The 3 Books You Need If You Use Sandtray

One of the foundational pieces of starting sandtray in your practice is training!  

Yes, the fun, exciting, and shiny part is the miniatures and carefully creating your setup.  Hours browsing pinterest, visiting artisan makers (like Mama Owls Minis) virtually or at a conference, and hitting up the dollar spot, garage sales, and even sometimes your kids bedroom. (I am totally guilty of this.)

BUT if you don’t know (based on theory and training - not your intuition) how to setup your space, introduce the tray, and what to say and when to say it - ethically you shouldn’t be starting sandtray in your practice.

The good news? There are TONS of resources, supports, and trainings out there to get you up and running to provide the healing power of sandtray to your clients! 

If you are just getting started grab my absolutely FREE guide and checklist to start sandtray today HERE! 

​I wanted to share with you today my top three books on my playroom shelf for working with sandtray!

Sandplay Therapy: A Step-by-Step Manual for Psychotherapists of Diverse Orientations

This text by Barbara Lobovitz Boik and E. Anna Goodwin was my first foundational text for using sandtray.  The title is a bit misleading as “Sandplay” however it is an excellent text that bridges the Jungian sandplay theories to be used with multiple theoretical orientations. 

I absolutely love this book because it not only is a cross theoretical model of sandtherapy BUT it is practical and has step by step guides and resources as well as troubleshooting more complex topics, issues, and roadblocks in your sand work! 

Sandtray Therapy

This text by Linda E. Homeyer and Daniel S. Sweeney are what many therapists consider THE foundational text on sandtray therapy.  The newest edition not only has all the foundational sandtray tools and skills you need - including a six-step protocol that walks you through each stage of a session (from setup, processing, cleanup, documentation and more) it has the latest sandtray research and neurobiological foundation of trauma and trauma healing in the sand! 

Advanced Sandtray Therapy

If you are looking to take your sandtray practice to the next level - this is the book for you! Authors Linda E. Homeyer and Marshall N. Lyles take you deep! The text focuses on more intricate and detailed topics with a special focus on some of the more complicated issues that show up in the sand with specific focus on how to utilize sandtray for attachment and trauma!

Hopefully this has inspired you to add some of these amazing texts to your playroom bookshelf and I promise you will pull them out again and again as a co-pilot in your sandtray work!

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