To set up a crowd fund to pay for my post graduate degree?

[Spiceupyourlife1989]

I don’t have the funds to pay it and am currently living on a low income, topped up by universal credit.
I know the post grad loans are £11,500 or thereabouts, but that’s to pay for course fees AND to live on without help, I won’t be able to do it. I want to improve my job prospects, specifically for my toddler son, who I don’t want to end up going without, particularly when he starts school.

@BeauxRingarde

BAPT Accredited Play Therapists are also eligible for BACP membership and can get posts as Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists who are at Band 7

I sincerely hope that is not true. Play therapists are not qualified to be C&A psychotherapists no matter who accredits them.

The BAPT training is a professional training with 100 hours of supervised practice. You cannot be eligible for BACP membership without having done a training course which meets their membership requirements. Not all Play Therapists are qualified to be Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, but BAPT trained Play Therapists are.

Sorry if repeating pp.

I applied to and got a bursary towards my master’s. I also didn’t have to pay council tax that year as I was a full time student, (single parent at that time) which was a good saving for me. Worth looking really deeply for any possible bursaries and grants.

Absolutely do not do teaching if you don’t want to- it’ll be awful for you.

The BAPT training is a professional training with 100 hours of supervised practice. You cannot be eligible for BACP membership without having done a training course which meets their membership requirements. Not all Play Therapists are qualified to be Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, but BAPT trained Play Therapists are

I've just looked at the actual curriculum for a BAPT accredited Play Therapy MA, and while it looks like an excellent course for Play Therapy, if that qualifies someone for a job in C&A psychotherapy in the UK, it's scandalous. Certainly wouldn't come close in my country (I'm a European Clinical Psychologist)

Those of us working in schools who have employed Play Therapists, are saying that the job isn’t very well paid
Well given the driving force seems to be to improve op's earning capacity, it doesn't seem the wisest choice.

I've just looked at the actual curriculum for a BAPT accredited Play Therapy MA, and while it looks like an excellent course for Play Therapy, if that qualifies someone for a job in C&A psychotherapy in the UK, it's scandalous.

Can you be more specific about why?

Posters have been a bit harsh on you OP - and you are struggling - but you need to do your research.
Why do you want to do a degree with such limited prospects?
If you need to earn you need to follow the money, not your ‘heart’. Do something well paying that you don’t hate.

Can you be more specific about why?

Because it is, as you might expect, very specifically focused on Play Therapy, without any real coverage of any other aspect of C&A Psychotherapy. BAPT also clearly states the qualification is to work with 3 to 11 year olds, which rules out adolescents entirely. It's simply not a qualification that coves general child psychotherapy, and specifically rules out adolescents entirely.

If you were crowdfunding to go to university to do your first degree and you couldn't otherwise afford to go I would definitely donate. But I wouldn't donate money for you to complete a masters unless there is some reason you aren't able to work (disability, poor mental health etc)

@saltinesandcoffeecups

Are we going to find out what the first degree is?

Media Studies? 😂

No it is grabby. Crowd-funding is for emergency situations, life or death surgery or funeral costs.

@Spiceupyourlife1989

Kind of wish I hadn’t posted this now, feeling bad about myself. I do have anxiety and depression, which has caused me to leave jobs in the past and I had PND.

Mostly I feel stuck in a rut as I applied to be a TA for experience so that I could do my PGCE at a later date. Then I ended up staying in the role in various schools for 7/8 years. Now that’s my only experience.

Definitely don't go into teaching, then. It would destroy you.

And don't feel bad about asking. Teaching assistants are so undervalued and often asked to do far too much for their pay levels.

@Kite22

I can't believe the cheek of people who set up crowd fund requests for their own personal benefit.

Surely they are either for community projects, or for some specific tragic circumstance (for example I've seen them for funeral of a young person that was killed in tragic circumstances).

Just 'wanting something you can't afford' seems like a very high level of entitlement to me.

This.

"I just want to have a better life". Yeah, everyone does.

Have you considered occupational therapy instead. You can do two year masters courses and I think that they qualify for the £5k bursary. And fees might be a loan.

I wouldn't personally fund someone else's masters like this. However I guess it is worth trying.

If you needed to crowd fund for food and essentials or because you lost all your possessions in a house fire I'd gladly contribute to you if you were someone I knew. But for this... No. This isn't essential. This is choice.

I think you need to get a job.

@BeauxRingarde

Can you be more specific about why?

Because it is, as you might expect, very specifically focused on Play Therapy, without any real coverage of any other aspect of C&A Psychotherapy. BAPT also clearly states the qualification is to work with 3 to 11 year olds, which rules out adolescents entirely. It's simply not a qualification that coves general child psychotherapy, and specifically rules out adolescents entirely.

The age range thing is a little bit odd I agree. I did look at one of the curriculums and it seemed a little broader than just play therapy, with some focus on trauma and attachment models etc. But I don't know a great deal about it. I'm asking out of interest really as I'm in the same profession as you but in the U.K.

