Bridgett Brye, MSW, LICSW, RPT, a child and teen therapist at Sentier Psychotherapy in St. Paul, has been awarded the Registered Play Therapist (RPT) credential by the Association for Play Therapy, a national professional society that sets training standards for play therapy practice. The credential follows a multiyear process requiring 150 hours of play therapy instruction, 350 to 500 hours of direct play therapy with clients, and 35 to 50 hours of supervision from a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.
The Association for Play Therapy, founded in 1982 and based in Clovis, California, confers three credentials: Registered Play Therapist, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, and School Based-Registered Play Therapist. Applicants for the RPT credential must hold a master's degree or higher in a clinical mental health field, maintain an active state license to practice independently, and complete the association's training and supervision requirements across three sequential phases. The credential is renewed annually and requires 24 hours of play therapy continuing education every three years.
Brye holds a master's degree in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas and is licensed in Minnesota as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW). She works with clients from early childhood through young adulthood on concerns including anxiety, depression, parental separation and divorce, identity development and more. At Sentier she has facilitated Kid Calm in the past, a four-week emotional regulation group for children ages 7 to 10, and currently facilitates Changing Families, a support group for children whose parents have separated or divorced.
"Play is a child's language and way of showing how kids experience their world. Play is not always just for fun… it actually serves a purpose! Choosing to pursue my RPT has allowed me to truly join a child in their world, understand what I am seeing and better understand the value in utilizing play to process a child client's thoughts, feelings, curiosities. Becoming a play therapist means learning to become a translator of play," said Bridgett Brye, MSW, LICSW, child and family therapist at Sentier Psychotherapy.
Play therapy is a structured therapeutic approach in which children use toys, art materials, games and other objects to express experiences and work through feelings they may not be able to articulate directly. Sessions typically run 50 minutes on a weekly schedule and include periodic parent meetings, both with and without the child present.
Sentier Psychotherapy operates a child therapy program serving clients from birth through age 11 and older, alongside services for adolescents, adults and families. The clinic's other practice areas include teen counseling, LGBTQIA+ and gender-affirming care, family therapy, trauma treatment, autism assessments, group programming and more. Brye is one of several clinicians on the Sentier child therapy team who have completed or are completing the RPT credential.
"Families arrive at a child therapy practice with no way to evaluate whether a clinician has actual training in working with young children or if that therapist simply enjoys working with them," said Megan Sigmon-Olsen, MSW, LICSW, owner of Sentier Psychotherapy. "A credential that requires several hundred documented supervised hours gives parents something specific to look at. That is the reason our practice invests in it for all of our Child Therapists.”
The Association for Play Therapy maintains a public directory of credentialed practitioners searchable by geographic area, which families and referring providers can use to locate Registered Play Therapists in Minnesota and elsewhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmCp8y0u9dM
Brye is currently accepting new child and teen clients at Sentier Psychotherapy. Scheduling inquiries may be directed to the clinic's administrative assistant. Sentier is an out-of-network clinic and offers sliding fee services; billing and insurance information is available on the practice website.
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For more information about Sentier Psychotherapy, contact the company here:
Sentier Psychotherapy
Megan Sigmon-Olsen
763-913-8261
msigmon@sentiertherapy.com
475 Cleveland Ave N #103
St Paul, MN 55104
