Using Sandtray Therapy in School Counselling to Support Students Coping with Developmental Trauma
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Authors
Renner Wallace, Lindsay
Issue Date
2025-03
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
school counselling , sandtray therapy , trauma , developmental trauma , complex trauma
Alternative Title
Abstract
In Canadian schools today, there are many children coping with the effects of developmental trauma. Due to the issues and behaviours these children often exhibit, school counsellors are left to support these children with limited time, resources, and tools. In many cases, school counsellors are the only source of professional mental health support available to these children. It is possible that sandtray therapy may be a developmentally appropriate method that school counsellors can use to deliver therapy to these children in a way that feels less intimidating than talk therapy. It provides the student with a sense of control and safety to explore underlying issues without having to explicitly verbalize them, allowing the student to potentially maintain regulation during the therapy process and upon returning to class. The findings of this capstone will encourage school counsellors to incorporate sandtray therapy into the scope of their practice to support students who are coping with developmental trauma. By providing school counsellors with a professional development workshop detailing the effects of developmental trauma on students, the sandtray therapy process and its benefits, and ideas on how to incorporate sandtray therapy into the school counselling practice, school counsellors will have the information they need to pursue the next steps in using sandtray therapy in the school counselling setting.
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess