Advanced Psychotherapy Training

About The Sand Therapy Training Institute

The Sand Therapy Training Institute (TSTTI) offers specialized, research-based training for mental health professionals seeking to integrate sand therapy into their clinical practice. Our programs are tailored for psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers, emphasizing ethical and safe application through immersive, hands-on learning experiences.

Grounded in core clinical competencies, our curriculum draws from a rich blend of therapeutic frameworks—including Kalffian Sandplay, Sandtray, Carl Rogers’ client-centered approach, Milton Erickson’s therapeutic metaphor, Narrative Therapy, and existential psychotherapy. This integrative approach ensures that clinicians are equipped with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to support clients across diverse settings.

TSTTI is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists and is also an approved provider by the Association for Play Therapy (APT).

Whether you’re new to sand therapy or looking to deepen your expertise, our comprehensive training series offers a structured pathway to enhance your therapeutic practice.

Theory

Rooted in Theory, Informed by Neuroscience
At TSTTI, we prioritize the foundational theories that support meaningful clinician-client engagement, while staying current with the latest developments in neuroscience.

An Integrative Approach to Sand Therapy
Our training combines both Kalffian Sandplay and Sandtray methods, offering a well-rounded approach to therapeutic work.

Blending Leading Therapeutic Frameworks
We draw from the work of:

• Carl Rogers – Client-centered therapy
• Milton Erickson – Therapeutic metaphor
• Michael White & David Epston – Narrative Therapy, rooted in social constructionism
• Rollo May & Irvin Yalom – Existential psychotherapy

This unique integration equips clinicians with a versatile and deeply informed practice framework.

Process

Grounded in Decades of Expertise
With over 40 years of clinical research, teaching, and training behind them, our courses are thoughtfully designed to guide professionals through a step-by-step learning process. You’ll build the knowledge, awareness, and skills needed to use Sand Therapy ethically and effectively—with clients of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures.

Experiential Learning Through Immersion
A core element of our training is the therapist’s own immersion in sand scenes. This hands-on experience is essential for understanding psychological projection, a key mechanism in symbolic sand work.

The Power of Symbols in Practice
By engaging with your own sand tray work, you’ll gain a firsthand understanding of the emotional depth and transformative potential of symbols in the sand. This deepened awareness helps clinicians respond more intuitively and effectively to the rich inner worlds expressed in their clients’ sand scenes.

Key Questions to Pursue

Through TSTTI’s unique courses, participants explore a variety of approaches to therapy and gain essential feedback on process. Personal insight and professional competence are developed through the pursuit of key questions such as:

• How do we use silence to enhance client experience in their sand scene?
• How do we integrate metaphor with symbols?
• How do we engage without being invasive?
• What is the relevance of culture?
• How do we empower clients on their journey for meaning?

The purpose of TSTTI is to teach advanced courses for psychologists in the use of expressive therapy with a focus on projective approaches that engage symbols, poetics, therapeutic metaphor, and images. Courses include theory, practice and ethics not taught in doctoral programs, that focus on in-depth practice with symbolic material. Courses most appropriate for those specializing in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, cross-cultural psychology, social justice, and diversity.

Advanced approaches: psychologist’s competencies for use of process hypnosis, gestalt therapy, active imagination, therapeutic metaphor, collaborative symbol-story engagement, heightened presence and witnessing, advanced play therapy engagement, narrative externalizing and reclamation of trauma experiences, practice for a mindful use of the psychologist’s imagination, and culturally attuned collaborative, empowering engagement with the cultural other.

Example clinical interventions: the activation of symbols into stories and gestalt dialogues for trauma work; the use of a dollhouse for developmental and family dynamic stories; the use of miniature chairs to explore life stories across the lifespan; the use of objects from nature (wood, stones, shells, etc.) to explore attachment; cross cultural figures and icons to explore ethnic and cultural identity; single symbols for existential and relational process; the use of symbols in sand such as Sandplay therapy, Sandtray play therapy, and Narrative Sand Therapy; and the clinical use of poetics and puppets with symbol objects and stories.

Goals:

1. Courses: To provide psychologists courses in theory, practice, ethics, and clinical competencies for projective processes with symbolic materials. Applications include individual, group and couples therapy, child-adolescent and family therapy, geriatric in-home and school counseling, community work with marginalized groups such as undocumented families, and specific processes for ethnic, cultural, and gender identities.
2. Consultation: To consult with psychologists, virtually and onsite in mental health clinics, including supervisors, psychotherapists, and psychology interns, in the theory, practice, and ethical use of symbol work. Consults indicate and clarify differences for scope of practice for Sandplay therapy, Sandtray play therapy, and Narrative Sand Therapy, and provide essential practice guidance to help clinicians avoid potential risks such as retraumatizing clients and the reliance on countertransference prompts for interpretation.
3. Case consultation: to provide individual and group case consultation to psychologists and their staff on use of projective use of symbol activation and symbols in sand scenes, with clients, in supervision, and for their training curriculum.