Gemma Hookins

Gemma is the Co-Founder of The Play Therapy Centre (PTC) and has over 20 years of experience working with children, young people and families across the UK and UAE. With a background in education, she is a qualified Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) teacher and has extensive experience supporting children with special educational needs in both specialist and mainstream school settings.She has seven years of experience as a Play Therapist at a children’s hospital in Dubai, working within the Mental Health Centre of Excellence and providing therapy in both hospital and outpatient settings.Gemma holds a Master’s degree in Practice-Based Play Therapy from Leeds Beckett University, where her research explored non-directive play therapy with adolescents with autism and intellectual disabilities. She also holds an MPhil, researching nondirective play therapy for childhood anxiety in the UAE.Her therapeutic approach is relational, child-centred and culturally sensitive. As a Certified Clini