Become a Registered Somatic Sand Therapy Practitioner:

Somatic Sand Therapy Training – Levels 1 & 2

Each level is an Accredited 6 Week Live Online / 2 x 2-Day Live In-Person Hybrid Training Program

Whether you work with adults, youth or children, Somatic Sand Therapy offers a gentle yet powerful, simple yet profound, creative and enjoyable way to work with trauma. With or Without Words.

Somatic Sand Therapy does not only support your client’s narrative, their imagination and creativity, but it also allows involvement of the body, mindfulness and the implicit memory. It is a whole-brain approach to healing trauma. Somatic Sand Therapy™ works below the level of consciousness and changes the brain in the moment, in the here and now. New neural pathways are laid down and the client’s neurology is changing as the tray is constructed.

With Somatic Sand Therapy you can literally see your feelings and touch your thoughts.

About Somatic Sand Therapy

These courses provide a thorough Level 1 introduction and Level 2 advanced training, with extensive practical experience and supervision, in Somatic Sand Therapy. Completion of both Level 1 & 2 leads to registration as a Somatic Sand Therapy Practitioner (SST) in Australia.

Sand Therapy is a psychotherapeutic modality that was originally developed through the pioneering work of Dr. Margaret Lowenfeld, a physician who worked with children in London in the early twentieth century. Lowenfeld combined play, miniature figures and a tray of sand to create what she called, ‘The World Technique’, a place where individual children could build a miniature world.

Later Dora Kalff, a Jungian analyst, studied with Lowenfeld and soon recognised that what was taking place in the children’s worlds was what Jung had described as the individuation process. Kalff preferred to witness the child’s work without the interference of questions and dialogue used in Lowenfeld’s method, and so created her unique approach called ‘Sandplay’.

From this early development of sand therapy, it is not surprising that many diverse applications with a range of age groups would follow. Various clinical theories and adaptations of Lowenfeld’s and Kalff’s initial work exist today. Sand Therapy is a term that encompasses the integration of various therapeutic frameworks with miniature figurines in a sandtray.

Somatic Sand Therapy uses the combination of sand, a collection of miniature figures, a wooden tray, the client’s imagination, play and ‘felt sense’, and is based on the latest Neuroscience, as well as Somatic, Attachment and Jungian Psychology. Somatic Sand Therapy incorporates the use of directive intervention when needed, integrating symbology with practices from Family Constellations, Gestalt Therapy and Internal Family Systems. More than an Expressive Therapy modality, Somatic Sand Therapy is a mental health intervention that supports nervous system regulation, healing and alignment with the Self, and development of the personality. Extensive training of professionals committed to personal and professional growth is required.

Somatic Sand Therapy has been found to support insight into relational attachment dynamics, emotion regulation and internal resource building. It is also a great support for clients with limited access to verbal skills or language differences, ie. those effected by trauma, from another culture and/or children.

Based on twenty years of experience and development, these courses provide introductory and advanced training in understanding clients’ sand creations. They provide clear guidelines that support therapeutic confidence in using Somatic Sand Therapy to access deeper layers of emotion and support transformation of unconscious processes in the psyche.

They are highly experiential and interactive programs that will provide many skills to support your clients’ growth from protection to connection. Participants will also have the experience of following their own personal journey using the processes for personal growth at each workshop. There will be illustrated case studies, a comprehensive manual, slides and recordings made available for each workshop.

Course Structure & Requirements

Each training consists of 6 weekly, 3-hour modules, 6 x 2-hour practical tutorials, and two 2-day in-person workshops on the Sunshine Coast, across 6 weeks, providing a maximum of 60 hours of classroom attendance for each certificate. Participants must attend all workshops and tutorials to receive certification. Completion of both levels and all requirements will lead to registration as a Somatic Sand Therapy Practitioner (SST).

The training is highly experiential. There is some course work required and a reading list is provided.

In order to help integrate this modality each participant is required to participate in five personal Somatic Sand Therapy sessions, as well as five Case Consultation sessions per certificate with the trainer, to be completed over two years. The cost of this is not included in the training fees.

If you’ve been wanting to work with me, this is your chance. You don’t want to miss these trainings.

Upcoming Training Programs

Why train with me you may be asking?

Great Question.

Not only do I have 15 years of experience in teaching and refining this certified training, I have been using Sand Therapy as a counselling tool with traumatised populations for 20 years. I understand the nuances of how and why it works, what doesn’t work, what can go wrong and just how transformative it is when it goes right. I know this intervention. I trust it and I use it in nearly every therapy session with my clients. I also offer Clinical Supervision to graduates, so that you can keep your Sand Therapy journey going. You will not be left alone trying to implement this intervention back into your practice.

Who can you use Somatic Sand Therapy with?

Somatic Sand Therapy is for everyone! It can be used with individuals of any age from 7+, couples, groups; clients who are culturally and linguistically diverse; and clients with developmental delays or neurodiversity. I have had particular success in training therapists in Alice Springs who work primarily with Aboriginal clients who report the ‘miraculous’ power of Sand Therapy.

Do you want a more playful, enjoyable and safe way to work with trauma?

Working with Trauma can take its toll on therapists, but not with Somatic Sand Therapy. With this intervention, we observe in silence, we hold space, we practice loving presence. We are the relational tool that is so important in working with clients with Complex Trauma. I guarantee you will love what you do. You will know what you are doing. You will enjoy going to work.

Are you an experienced therapist, or just beginning your therapy journey?

This training is suitable for therapists of all orientations and levels of experience. We will start with the basics and over the three months we will expand your knowledge, experience and skills. The more you already know, the deeper you will go.

Why wait? With growing climate anxiety, family relationship distress, increasing violence towards women and gender diverse people, suicide rates on the rise, a reluctant government to support refugees and asylum seekers, our sovereign land owners continuously being subjected to white policy, we need this work now more than ever.

This training is experiential. You will walk away laden with ideas, tools and excitement. And so will your clients.

What does experiential mean?

It means we learn by doing. In every workshop you will be involved in creating your own tray, observing, or facilitating another trainee with their Somatic Sand Therapy process.

Why is this so important?

Because, YOU are an integral part of the elements that help others heal. Your observations, your questioning, your instincts, your patience and your presence are vital to the success of each session. The more time you have creating your own trays, being facilitated, practicing the process with others, the more confident and capable you will feel when you offer this modality to your clients.

But best of all, it means you have an opportunity to experience the healing power of Somatic Sand Therapy for yourself. You will have time to process some of your own life events and you will meet a tribe of like-minded therapists to practice and build strong bonds with.