Why CBT Doesn’t Always Work and What You Should Do Instead…

You have a client who knows he shouldn\’t be cheating on his wife and but still sneaks around to text his mistress any time possible…

Or maybe you have a client who is killing herself with a pack-a-day Marlboro lights, even lugging the oxygen tank into the gas station for another pack…

Your clients are coming to you seeking answers and you have tried to help them see the error of their ways with every trick out of Aaron Beck\’s toolbox.

Let me guess- nothing has worked and you are about ready to slap that ol\’ get of jail free card on them, labeling them as a \”treatment failure.\”

What if I told you- the problem isn\’t with you?? You aren\’t a bad therapist and your clients are bad clients. That all you needed was a different, more robust therapy method to REALLY help even those most tough to crack clients.

Would you say YES PLEASE and sign up right then? If you are a therapist who cares at all about your clients (and I bet you do or you wouldn\’t be reading this), you need sandtray therapy in your life (sign up HERE to get started).

Tell you what..because I like you and know you want the best for your clients, I\’ll let you in on my dirty little secret…

Sandtray therapy my stealthy, ninja weapon I use with my most difficult, hard to deal with, I\’m-not-letting-you-in adults.

Huh? Working with grownups in the sand? And you get paid for this? And people actually do it?

Yep. yep. and yep!

But why……

Because brain science.  When we grow older, our brains get extremely structured. We loose that natural play rhythm that children do so easily.

Ever watched your kids build that sand castle for HOURS to make sure they get it JUST right with the moat all the way around (because crocodiles obviously)?? It\’s amazing how they can do \”nothing\” for so long and still be tired (and cranky) at the end of a long day.

Here\’s the kicker though- they aren\’t just playing- their brains are growing and making new connections between all different parts of the brain.

As adults, we lose this ease of tapping into creativity at any moment.  When we become a stuffy ol\’ square of a grownup, our brains (and enjoyment) suffer.

Sandtray therapy helps adults reconnect the creative parts of the brain to that part that creates reason and logic for our actions. The magic happens when an adult client is able to see her world through a new, clearer lens because she has created a picture of her world using her whole brain. 

As she uses her hands to create a world in the sand, she is forced to use both sides of her brain (left and right). Using both sides means twice as powerful results. Who wouldn\’t want that?

Why is the right brain so important to tap into with adults? Because this is where our old stuff lies- like childhood trauma, emotions, and instinct that runs so much of what we do, often without realizing it.

It would make sense that we bring this oh so important part of our brain into therapy, right? Right.

However, when we use just cognitive-based theories, like CBT, we are only speaking to that logical, left part of the brain. Most clients \”know\” they shouldn\’t be doing X, but they still do it and aren\’t sure how to stop.  If it was as easy as just figuring out what is best and doing that, then therapists would be out of a job.

The ability to finally see and create solutions in the tray and be truly heard by another individual is the beauty of sandtray therapy.

The big question now is…how do I get started with my clients??

Click HERE to take your first step on into transforming into an even better, more effective, KA therapist.