Children are Not Small Adults
A Close Look at Play in PsyPsychotherapy with Children and Adolescents with Helen Young
Courses 2026
This (12 week) seminar is an in-depth course suitable for practitioners who work psychotherapeutically with children as well as those seeking training in this field.
In this seminar students will be guided through an extensive introduction to the practice of child and adolescent psychotherapy. The seminar will follow Peter Blake’s acclaimed textbook, “Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy” as well as referring to other leading theorists. It will include topics such as assessment, working with parents and importantly the why and how of working with symbolisation and play in psychotherapy. Clinical examples and session material will be used throughout the course.
Participants will also have an option to present their own clinical material.
This course is available to those who have an undergraduate qualification in relevant fields such as psychology, social work, nursing etc. Enquiries welcome.
Time: 5.30pm to 6.45pm
Dates: On Mondays, Starting July 13 until September 28, 2026
Cost: $1,320 for the 12 week Program
About Helen Young
Helen is a psychotherapist with more than 40 years of specialised experience working with children, adolescents and families.Throughout her career she has worked across community organisations, schools and private practice. Helen has extensive experience in working with children and adolescents who have experienced abuse, trauma and adversity. She has also been committed to improving access to psychological support for communities that have traditionally faced barriers to care, including deaf and hearing-impaired communities and First Nations women and children. She has also spent time living in Nepal and working with children and young people there.Helen has been teaching practitioners how to work psychotherapeutically with children with ICAPP for over 20 years..
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Dreaming Up Through Play
A Close Look at Play in Psychotherapy with Children & Adolescents with Chris Stretton
This is an advanced course for child and adolescent psychotherapists.
Through the detailed consideration of clinical material with an 8-year-old girl, this course examines how therapeutic play between a child and their therapist supports the child to work with previously indigestible experiences, which is vital for their psychological growth and recovery.
The course will draw upon two papers by Thomas Ogden which build on the work of Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion.
By exploring these ideas in detail alongside the presented clinical material participants will have the opportunity to become more familiar with play and its essential role in child psychotherapy.
Participants will also have an option to present their own clinical material and review their work in the light of the concepts of Klein and Bion.
Dates: July 20, 2026 for 10 weeks (there may a week’s break in this 10 week period)
Time: 6pm to 7.15pm
Cost: $1,150
About Chris Stretton
Chris has a BA (hons), Grad. Dip. Clinical Counselling. Clinical member of Australian Counselling Association. He is a Clinical member of Institute of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Clinical supervisor with the Centre for Existential Practice. Also, recipient of the Ron Brookes scholarship at the Sydney Institute of Psychanalysis.
Chris is a psychotherapist based in Newcastle. Since 2009, Chris has worked in the community services sector and continues to do so alongside his private practice. He works with children and adolescents, individuals, couples, and families as well as providing individual and group supervision. In addition to his psychoanalytic psychotherapy training with ICAPP, Chris has trained in the application of existential philosophy and phenomenology to psychotherapy and clinical supervision. He is interested in the similarities, differences and tensions evoked by these influences within his work with people of all stages of life.
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Psychotherapy & the Emotional Careof Infants & Their Families in the Early Years
with Beverley Tydeman, London
Commencing Wednesday February 25th from 7pm to 8.15pm
(AEST – Sydney time) 2026 via Zoom
Ideas that will be explored include attachment patterns, birth experiences and perinatal mental health, core concepts in parent-infant psychotherapy, brief work with parents of infants, the role of fathers and other family members in the early years, challenging and disruptive behaviour, anger between children and parents, separation issues, sleeping and eating difficulties and toilet training.
This is an ideal course for those having completed, or near completion of, Infant Observation.
Clinical Material will be presented and discussed
Dates: Wednesdays February 25th to May 20th, 2026 (term break April 22)
Times: 7pm to 8.15pm AEDT
Cost: $1,320 for the 12-week course
Early Bird Discount: $1,220 before December 20th
Applications from experienced psychotherapists working with children
and/or adolescents are invited.
Applications and enquiries to icappsydney@gmail.com
About Beverley Tydeman
Beverley grew up in South Africa where she had trained as a teacher psychologist and also as a social worker. She has worked in education, social care and health. She taught child and family mental health at Rhodes University before emigrating to the UK. She trained at the Tavistock clinic first as a child psychotherapist and then as a couple’s therapist. She then worked at the Tavistock and Marlborough Family Service / Westminster CAMHS.
She was chair of the ACP (Association of Child Psychotherapists) between 2008 and 2011 and worked on various committees for the professional body. After retiring from the NHS she spent some years back in South Africa teaching various courses for the IPCP (Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy). She is now in the process of retiring back in London but is continuing her academic work.
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Infant Observation
Infant Observation trains the observer in disciplined psychoanalytic observation. The object is the study of the growth of mind and personality of the infant and the familial context in which this may be facilitated or impeded. Infant Observation is the cornerstone of analytic training, and it is fundamental to ICAPP training in Year 1. Each student is required to observe a baby (with the mother or caregiver) on a one hour per week basis for the first year of an infants’ life. Written accounts of the experience of each observation are recorded and are then discussed in a weekly small group seminar with a seminar leader who provides a psychoanalytic lens for the discussion.
This experience is invaluable in developing a student’s powers of observation, along with an understanding of the emotional states of the infant as well as the mother-infant relationship. On completion of the twelve months observation, students write a paper on their understandings gained from the observation and the weekly seminars.
Infant Observation is a one-year course. However, the study of units 1 and 2 may extend beyond one year of study, allowing for time for the student to locate a suitable parent/child couple.
Groups occur on Tuesdays 4pm to 5.30pm Waiting List Open
Cost $3,300, (fee may be paid in instalments)
Duration 1 Year (2 Semesters)
Course Assessment task A 5000 word paper is required at the end of the unit.
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Professional Development 2026
via Zoom
Understanding Children’s Emotional Communication Through Play
with Chris Stretton
Children “talk” to us through their play. How do we listen to this?
This course is designed for professionals dealing with children who want to understand more about how a child communicates their feelings and needs; this includes pre-school teachers, primary school teachers, school counsellors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, child psychologists, paediatricians and so on.
This course is to help those working with children, in any setting to read the child’s play so they can better understand what is going on for that child.
This course will help you:
Observe children and their play in a deeper way, pick up themes in the child’s play, tune in to the child’s worries and fears more effectively, and better manage a child’s anxieties thereby assisting a child to cope better with their world.
Time Mondays 6pm to 7.15pm Sydney time( AEDT)
Date Commencing, Monday February 23rd 2026 via zoom and continuing for 5 weeks until March 23rd 2026
Cost $500
About Chris Stretton
Chris has a BA (hons), Grad. Dip. Clinical Counselling. Clinical member of Australian Counselling Association. He is a Clinical member of Institute of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Clinical supervisor with the Centre for Existential Practice. Also, recipient of the Ron Brookes scholarship at the Sydney Institute of Psychanalysis.
Chris is a psychotherapist based in Newcastle. Since 2009, Chris has worked in the community services sector and continues to do so alongside his private practice. He works with children and adolescents, individuals, couples, and families as well as providing individual and group supervision. In addition to his psychoanalytic psychotherapy training with ICAPP, Chris has trained in the application of existential philosophy and phenomenology to psychotherapy and clinical supervision. He is interested in the similarities, differences and tensions evoked by these influences within his work with people of all stages of life.
If this button doesnt work, copy our email address & paste it into your emailer
icappsydney@gmail.com