Sandtray Therapy Training by Jessie Ogienko, LCSW at Caladrius Therapy

Sandtray Therapy: Learning the Basics is a hands-on, clinically grounded training designed for therapists who want to integrate sandtray into their work with children, adolescents, and adults.

This training covers the foundations of sandtray therapy, including its history, rationale, and trauma-informed benefits. Participants will learn how to set up a sandtray using accessible materials, organize and select miniatures thoughtfully, and introduce sandtray to clients in ways that increase buy-in and reduce resistance.

The course walks through the basic sandtray protocol step-by-step, including preparation, psychoeducation, directive and nondirective prompts, creation, processing, clean-up, and documentation. Special attention is given to therapist stance, boundaries, common pitfalls, and how to avoid over-interpretation while maintaining clinical depth.

Participants will observe demonstrations, practice applying sandtray to different client presentations, and learn how sandtray can be adapted for trauma work, EMDR, families, groups, and telehealth. The training emphasizes practical decision-making, ethical considerations, and real-world implementation rather than theory alone.

This training is well-suited for clinicians seeking an accessible, flexible expressive modality that supports non-verbal processing, therapeutic distance, and nervous system regulation across developmental stages.