What is Sand Tray Therapy?

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Sand Tray Therapy is for children and adolescents. It uses small toys and figurines in a sandbox to recreate life experiences, express emotions, or illustrate concepts.

Therapists use various small toys and objects, such as dolls, beads, play animals, trinkets, and paper. There is usually a sandbox or a table capable of holding sand in the middle of the counseling space, where the child can sit on one side, and the counselor can sit on the other.

Sand Tray Therapy can be helpful for children, teens, or even adults and couples with various mental health concerns. Sand Tray Therapy can be beneficial for non-verbal children or children who best express themselves through showing, not talking.

A Sand Tray therapist may introduce sand play work to children who experienced trauma. A counselor that uses this approach may ask the child to recreate a scene related to their traumatic experience. This ability to express what happened from their viewpoint using a comforting medium can be therapeutic for children and highly enlightening for counselors.

Your therapist may ask you to create a scene that expresses your emotions from the past week. They may ask you some questions about why you placed which figures or objects where. Through this discussion, you are likely to gain a greater awareness of your experience.

The sand tray acts as a space for you to express a problem or situation that you already know that you can heal from.

Therapists Who Specialize in Using Sand Tray Therapy

Alison Klohonatz, MA, RMHCI

Orlando

Florida

I am privileged to walk alongside both adults and children 8 years of age and older as they journey toward true flourishing. If you could walk away with one thing from me, I’d want you to know that your story and your voice matter immensely. With time and perseverance, I want to help you see that for yourself. Let us push back against the darkness together.
Sydney believes everyone has a story worth telling and is worthy of a safe space to share. She is passionate about working with children, teenagers and young adults and seeing them grow. Whether you are looking for support for yourself or your child/ teenager Sydney encourages you to take that first step of courage and reach out!

Larry J Colby

Fredericksburg

Virginia

I enjoy working with children who are struggling with emotional and behavioral regulation. My preferred modality with children is play therapy and santray. The goal in these modalities is to use the power of the therapeutic relationship to help the child build internal regulation and an understanding of how to cope in their world. I also enjoy working with youth and adults suffering from trauma...