Practice information:

When children are struggling at home or school, they are often not able to say what they are experiencing and causing their distress. However their behaviors like bed-wetting, school refusal, perfectionism, excess crying suggest that they are stressed. The use of play therapy can really help them to access words to find what is happening for them. Most of the time children do not feel safe because something has happened to them or they imagine something might happen to them. I use sand tray in particular to help children and families explore through the use of figurines what perhaps they are not able to articulate in words. My book "Where Words Cannot reach: Neuroscience and Satir in the Sand Tray is all about how we need to access our memories stored in our body which we are not conscious of. By placing figurines in the sand tray and playing with them using their imagination and creativity children will feel different after even one session. The child's play tells me so much about what is happening for them and so I don't need to know the story. I say let's play and from there we create safety for all the characters to keep them safe and protected.