Mental health nursing PGDip you get 8k a year bursary plus maintenance loan. Lots of nurses then go into therapy roles with NHS funding these courses.

Crowd finding is for anything people want it to be for. There’s no requirement it’s for emergency food etc, in fact there’s very likely other routes people can access that from. I’d be less likely to donate to that as I’d think scam than someone trying to improve their education and prospects. Many business start ups are crowd funded as well.

What you chose to donate to is your own business but there are no boundaries to what people can request help with on crowd funding sites (within what is legal to do obviously)

I’ve notice a really stinking attitude on MN lately from some quarters towards women trying to improve their prospects and get a better education. There a MASSIVE equality issue around access to education at all levels and it’s really disappointing and downright nasty sometimes that people are so resentful of others trying to find ways to move their life ahead.

@BeauxRingarde

The BAPT training is a professional training with 100 hours of supervised practice. You cannot be eligible for BACP membership without having done a training course which meets their membership requirements. Not all Play Therapists are qualified to be Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, but BAPT trained Play Therapists are

I've just looked at the actual curriculum for a BAPT accredited Play Therapy MA, and while it looks like an excellent course for Play Therapy, if that qualifies someone for a job in C&A psychotherapy in the UK, it's scandalous. Certainly wouldn't come close in my country (I'm a European Clinical Psychologist)

I feel as though this is slightly derailing the thread here but would be genuinely interested in continuing this conversation. I'd love to know what you'd hope would be covered by a 'general child psychotherapy' degree that is not covered by the MA Play Therapy training? Do you feel the same way about Art Therapists and Drama Therapists practising as psychotherapists? I wonder if you've had a look at the requirements for individual members from the BACP - do you also think that it's scandalous that that level of training is all that's required to practice as a psychotherapist?

I should be more clear and say that if an NHS trust is advertising for a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, then a Play Therapist could apply for that job and outline their training and skills and the trust would then decide if that will meet their needs. It may be that they are employed only to work with children, or it may be that the therapist has undertaken additional training specifically for working with adolescents post qualification.

OP, I read your posts then went straight to the last page and KNEW that the thread would be full of accusations of cheeky fuckery and the like.

You're not being unreasonable to think 'outside the box' of how to fund further studies, but I would agree with people who say that Play Therapy offers limited employment opportunities in the current economic climate. Schools simply can't afford these services especially, as you say, they can get TAs to do some sort of play based intervention as part of their job.

Is there some sort of careers service that you could access through your LA, MAT or union (if you have one?) to help you think things through?

If you have the right contacts then a crowd funder may work well, but it's all about having contacts with cash who had contacts with cash who have contacts with cash etc etc.

Why not do a distance learning course? That way you can keep working.

feel as though this is slightly derailing the thread here but would be genuinely interested in continuing this conversation. I'd love to know what you'd hope would be covered by a 'general child psychotherapy' degree that is not covered by the MA Play Therapy training? Do you feel the same way about Art Therapists and Drama Therapists practising as psychotherapists? I wonder if you've had a look at the requirements for individual members from the BACP - do you also think that it's scandalous that that level of training is all that's required to practice as a psychotherapist?

If the Art therapist was qualified in solely art therapy, and for, say, 12-15 year olds, then yes I would feel the same way as them practicing as a psychotherapists for the under 10's. Qualifications matter. If you are a specialist, without the necessary wider background, you aren't qualified to practice outside of your speciality.

It may different if one had a primary degree in the wider discipline and work based experience before specialising...but using the OP as an example, a BAPT accredited Play Therapist with an MA in Play therapy from Roehampton, and a sociology degree,with several years experience as a teachers aide....would not come close to being qualified as a C&A psychotherapist (which is what you appeared to be alluding to in a previous post).

I'm not arguing, I'm just very surprised if that could ever be a possibility.

Jofischoice they're very good points. A BAPT accredited course in Play Therapy may open more doors than I thought.

Especially as there's always scope for further professional development once you have one qualification in the field.

There are also roles that require counsellor/therapist/social work/nursing qualification and as Jofishoice says, OP's previous experience may be just what a particular employer is looking for.

This would not be something that I would take money out of my purse to help towards, to be honest.

Hi OP,
I agree with a lot of posters that it would be tricky to fundraise for post grad - especially at such a hard time in the economy but I admire your ambitions for your career.

I wondered if there is any scope to put yourself forward for relevant training at your school - training for working with emotional/behavioural difficulties, helping youngsters deal with grief etc. Try to influence your job by becoming a specialist at supporting children with these issues.

Keep an eye on your local jobsite. I can imagine there being related skills and areas of interest in children's residential services, residential schools, specialist schools for behavioural difficulties, school attendance services, young carer services, grief support services, home start, children's centres. Obviously not "play therapy" but in a wider sense scope to use your creativity in therapeutic elements of the roles. Then perhaps (if you are not totally on board and loving the job) save for your qualification later.