Play as Protection™ Professional Training

Using Therapeutic Fun, Regulation & Relationship-Based Engagement as Early Intervention

CPD Professional Training for Children’s Services

Play as Protection™ is a practical, trauma-informed professional training programme designed to help practitioners create safer, more effective ways of engaging children and young people from the very first point of contact.

Rather than beginning with questioning, compliance or information gathering, the framework teaches professionals to begin with regulation, relationship and trust; creating the conditions in which children are better able to communicate, participate and engage with support.

At the centre of the training is the REACH Model™, a repeatable five-stage framework:

Regulate • Engage • Attune • Connect • Helpful Empowering Support

Participants learn how to apply the model across intake, assessment, safeguarding conversations and ongoing support, while adapting their approach to the individual child’s age, communication style, developmental needs and circumstances.

What the Training Covers

The programme combines theory with practical tools that professionals can use in everyday practice, including:

Regulation-first and relationship-based engagement
Trauma, stress and the developing brain
The REACH Model™
Child-centred communication and engagement
Recognising dysregulation and unmet need
Child-friendly intake and assessment approaches
Working with neurodivergent, non-verbal, withdrawn or resistant children
Practical language, environmental and sensory adaptations
Role play, case studies and reflective learning
Strengthening child participation, agency and protective factors
Using Grayson’s Home as a therapeutic engagement and indirect communication tool

The Grayson’s Home component is not simply about reading the book. Practitioners learn how to use its story and themes to support emotional expression, conversations about safety and hope, and developmentally appropriate indirect communication.

Who Is It For?

Play as Protection™ is designed for professionals and organisations working with children and young people, including safeguarding professionals, social workers, educators, domestic abuse practitioners, youth workers, foster carers, family support workers, early-intervention practitioners and multidisciplinary teams.

CPD Training

Core programme: 2.5-hour live workshop
Delivery: In person, online or blended
Level: Introductory to Intermediate

Participants completing the full programme, required practical participation and reflective learning requirements are eligible for a Certificate of Completion suitable for inclusion within their CPD portfolio.

Training Tailored to Your Organisation

The core Play as Protection™ framework remains consistent, while delivery can be contextualised to the needs of individual organisations, professional groups and service settings.

Training can therefore focus on how the framework applies within areas such as safeguarding, education, domestic abuse services, early help, family support, foster care or multidisciplinary practice.

For organisations wishing to embed the approach more widely, consultation can also explore implementation, reflective supervision, practice development and integration of the framework into existing intake and assessment processes. The programme itself contains an organisational implementation roadmap rather than treating training as a one-off event.

Discuss Training for Your Organisation

Contact us to discuss your team, service setting and training requirements. We can help identify the most appropriate delivery format and how Play as Protection™ can be contextualised to your organisation.

Click here to request a free consultation.