Services

At our cottage situated in the grounds of the Western Sydney University in Richmond we offer services that are expressive psychologies born out of research and evidence-based methods, this includes our specialist Sandtray therapy.

In the 1920's Margaret Lowenfeld developed the technique we now call Sandtray Therapy. She was a woman with deep insight into the mind of children, teenagers, adolescents and adults. Her method has helped hundreds and thousands of clients to understand their childhood issues and help them express these using the nonverbal, expressive therapy of Sandtray. Sand play is a right brained integrative therapy for; children/adolescents who are having difficulty expressing their emotions, children/adolescents who are non verbal due to intellectual disability, trauma or non English speaking.

This method uses the indoor sand tray, sandtray miniatures, within a safe space or the neuroception of safety, created specifically for this purpose, supported by a trusted therapist in which to express their emotions, with or without using words to explain their stories. Children from ages 3 to 9 often resolve their own issues in the sandtray in the form of battles using the soldiers or other re-enactments. Children from about 10 years will often create sand worlds then explore the miniatures and their meanings with the therapist. Adults couples and families can use Sandtray Therapy to find a voice be heard and seen!

Children with autism especially take to Sandtray as a form of non-verbal sensory motor communication. It teaches them to explore their inner expressions of Self and relate their internal feelings to their external emotions. This aids in self-regulation. We then help them to integrate emotions, feelings and words using the sandtray images.