49th Edition

What do you do when you just don't know?

And you're out of answers?

And just can't seem to think anymore?

You see the path.

You walk the stones.

You follow the yellow brick road.

If only things were as easy as the yellow brick road right???

Especially in today's world, when NO ONE seems to have answers. The CDC changes recommendations like my dad buys baseball cards or my mother updates her seasonal decorations (hint: it's a lot).

If you're wishing that just SOMEONE had the answers to tell you what to do, you're definitely not alone.

We're all there.

Personally, I never DREAMED that we would be sitting here in 2022 stressing about the pandemic and how to move forward.

Remember when it was just stay home for a couple of weeks and watch Tiger King?! HA!

Good times.

So, in the state of brain fog, reactivity, and just existential exhaustion, what can help?

While I definitely don't claim to have any of the BIG answers, I do know what helps me when I get in the state of "I have no idea where to go, how to proceed, or if I'm doing the right thing"

Enter sandtray therapy.

Sandtray therapy saved me.

It saved my career, my sanity, and allowed me to love my job again. Back in the late 2000's, I was getting BURNED OUT with being a therapist. Although I was a fairly new therapist, I was seeing an extremely difficulty population, had unrealistic expectations of myself (and of others), and honestly just felt like it was all pointless.

But then I discovered sandtray therapy and I fell in love with it all again.

I fell in love with the power of transformation, the fun that both me and my clients had in the sand, but most of all I feel in love with the ease of use - I finally had a tool that allowed me to go deeper with my clients without knowing all the answers.

I felt like I had been handed the most precious 'get out of jail free' card ever. Now, through using sandtray therapy, it wasn't up to me to figure it all out and create new techniques every session out of no where.

It wasn't up to me to talk the whole session with little feedback.

It wasn't up to me to create solutions out of thin air.

Now, as the whole world is experiencing pandemic fatigue and the brain fog that seems to skirt around us all (for more on that, read this article), we need the ease and the comfort of not having to do it all.

Once again, enter sandtray therapy.

Of course, I can only speak for myself, but I know that I don't operate like I did in 2019. Just take a look at me trying to get my notes (or emails) written.

A little prediction/warning for those of you who may be new around here....

Once you get on the Miniature Madness website, you're going to want ALL THE THINGS.

That's okay, it's a madness that we all know and love:)

Now for the big reveal!!

Each quarter, our Southern Sandtray team carefully curates and stresses/obsesses over how to give you more unique and versatile miniatures for whatever population/setting you find yourself in.

First let's talk our October box!

Because we are all burned OUT, we wanted to remind each of our members why they matter. So the theme of this box was "You matter"

It was by far one of our biggest hits, and even had people in tears as they opened it (Ikr!)

Check it out below!

And then, we have the latest box.

Again, we always have a different theme to each box, (which I'll admit can be somewhat challenging nearly 4 years into this), but we do it for you!

Our January box was themed around Family. We did this because we know family can be a great source of joy but also stress around the holiday season. As mentioned, each item is carefully sourced, packed, and mailed with love to members from all over the globe.

Go ahead and take a peek at our latest PLUS box.

Wondering about how YOU can get in on the fun? Stick around after the FREE training series and I'll walk you through how you can join in on all of the sandtray fun with our worldwide #roomies in the Sandtray Suite!

So, let's talk the FREE training series rolling out TODAY.

All of the details and a special video I made for you can be found at the link below

https://southernsandtray.com/sandtray-success-roadmap/

But I want to share with you the WHY behind this new, entirely different type of workshop series I'm doing next week.

As our team brainstormed, talked/argued about what the sandtray world needed now, one theme kept coming up from what we were hearing from our community: burn out.

We, as therapists, have an extremely hard job. Period. End of sentence.

And, while the world is on fire, we have to still hold space for our clients, write treatment plans, figure out how to do therapy on Zoom, all while attempting to provide a somewhat normal environment for our family in anything-but-normal times.

So yeah, we're tired and we may even want to not do the thing that we are called to do (therapy).

To give you answers and a ROADMAP on how to love your job again, I'll be teaching SHORT (20 minute) trainings once a day for 5 days (starting next Monday Jan 24th). During this training series, we'll cover the some of the most-asked and essential questions you need to know to be confident in your sandtray sessions.

We have lots of prizes, challenges, and FUN and it's all happening in a BRAND NEW Facebook group created JUST FOR THIS TRAINING (you'll get a special invite after you sign up - link below).

https://southernsandtray.com/sandtray-success-roadmap/

And yes, the trainings will be recorded so you can watch them when you are able between clients or in the car line. AND, they are bite-sized so you can learn and get that quick-win feeling of achievement that we all seem to be yearning for right now.

But, the trainings will go away after January 31st so you do have a limited time to watch, learn, connect and enjoy with thousands of therapists from all over the world!

Grab your seat below before life gets in the way

https://southernsandtray.com/sandtray-success-roadmap/

That's it for today's edition ya'll.

Next time the Sandtray Ally lands in your inbox, we'll be creeping up on Valentine's Day! I know, crazy!

In the meantime, I'm leaving you with what I often look like when I write or receive emails (looks like a selfie I promise:)

So, if you, too, look and feel a little disheveled lately, you're in the best of company.

Talk soon,

Amy