“We don’t stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing.”

I am Roxanne Rae (LCSW, BCD), and I welcome you to my website. Here I share my extensive experience and knowledge about Expressive Arts and Play Therapy with adults and children.

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What is Sandtray Therapy?

Imagine “Sandtray,” the predominantly non-verbal method that uses sand, water, and miniature items to unleash the power of creative play. Sandtray encourages the exploration of preverbal, nonverbal, and implicit or right-brain thinking processes. Initially developed as a treatment for children, Sandtray has also proven highly effective with adults, particularly those with trauma. Forming one’s own three-dimensional sand “world” may evoke both joy and self-understanding. Knowing ourselves is necessary for psychological survival, functions as a basic protection from life’s difficulties, and is a foundation for resolving them. In Sandtray sessions individuals can uncover and access the image or implicit thinking portion of their minds that lie out of the reach of everyday consciousness. People can also discover deeply held beliefs and resources.

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What is Play Therapy?

The term “play therapy” is a general term which may include the use of drawing and other art forms, sand trays, puppets, movement and dance, music and drama, and toys and games. These vehicles can be combined with other psychotherapy techniques and focused on helping children release anxieties, reduce distress, learn effective communication, enhance coping abilities, and facilitate many other skills which lead to improved self-understanding and social functioning.

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This site offers:

  • A Casefile Blog and clinical information for professionals
  • Information for clients considering Sandtray as part of their treatment
  • An aid to parents/caregivers seeking Play Therapy for children
  • Articles I have published for parents and professionals
I'm so glad that I took the chance. I was delighted to discover the depth of its healing. The Sandtray opened a whole new door of possibilities. I was able to tap into a new level of innate guidance that I can't access by other means.
~ Kelly, age 37
I have discovered that Sandtray work enables me to go beneath my words to what is real inside me. I’m smart and can easily use words to hide in—both from others and from myself.
~ Dionne, age 64
I was able to literally see the person that I would rather be, physically and emotionally, and experience contrast between what I had formed my life to be and what I wanted it to be.
~ Chris, age 50
Some of the sand trays were sad. Yet, to see scary past secrets and make connections was such a relief. I feel free to move on now.
~ Taylor, Age 21
Sometimes I need to move sand and see things “out there” in the Sandtray before I can really understand what’s going on with me.
~ Owen, Age 17

Blog Posts

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Sandtray: Playing to Heal, Recover, and Grow

SandTray Therapy by Roxanne Rae

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2024 © | Roxanne Rae, LCSW, BCD | All Rights Reserved

What is Sandtray Therapy?

Margaret Lowenfeld’s Sandtray methods are designed to access the innate healing powers within an individual’s life. Using what is created in the sand world we can reach into the depths of our lives and bring forth the images that we routinely rely on for perception and decision making. Sometimes our experiences are beyond words, and at other times our words do not accurately reflect our experiences. Sandtray can reveal how the non-cognitive aspect of our minds influence daily life. New perspectives gained through these sessions begin to clarify what actions one may take to heal, recover, and grow.

Sandtray can be a profoundly revitalizing and deeply intimate experience with one’s self. The therapist does not interpret or analyze the sand world but may function as a Witness or guide to enrich one’s focus, to explore and to harvest the wisdom from lesser-known parts of one’s life. Individuals make their own discoveries. Control lies with the Creator of the world. With a therapist’s aid, a world Creator can unfold fresh personal meanings. As people more clearly identify and harness the implicit aspects of their own lives, they become increasingly self-empowered to make healthier choices.

What is Play Therapy?

Play is an essential function in humans that is particularly active in childhood. Play helps prepare the young for adulthood in multiple ways. In our play as children, we begin to learn to interact with our environment, clarify social relationships, control aggression, resolve conflicts, and deal with the many tasks of growing up. Through “play therapy” children can express feelings and explore options for new behaviors. With the assistance of a trained play therapist, children can also create fresh thinking patterns. With this new learning children can expand their capabilities to respond more effectively to their environments. Play therapies are particularly useful in the diagnosis and treatment of children as they do not express their troubles in the same way adults do and cannot be approached as adults in miniature.

Through consistent contact with a play therapist, children can develop a relationship which is important for the effectiveness of treatment. Play therapy sessions encourage children to cope with their problems in a safe and socially accepted way, while maintaining their own sense of agency.