Sandplay therapy, is an experiential therapeutic approach where clients build their own world using miniature toys or figurines and colored sand. A sandplay-trained therapist will view the client’s scene as a reflection of their life, thoughts, feelings and concerns, and help him or her to interpret the sand tray as an opportunity to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and gain acceptance of self. Sandplay therapy is often used to address trauma or abuse and can be particularly useful for clients (both adults and children) who have trouble expressing themselves verbally. A sandplay therapist's office is equipped with a specially proportioned sand tray and allows clients to express themselves in a safe and supportive space. Think this approach might be right for you? Reach out to one of TherapyDen’s sandplay therapy experts today.
Sandplay therapy is not only for children; adults can benefit from it too. When we use too much intellectual function to survive, a safe and protected space for an individual to freely be themselves, to be relaxed and playful, and to meet their inner world symbolically can be so helpful!
— Meng-Ju (MJ) Yang, Psychologist in San Jose, CAMy office is filled with figurines and toys with which you child can use to create a sandtray or "mini-world" in order to express their unconscious material. As a sandplay therapist, I hold the safety in the space and the relationship so that your child is free to create in the sand that which is beyond words to express. Some clients say that doing sandplay is like "dreaming, while awake." And like dreams, oftentimes, important material comes up as an offering to work through and overcome.
— Skye Horie, Psychotherapist in Wailuku, HII have been using this modality with children, adolescents, and adults for almost 20 years and find that it complements both play therapy and traditional talk therapy by providing a rich and powerful means of self-expression and exploration of significant issues.
— Robin Knoblach, Clinical Psychologist in Herndon, VAI am an associate member of the Sand Play Association. Sand Play is a powerful way to access non-verbal parts of ourselves. Do you ever feel something, and you don't know how to even begin to talk about it? The sand play process, in a fun and imaginative manner, using symbolic imagery, can bring out to our conscious mind parts of ourselves that were unknown to ourselves.
— Ginger Bahardar, Marriage & Family Therapist in Bonsall, CAMichele is in the process of completing her Registered Play Therapist (RPT) credential. Michele also enjoys utilizing expressive interventions, such as sand tray and art.
— Michele Munday, Licensed Professional Counselor in LEWES, DEI am a Registered Integrative Sandtray Therapist. During my play therapy certification training, I fell in love with Sandtray therapy & knew I would continue on this journey. I use it when working with adults to help them connect words (the left brain) to the their memories & emotions (the right). As someone who has personally experienced the power of sandtray, I am equally amazed when I see how it transforms my clients.
— Monique Randle, Clinical Social Worker in North Little Rock, ARSandplay therapy is a non-verbal, expressive therapeutic method developed by Swiss Jungian analyst Dora Kalff drawing from the work of Carl Jung, Margaret Lowenfeld, and Tibetan & Zen Buddhism. Jung, whose work provides the foundation for sandplay therapy, understood almost a hundred years ago that the mind and body were inextricably linked. In sandplay, this link is seen again and again in both the symbolic activity of the psyche and the embodied experience of healing and change.
— Jill Corvelli, Licensed Professional Counselor in Portland, ORI am a Certified Sand Tray Therapist and enjoy utilizing sand tray for many topics my clients bring to therapy. "Is that just for kids?" No! It's great for children who cannot completely communicate their thoughts and feelings yet and because children learn and express through play. However, in my experience it is even more beneficial for adults because they are able to be more insightful about their tray. Sand tray is excellent for anyone who doesn't want to only do traditional talk therapy.
— Kimberly Fann, Mental Health Counselor in Oviedo, FLLike play therapy, sand tray is a fantastic way to get to the root of some issues without always having to come up with the words to explain it. It allows our brains to access the deeper parts to begin to heal itself.
— Evan Woodall, Counselor in Heath, TX