Meeting # 1 – Beginning Our Sandtray Learning Journey
In this training, we will begin to learn the sandtray therapy process from the inside out. We will get our hands into the sand and experience the way sand, water, and symbolic images within the containment of a tray, invites bodily-held wisdom. We will practice facilitating a sandtray therapy session. Alongside these experiential exercises, we will learn some basics of Interpersonal Neurobiology support working in this way.
Meeting # 2 – Deepening Our Capacity to Witness a Sandtray Process
In this segment of the year-long training, we will deepen our practice of sandtray therapy. We will explore the ways symbolic material arises and how we might respond to it. We will practice using our felt sense responses to the sandtray as a guide to support our witnessing. Touching on some of the practicalities of sandtray therapy, we will discuss setting up our playrooms, documenting sandtray sessions and the benefits of experiential, body-based therapies. Throughout this training, we will continue to reinforce principles of Interpersonal Neurobiology.
Meeting # 3 – Healing Attachment and Unmet Developmental Needs with Sandtray Therapy
We continue our intensive study of sandtray and neurobiology by taking a deep dive into attachment experiences and how they color the interpersonal dynamics within the sandtray therapy process. Practicing with our own sandtrays, we seek to deepen our understanding of attachment as a basic human drive and look for ways to support sandtray therapy as a reparative attachment experience for our clients. Using Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Developmental Stages as a guide, we explore ways unmet developmental needs may show up in the sandtray.
Meeting # 4 – Coming Together as a Group
Our final meeting will be in person and will be the capstone of our year of study. We will focus on the neurobiology of trauma and how to support healing with our presence and compassionate witnessing of sandtray worlds. Being all together in one place, we will have the opportunity to experience the power of group sandtray work. Practice session observations and support will be available to fine-tune sandtray skills. There will be two days of in-person group supervision (one before the training and one after). Participants are required to attend one of the days but are welcome to attend both.
Group Supervision/Consultation and Practice Sessions
Between trainings, you will hone your sandtray skills and have the opportunity to experience your own healing journey by pairing with practice partners (online) and witnessing one another’s trays. We will also have 3 online group supervision/consultation sessions to support your learning. When we gather in-person, you will have the opportunity to present a case in a full day of group consultation. There will be two days available, one before and one after our 4th meeting. You must attend one, but are welcome to attend both. See the Dates page for details.