Deborah Armstrong – Focusing and Sandtray Practices in the Expressive Arts Therapy Tradition

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We had an enriching time during Deborah Armstrong’s presentation, Focusing and Sandtray Practices in the Expressive Arts Therapy Tradition! We began with a grounding Focusing invitation, sensing inward to find items to place in our sandtray representing:

 1.  A resource

 2.  How we wanted to feel by the end of the presentation

 3.  A “cookie crumb” for how to get there

After, Deborah shared a wealth of interesting didactic material to nourish our “left brain”, along with interesting conversations with the group. Deborah guided us in a longer Focusing experience based on Gendlin’s classic 6 steps… which then seamlessly unfolded into expressing the experience in the sandtray. We were offered prompts from both Focusing and expressive arts, which deepened the whole experience. Our connection and understanding was enriched in the group sharing time where we were able to see some of the sandtrays and listen to several individual’s experiences, along with Q + A throughout.

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About Deborah Armstrong:

Deborah Armstrong, Ph.D., LMFT-S, RPT-S, REAT, REACE, CFP, has been practicing as a family therapist specializing in expressive arts and play therapies for over 40 years, and is a Certified Focusing Professional (TIFI). She coordinates the MA in Expressive Arts Therapy at Bennington College, as well as directing and practicing out of The Mindgarden Centre. Deborah began to work with sandtray in therapy while in her practicum/internship training during graduate school. She was introduced to and trained in Focusing by Dottie Higgins Klein, clinical director of the Family and Play Therapy Center in Philadelphia, who was trained by Eugene Gendlin and John Wellford. She is on the Working Board of Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies (GAINS), and gets great pleasure out of sharing these practices with anyone who has an interest in discovering therapy practices that grow and repair us from the inside out with gusto.