How we work · Ages 5–19
Sand Tray Therapy in Spokane Valley, WA
Sand tray therapy is a hands-on counseling approach in which a child or teen arranges miniature figures in a tray of sand to represent their world — family, fears, conflicts — making internal experience visible and workable. Child, Marriage & Family Counseling offers sand tray therapy in Spokane Valley, WA.
A world in a tray
Hand a child a tray of sand and a shelf of miniatures, and they’ll build you their world: who’s close, who’s far, what’s buried, what’s behind the fence, where the monster stands. Sand tray therapy takes that seriously as clinical information — and as a way for kids to work on that world safely, one scene at a time.
What sand tray therapy helps with
- Trauma and experiences a child can’t yet talk about
- Family change — divorce, moves, new siblings, blending
- Grief and loss
- Anxiety and fears
- Attachment and adoption-related work
Part of a bigger toolkit
Sand tray sits alongside play therapy and art therapy in our creative-therapies toolkit — your child’s counselor uses whichever language your child takes to.
Getting started
Meet our counselors or contact us to ask whether sand tray work fits your child.
Common questions
- What actually happens in a sand tray session?
- The child chooses from shelves of miniatures — people, animals, houses, fences, monsters — and arranges them in the sand however they like. The therapist observes, sometimes asks gentle questions about the world that's been built, and tracks how the scenes change across sessions.
- Is sand tray therapy evidence-based?
- Sand tray work is a widely used, well-established projective technique within play therapy, with a substantial clinical literature. At our practice it's delivered by counselors trained in play-based methods, as part of a complete treatment approach.
- Is sand tray only for young children?
- No — teens and even adults use sand tray work. Building a scene bypasses the pressure of talking and often surfaces things the person didn't know they were carrying.