If your child is struggling emotionally and you want to get them the right support without waiting years, understanding your options is the most important first step. This guide explains the routes available to families in the UK — and which path is likely to get your child into therapy most quickly.
Play therapy is a specialist form of therapeutic support for children, using creative and expressive play to help them process difficult emotions, traumatic experiences, and complex feelings. It is particularly effective for children who struggle to express themselves verbally — including many autistic or ADHD children, and children who have experienced trauma, loss, or family breakdown.
Play therapy is not widely commissioned through the NHS. Some CAMHS teams employ play therapists or refer children to play therapy as part of a treatment package, but this is inconsistent and far from guaranteed. In most parts of the UK, a child referred to CAMHS for emotional or mental health difficulties will be on a waiting list for 12 months or more before they receive any assessment, let alone treatment. In many areas, waiting times exceed two to three years.
If you want to pursue NHS support, the starting point is your GP. A GP referral to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) is the most common pathway. Your GP can also refer to local emotional wellbeing teams, school-based mental health support, or community CAMHS depending on your area.
Once referred, you will typically receive an initial triage appointment to assess the level of need. From that point, the wait for a formal assessment can be substantial. Play therapy specifically is rarely offered as a standalone NHS intervention — children are more likely to be offered brief CBT-based work, group sessions, or parenting programmes depending on the presenting difficulties.
If your child’s needs are acute — there are concerns about self-harm, significant school refusal, or severe mental health difficulties — it is worth asking your GP specifically about urgent or crisis pathways, which operate on shorter timescales.
Private play therapy bypasses NHS waiting lists entirely. Most private play therapists can offer an initial parent consultation within two to three weeks, with weekly sessions beginning shortly after. You do not need a GP referral, a diagnosis, or an EHCP. You can search, contact a therapist directly, and book.
The key is finding a therapist who is a good fit for your child’s specific needs. Look for practitioners who:
Session fees typically run between £60 and £120 per week. Some therapists offer sliding scale fees based on family income. The total cost will depend on how many sessions your child needs — most initial contracts run for six to twelve weeks, with a review at the end of that period.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) — or if you are in the process of requesting one — play therapy can potentially be included as a named provision. This matters because if a provision is named in Section F of an EHCP, the local authority must fund it or allow you to use a personal budget to commission it.
To get play therapy into an EHCP, you need to build a case. This usually requires:
If your child’s EHCP is already in place, you can request that play therapy be added during the annual review. If you are applying for an EHCP for the first time, you can include the need for therapeutic support in your initial request. SEND charities and advocates can help you navigate this process.
Some schools — particularly primary schools — have access to a school counsellor or a pastoral support programme that includes emotional wellbeing sessions. This is not play therapy in the formal clinical sense, but it can provide some level of support while you wait for or fund more specialist provision.
Ask your child’s school what emotional wellbeing support is available and whether your child can access it. Be specific about what your child is struggling with. Schools cannot always offer what is needed, but they should be part of the conversation.
The clearest path to getting your child support faster is to pursue private therapy while simultaneously keeping your NHS referral active. These routes are not mutually exclusive. Private therapy does not disqualify your child from NHS support, and it means your child does not have to wait.
The SEND List makes it easy to find SEND-aware play therapists across the UK. Every listing is searchable by location and specialism, so you can find someone with the right experience for your child quickly.