FALL CONTINUING EDUCATION 2025

Integrating Sand in Play Therapy: History, Theory & Methods August 30, 2025

💗 Reconnect with the Heart of Therapy

You entered this field to make a difference, to sit beside your clients in their pain and walk with them toward healing. But sometimes words aren’t enough.

📢 Here’s the Good News:

Sand in play therapy opens the door when language fails. It taps into symbolic expression, creativity, and safety, allowing clients of all ages to show you their inner world without pressure or expectation.

If you’ve ever wished for a practical, evidence-based way to help clients express themselves and heal, even when verbal therapy stalls, this workshop is for you.

Sand in play therapy offers a profound, tactile path for expression and transformation. Whether you are new to play therapy or a seasoned clinician, this workshop will renew your skills, spark your creativity, and give you tools you can use immediately with children, teens, and adults.

🌊 What You’ll Gain in This 6-Hour Workshop

This experiential, APT-approved training will:

✅ Teach you the history of play therapy and the origins of sand-based interventions.
✅ Clarify the difference between Jungian Sandplay Therapy and Humanistic Sand Tray Therapy.
✅ Give you hands-on skills and prompts you can use in your next session.
✅ Provide inclusive methods for working with differently abled and neurodiverse clients.
✅ Rekindle your sense of creativity and joy in the therapy process.

🌎 Who This Workshop is For:

Therapists feeling stuck or burned out who want to reinvigorate their sessions with fresh tools.
Clinicians working with children, teens, adults, or differently abled clients.
Therapists new to play therapy or expressive modalities who want to start simply and confidently.
Seasoned practitioners seeking APT-approved continuing education credits.

🐚 Step Into the Sandbox & Renew Your Practice

This isn’t just CE credit—it’s a chance to rediscover the power of play and creativity in therapy, while gaining practical tools that truly make a difference.

This workshop is designed to help you feel confident, clear, and inspired as you integrate sand into your clinical work. You’ll learn practical skills from both Jungian Sandplay and Humanistic Sand Tray Therapy that you can use right away- no prior play therapy training required.

Workshop Details

6 Continuing Education hours towards licensure and RPT

In Person Experiential Workshop

$119 for students, teachers, and non-profit employees (Use Coupon Code: EDUCE6)
$159 General Registration
APT Approved Provider: 19-596
6 continuing education CONTACT hours for A4PT

Learning Objectives

Join us on Saturday, August 30, 2025 (9 AM–4 PM) for an experiential full‑day workshop tailored for therapists at all levels with six play therapy continuing education credits included. You’ll enjoy light breakfast, coffee, and a provided lunch as we explore the evolution and practice of sand‑based play therapy. We’ll begin with one hour on the history of play therapy and the origins of sand‑based interventions. Next, we’ll dive deeply (five hours) into the practical application: comparing and practicing techniques from Jungian Sandplay Therapy and Humanistic sand‑tray therapy, inclusive of methods for working effectively with differently‑abled clients. You’ll leave with immediately usable skills, prompts, and approaches suitable for clients across the lifespan from children to adults.

History & Foundations: Describe the historical development of play therapy and sand‑based modalities, including Margaret Lowenfeld’s pioneering World Technique from 1929.
Jungian Sandplay Overview: Explain the theoretical and symbolic framework of Jungian Sandplay Therapy, grounded in Carl Jung’s analytic psychology and its archetypal, non‑directive roots.
Humanistic Sand‑Tray Methods: Identify and practice techniques drawn from the Humanistic (or directive) sand‑tray therapy model, emphasizing therapist‑guided interventions grounded in present‑moment client needs.
Comparative Application: Compare and select sandplay versus sand‑tray methods appropriately, considering client factors such as developmental level, verbal ability, and presenting concerns.
Inclusive Practices: Demonstrate adaptations and inclusive approaches for clients who are differently‑abled or non‑verbal, ensuring accessibility and engagement in sand tray work.
Skills Integration & Prompts: Employ a selection of both Jungian and Humanistic sand techniques and client prompts in a mock or real case scenario, facilitating client insight and therapeutic progress.

Qualifications to register for this program

Registrants of this program must be qualified mental health professionals or students of a graduate mental health program.

Program Presenter

Antoinette has been incorporating sand therapy into her clinical work with clients of all ages for over 13 years. She has completed more than 120 hours of specialized training in Jungian Sandplay Therapy and has invested dozens of hours in professional development focused on Humanistic Sand Tray Therapy. Her extensive experience and advanced training allow her to skillfully blend theory with practical application, making sand therapy accessible and effective for therapists at all levels. Antoinette’s teaching style is both engaging and experiential, equipping participants with tools they can confidently use in their own practice.

Antoinette Martinez, M.Ed. is a bilingual (Spanish) Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (Texas License #71350) who has experience working with children, teens, and adults. She is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor through the Association for Play Therapy, a Certified EMDR therapist and consultant through EMDRIA, and a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Therapist through Postpartum Support International. Antoinette Martinez has been integrating EMDR with Play Therapy since 2013.

Cancellation & Refund Policy

No refunds after the start of the program.
Cancellation received at least 14 days prior to a scheduled training will be refunded minus a $25.00 administrative fee.
Cancellation received less than 14 days prior to a scheduled training will receive no refund but may be used for credit towards a future training of equal or lesser value.
No refund provided for no-shows or missed training.
You may transfer your registration to another attendee for no fee, so long as that person meets the qualifications to attend this program.
Attendance of full program is required.
All programs are subject to sufficient registration.
Should Nourish Play Therapy LLC need to cancel this program, we will make every attempt to notify paid registrants in a timely manner. All paid registrants will receive a full refund if a program is canceled.
Nourish Play Therapy LLC is only responsible for the registration costs of training. Any additional costs are the responsibility of the registrant.
No exceptions will be made to these policies.
Please submit your request via email to info@nourishplaytherapy.comto cancel or transfer your registration to another attendee. Please write "Program Cancel ( or Transfer)" in the subject line of the email.

Important Details

ADA Accommodations: The program site is ADA compliant. Please contact Antoinette Martinez at info@nourishplaytherapy.com if special accommodations are required. Please write "Program Accommodation" in the subject line of the email.

Customer Service: We are happy to respond to any concerns or questions you may have. Please contact Antoinette Martinez at info@nourishplaytherapy.com. Please write "Program Service" in the subject line of the email.

Grievance Policy: Nourish Play Therapy LLC is fully committed to complying with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content, and in the treatment of attendees. While we go to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all and attempt to anticipate problems, we recognize that complaints will arise. When problems do present themselves, we will attempt to alleviate complaints as quickly as possible. Complaints relative to a speaker, contents of instructional materials being presented, an individual educational style being utilized, or facilities where training is held should be addressed with Antoinette Martinez, who will attempt to resolve the matter as expeditiously as possible. Please contact Antoinette Martinez at info@nourishplaytherapy.com. Please write "Program Grievance" in the subject line of the email.

Disclosures: Antoinette Martinez is the owner and operator of Nourish Play Therapy LLC. Neither she nor Nourish Play Therapy LLC are receiving commercial support or sponsorships from outside sources for this program. There are no known conflicts of interest with this programming.

Audio/Video Disclosure: This training program is not being audio or video recorded.

Provider Responsibility: Nourish Play Therapy maintains responsibility for this program and its contents in accordance with APT and EMDRIA requirements.