You listen closely, not only to stories, but to pauses, hesitations, and the silence that stretches between sentences.
Therapy with teens & adults is so very different from children.
You sense the moments when words stop working.
When the air shifts.
When a client’s face tightens ever so slightly, and you know you have reached something deeper than language.
These are the moments the right brain speaks.
Sand tray gives that language a place to form.
In the tray, clients do not have to explain what they feel, they can show it, build it, move it, and begin to understand it from the inside out.
Guiding adults and teens into that space takes skill. It means slowing down your own communication, reading cues with precision, and learning how to stay grounded as the story unfolds symbolically in front of you.
This training will help you see and feel what happens when the right brain leads.
Through real clinical cases, photo walkthroughs, and a live sand tray demonstration, you will learn how to:
☀️ Recognize right-brain shifts in adult and teen clients
☀️ Observe micro-expressions and subtle nervous system cues
☀️ Use language that deepens rather than disrupts regulation
☀️. Follow a client’s symbolic story while staying attuned and safe
☀️ Integrate what happens in the sand back into verbal reflection and meaning
You will leave with practical scripts, sensory awareness tools, and a deeper confidence in reading the nonverbal language of the sand tray.
Most importantly, you will remember how powerful therapy becomes when you slow down, trust the symbols, and let healing speak through image instead of explanation.
Friday, March 27, 2026 | 9:30–12:45 PM EST
(Hybrid event) $99
👩🏻💻 Virtual: 3 Non-Contact CE (NBCC & APT)
🏫 In Person: Loudoun Co: 3 Contact CE (NBCC & APT)
Family Therapy Center of NOVA (we have FOUR sand trays on site)
19420 Golf Vista Plaza #330
Lansdowne, VA 20176
Learning Objectives
After attending this training, participants will be able to:
🍎 Describe how sand tray therapy can enhance depth, safety, and insight in work with teens and adults, even in talk-based sessions.
🍎 Identify at least three right-brain processes involved in emotional integration, and explain how these relate to the healing power of sand tray therapy.
🍎 Recognize clinical moments when symbolic, nonverbal tools may support clients who are stuck, overwhelmed, or emotionally shut down.
🍎 Facilitate at least two sand tray therapy interventions that can be adapted for adult or teen clients in individual therapy.
☀️ Play therapists and creative arts therapists
☀️ Any talk therapist wishing to learn trauma informed techniques for teens and adults
☀️ Therapists curious about sand tray AND those wising to deepn their craft
☀️ Curious counselors, social workers, psychologists
Agenda (Eastern Time)
9:30 Brain Hemisphere Overview
10:30 Experiential Practice & Collaboration (live sand trays)
12:45 See You Next Time!(15 minute break)