Sandplay Therapy

I am a certified Systemic Sand Play Therapist, and I use this technique to help clients work through trauma and family discontent that they may have experienced.

I have attended workshops on Sand Tray and have used it extensively in my work with children (4-13) and high school students. I have noticed that it unlocks many ideas, thoughts, and behaviors so we can work more deeply.

I love using Sandtray when working with teenagers and adults. It is a great way to access other parts of our brains and integrating them. I am a Registered Integrative Sandtray Therapist through Southern Sandtray Institute.

I am an associate member of the Sand Play Association. Sand Play is a powerful way to access non-verbal parts of ourselves. Do you ever feel something, and you don't know how to even begin to talk about it? The sand play process, in a fun and imaginative manner, using symbolic imagery, can bring out to our conscious mind parts of ourselves that were unknown to ourselves.

Sandplay therapy allows clients to explore, in a safe and supportive environment, their thoughts, feelings and behaviours, in an indirect, non-threatening way.

Michele is in the process of completing her Registered Play Therapist (RPT) credential. Michele also enjoys utilizing expressive interventions, such as sand tray and art.

My office is filled with figurines and toys with which you child can use to create a sandtray or "mini-world" in order to express their unconscious material. As a sandplay therapist, I hold the safety in the space and the relationship so that your child is free to create in the sand that which is beyond words to express. Some clients say that doing sandplay is like "dreaming, while awake." And like dreams, oftentimes, important material comes up as an offering to work through and overcome.

Like play therapy, sand tray is a fantastic way to get to the root of some issues without always having to come up with the words to explain it. It allows our brains to access the deeper parts to begin to heal itself.

I took a semester long class dedicated to sandtray therapy and continue my education in sandtray therapy by attending and presenting at local sandtray trainings and conferences. I have served as a board member for Austin SandTray Association for 3+ years and am a co-founder of the Texas SandTray Association. I currently serve as Executive Director and Treasurer for the Trxas SandTray Association.

I have sought out specialized training and supervision in sand tray therapy. This is a modality that is appropriate for both children and adults. It consists of utilizing a specially proportioned tray of sand and a variety of figures. Clients are able to create a "world" in the tray with the figures. This technique allows clients to access feelings, perceptions and experiences which may be outside of their everyday awareness. When these become illustrated in the tray, processing can begin.