This class is now full and registration is closed.
This Intermediate II course takes place at the Redwood Room, 1001 Anderson Blvd., Davis, CA.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This introductory sandplay course focuses on Dora Kalff’s concept of the “free and protected space" as it applies to sandplay and play therapy with children. Developmental stages and themes will be reviewed in sandplay cases, intertwining with child development theories, neurobiology and trauma research (Badenoch and Kalsched) relevant to play therapy and sandplay. Learn and discuss how to effectively present sandplay and play therapy to parents and form an alliance with them around treatment issues such as beginning therapy, parenting styles and termination. We will view sandplay scenes created by a girl who had been traumatized as an in-depth example of a child sandplay case with focus on containment and other challenges presented in play therapy. Practical and theoretical handouts are provided.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This workshop is designed to help you:
Work with children and parents in a sandplay and play therapy practice, while creating a therapeutic alliance with parents.
Describe how sandplay and play therapy is effective treatment for childhood trauma to parents.
Identify developmental stages and themes in sandplay (Kalff, Neumann and Erikson) and apply these concepts to play therapy practice.
Define the therapeutic function of the “free and protected space” in sandplay and play therapy.
Explain the necessity of confidentiality to parents and children in terms of the “free and protected space” in sandplay and play therapy.
Observe and analyze a sandplay case’s initial assessment, progress and consolidation.
Olivia Heathcote, Ed.D, MFT is a teaching member of the Sandplay Therapists of America and the International Society of Sandplay Therapy. She is an analytically-oriented psychotherapist with a particular interest in how early life trauma affects psychological development. Olivia lectures and teaches sandplay nationally and internationally. She has served on the STA board and is a member of STA’s Education Committee. She is a contributing author of Pearls: Defining Moments in Our Lives (2014) and of Living the Tides of Uncertainty, 2006 and was published in the Journal of Sandplay Therapy, 2009 and 2016. Dr. Heathcote maintains a private practice in Los Gatos, California where she works with children, adolescents and adults.