Sandplay is a multisensory and symbolic activity that engages body and imagination in play. This course focuses on the non-verbal, somatic aspects of a sandplay process and the therapeutic relationship. The concept of somatic transference will be related to neurobiological research and the archetypal affects. Jung’s concept of the transcendent function and the practice of active imagination will be presented in relation to Kalff’s developmental theory of psychic totality. This course instructs participants to observe body movement as well as the embodied symbols of a client while they create a sand world. With case examples, participants will observe how formations in the sand may reveal physical conditions, represent traumatic experiences and tell the story of transformation. Participants will practice selfwitnessing embodied responses to understand the co-transference. The presentation concludes experientially to illustrate how sandplay can be integrated with movement, play therapy, art and dream work.

Ellen Searle LeBel, LMFT, BC-DMT, CST-T is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and Teaching member of Sandplay Therapists of America and the International Society of Sandplay Therapy. Her practice is located in Arcata, California. She is currently the President of the Northern California Regional Sandplay Society and on the Ethics Review Committee of STA. Ellen teaches nationally and internationally, is a member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Dance Therapy and has published articles in the Journal of Sandplay Therapy, the journal of Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, and the Psychotherapy Institute Journal.