54th Edition

Man oh man, this weekend was ROUGH.

Right now, I look like I've been wrestling bears all weekend and I LOST.

No, I wasn't sick with anything physical, but it did hurt all weekend.

Wondering what I'm referring to??

Back during the last Sandtray Summit (more on the upcoming Sandtray Summit below), all of the therapists at True Hope (my group private practice) watched the trainings from the office together.

And after one breakout I was FLOODED with texts from all of them with excitement and pleading that we bring a Brainspotting trainer in to teach all of us about how to use this powerful method and how it can be combined with sandtray.

Fast forward nearly six months later and it was done.

And it was amazing and one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. You see, during brainspotting training (much like sandtray training), you not only learn the techniques, but you experience them for yourself while practicing.

And, it's so powerful and will make you want to run away and hide because it feels like you're getting emotionally flayed at times (but in a good way in the end).

All seven of us worked through loads of stuff together, laughed, cried, and then cried some more. Yes, we therapists are weird like that to ask someone to come in and then we cry all weekend 🙂

So- I cannot wait to incorporate this method with sandtray (I have clients tomorrow that are going to start with me). AND, I'm looking forward to learning even more and bringing it into my sandtray training! Nothing super soon but it's coming!

We had the best trainer - here's her link - Cherie Lindberg

Brainspotting is fairly new in the therapy world and it shares a lot of similar research behind the WHY of it's power with sandtray therapy. Check it out for real.

Soooo, last week we announced the dates and location of the 4th Annual Sandtray Summit!

So, you are some of the FIRST to know (it's not even up on the website but, you, my loyal reader), get the goods FIRST.

4th Annual Sandtray Summit

When: September 17-18. 2022

Where: Disney Springs!

Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort

1850 Hotel Plaza Boulevard

Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-8406

Of course, we'll be IN PERSON this year AND we'll have a hybrid option as well for those who are overseas or who will be unable to travel! (Yes, it's a big deal/$$ to have that option but we're coming through for ya'll!)

Early-bird registration will start April 18th, 2022 BUT it will be ONLY for those who are current IAST members.

So, if you want to hang out with fellow sandtray nerds, learn from the best sandtray therapists around, AND shop miniatures, become an IAST member now!

www.sandtraytherapy.org

Also, if you want more details and just all of the goods, you can also head over to sandtraysummit.com and sign up for the waitlist to be notified when we roll out regular registration (for non-members).

I've got the goods for ya'll today.

Since we're now well over 50 editions of the Sandtray Ally, I wanted to take a picture to re-share some of my FAVORITE resources given to Ally readers since the beginning!

Some of these are created by yours truly and others are just my favorite go-to links and STUFF shared over the past couple of yearrssss.

Still struggle with self-care? Yes, me too - here's 5 self-care directives to get you started on your journey
Sandtray vs Sandplay - Key differences so you can sound and BE smart about this amazing field of sand work!
Had a stressful year or two?? Me too. Check out this article from Buzzfeed about 16 things that helped one author heal after a challenging year
Speaking of stress and more importantly resilience - make sure you check out this training series on YouTube by neuroscientist and author Bruce Perry. All of it is AMAZING information about how our brains and bodies react to stress (especially global stress) and the effects we'll be seeing, even long-term, from the last two years
Feeling like you're burned and not sure where to go? Maybe you feel like you cannot give any more to your clients because you're just empty? You're not alone. I created 5 prompts/directives for YOU and also 5 to work on with your clients as well. Check out the printable handout here
Ambiguous grief is real ya'll. I've shared some of my stories over the past several months about some of the losses/changes I've been experiencing. Grab this PowerPoint of a training I did about what ambiguous grief is and how to handle it with clients (or yourself).
Need some of the back to the basics info? Check out of on my most popular blog posts of all time here - learn all about the sandtray specs you need - how big, how tall, and all of the other burning questions.