Advanced Clinical Sand Therapy Certificate Program

provided by Sand Therapy expert and practitioner

Dee Preston-Dillon, Ph.D.

through City of College Park, MD Advanced Clinical Training Institute

REGISTRATION: Contact Peggy Higgins, Director, College Park Youth and Family Services  phiggins@collegeparkmd.gov

ADVANCED CLINICAL SAND THERAPY CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN for 8 – 10 PARTICIPANTS
NEW SESSION BEGINNING FEBRUARY 7, 2018

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

CLINICAL SAND THERAPY

Competency in sand therapy offers clients a safe, non-verbal method to share their experiences. This non-verbal expression is especially important for clients who are impacted by grief and trauma. Clients deserve a safe space and an empowering witness to listen to their stories, especially those experiences which are too painful or too conflicted to explain directly in words. Sand therapy is a strengths-based approach wherein the client uses figurines and metaphors to tell their story.  This certificate program is anchored in individualized guidance, direct experience and clinician-consultant interactions to support therapists and expressive arts clinicians in the ethical use of sand and symbols.

To maintain integrity of the training an emphasis is on a safe enriching experience for the clinician immersed in the use of metaphors and sand scenes with individualized guidance and feedback and support the participant clinician’s competency using sand therapy.  The program also honors the play therapist’s experience, adding reflective moments for therapist self-care, while validating the unique qualities play therapists and expressive arts clinicians bring to this deep work.

PRESENTER:

Dr. Preston-Dillon is the Founder and Director of the Center of Culture and Sandplay. Her life’s work has been a full commitment to clinical work with sand therapy as a projective process – beginning in the early 1980s with research on cross-cultural aspects of Sandplay. Her training under Jungian-based Sandplay Founder Dora Kalff grounds her sand therapy perspective.

A scholar and seasoned practitioner, Dr. Preston-Dillon has presented at over 40 national and international conferences on topics related to sandplay/sandtray including theory, ethical practice, and clinical best practices. Serving local agencies her work supports clinician immersion to deepen the clinician insights and extend their capacity to resonate with client representations. On the graduate counseling faculty at the George Washington and Johns Hopkins Universities, and the Art Therapy program at GWU, a new approach to work with sand emerged from her cross-cultural field work - Narrative Sand Therapy. She provides training, retreats, and private consults to clinicians, educators, and those in the creative arts.

OVERVIEW OF ADVANCED CLINICAL SAND THERAPY PROGRAM

Competency with sand therapy, Sandtray and Sandplay, is based in clinician insights into the process and meaning of symbols and the skills to respond to client sand scenes. This certificate program develops competency for using sand in three core areas: 1) understanding theories for an integrated, holistic practice, 2) development of ethics, mindfulness, and integrity in the use of sand, and 3) advancement of skills training through a small group for individualized feedback during case consultations. Competency with symbols in sand requires an experiential approach with time for participant immersion in their own process, and guidance to deepen personal experience and expertise.  This certificate program increases the therapist’s capacity to attend to developmental and mind-body connections in sand scenes, and effectively uses metaphors and narrative techniques to enhance responses to clients.

To support this experience, workshop attendees are limited to maximum 10 participants and small group case consultation participants limited to 5. 

ADVANCED CLINICAL SAND THERAPY

Advanced Clinical Sand Therapy Certificate: The Foundation of Sand: Theory, Ethics, and Skill Development

Workshops and Case Consultations:  34 contact hours

Workshops (four 6-hour workshops – 24 CEUs)

Advanced Small Group Case Consultations (five 2-hour consultations)

Cost for Training

Comprehensive cost for each level is $1,550.  Registration for Winter/Spring 2018 session beginning February 7, 2018 now open.

2018 Location/Meeting Days and Time

Advanced Sand Clinical Therapy Certificate

Four Workshops/eight – ten Participants February 7, March 7, April 4, May 2. 

9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  1^st workshop is at College Park Youth and Family Services College Park, MD 20740; subsequent workshops are at Dr. Preston Dillon’s Brandywine, MD office.

Five Small Group Case Consultations /four - five participants  are third Wednesday of the month beginning March 21^st and are held at College Park Youth and Family Services.

Requirement for Acceptance into Advanced Clincial Sand Therapy Certificate Program

Non-master’s professionals are welcome to participate in the trainings but a Master’s or Doctorate in mental health profession is a required credential for the Advanced Clinical Sand Therapy certificate.

For more information and/or registration for certificate program contact phiggins@collegeparkmd.gov

CONTACT for REGISTRATION: phiggins@collegeparkmd.gov



Dr. Preston-Dillon is Founder and Director of the Center of Culture and Sandplay. Her life’s work with sand therapy as a projective process began in the early 1980s with research on cross-cultural aspects of Sandplay and her training under Jungian-based Sandplay Founder Dora Kalff.  Her full commitment to clinical sand therapy as a projective process grounds her sand therapy perspective.
A scholar and seasoned practitioner, Dr. Preston-Dillon has presented at over 40 national and international conferences on topics related to sandplay/sandtray including theory, ethical practice, and clinical best practices. Serving local agencies, her work supports clinician immersion to deepen the clinician insights and extend their capacity to resonate with client representations. Her new approach to work with sand, Narrative Sand Therapy, emerged from her cross-cultural field work.

 Dr. Preston-Dillon provides training, retreats, and private consults to clinicians, educators, and those in the creative arts. She is on the graduate counseling faculty at the George Washington and Johns Hopkins Universities, the Art Therapy program at George Washington University, and the Ferentz Institute.