel. My journey as a parent has deeply shaped who I am today, not only as a husband and father, but also in the way I
Meet Edward – POP Magic Maker! (Operations and Admin) Read More »
Anyone who has contact with and relationships with children, wants to support them in the best way possible and make them strong and healthy. No matter what they are experiencing, children are children, and their brains all operate in similar ways. Some children, particularly those with additional needs and are a bit “Neuro-spicy” as my
Books from Mim’s Bookshelf: Read More »
This exciting new wellbeing course is now available to book for nurturing professionals. POP Wellbeing Play Skills teaches you how to establish safety and security as well as the SandStory® Skills. In July, I had the privilege of delivering the first POP Wellbeing training to Ashmead Combined School in Aylesbury. I have been working with
POP Wellbeing Play Skills Read More »
In January 2021, I created POP Play Sessions. It was a happy accident really of sharing in supervision how I was supporting my clients while we were on our third lockdown and some of the schools I worked in were not allowing me in yet. As I described what I was doing and my supervisor
The Best Inventions are from Happy Accidents Read More »
During this season of lockdown I have been going on regular walks and getting to know a little furry friend who lives in the household really well. On a few occasions, it has been clear I think I am going for a walk- but really, she is going for a walk and I am just
Become aware of thoughts that are invading your family space and send them packing! Read More »
I couldn’t help but smile at a pack of corona beers atop a friends fridge this week as we met to play games having worked from home for the day and feeling isolated. We felt guilty for meeting. Almost unsure as to whether what we were doing was okay or not? Aware that actually we
Learning how to pivot gracefully… Read More »
I recently heard of a nursery where they were using tough love for a little boy who found detaching from mum every morning so hard. It was his first week in nursery after the holidays. He had needed a lot of attention and affection from staff and didn’t really settle. They were getting frustrated with
Why is the game of throw it on the floor and it comes back again important to play? Read More »
And so the new term begins with its busy days and shorter evenings. Pretty much every teacher is fighting the thoughts of winter and when they will see the sun again but also excited to meet the new children and challenges that the year will bring…enjoying reconnecting with their job and their work place and
What is the best thing in the world to your child? Read More »
