Helping Children: Child Psychology Services
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The Red Room:
Exploring the Depths of the Mind through Sandtray Therapy

At Helping Children, our playrooms are thoughtfully designed to reflect common play modalities at different developmental stages, providing a nurturing environment for children to express themselves and grow. However, the Red Room sets itself apart from the Yellow and Green Rooms as a unique sandtray room, offering a captivating form of expressive therapy.
 
In the Red Room, we introduce children to the transformative world of sandtray therapy, a powerful method of self-expression. This therapeutic approach allows children to create representations of their inner world using miniature figures, sand, and sometimes water. Through the sandtray, children can access both their conscious experiences and unconscious feelings and perceptions. Sandtray therapy can take two main forms:
  • INDIRECT Sandtray Therapy: Here, children are encouraged to build their own world in the sandtray, without specific directives or predefined themes, allowing their inner world, imagination, and emotions to take the lead. By selecting miniature figures and shaping the sand, they can process and gain insight into their conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions, often discovering aspects of themselves they might not be fully aware of.
  • DIRECT Sandtray Therapy: This variant involves the use of a sandtray to create representations of the child's immediate environment or specific life experiences. In this therapeutic approach, the child is guided to build a tray that directly reflects their current home(s), relationships, or any significant events they may be facing. This focused approach helps them explore and process feelings and challenges related to their immediate environment, providing a safe space to work through complex emotions.
The therapeutic benefits of sandtray therapy are extensive, making it a valuable tool in addressing various mental health challenges, including: Anxiety, Depression, Grief, Social Challenges, Trauma, Family Changes (e.g., divorce) and Emotional Regulation.
 
In the Red Room, Dr. Johnson guides children on their sandtray journeys, providing a safe and supportive space for exploration and healing. The sandtray becomes a canvas for children to express their perceptions and emotions through symbolic representations. This method is especially beneficial as it allows children to process conscious and unconscious experiences. If a child wishes, they can choose to share their sandtray creation and verbalize the thoughts and emotions behind it, promoting further understanding and healing. Sandtray therapy enables children to navigate complex emotions, develop resilience, and gain valuable insights into their inner world.
 
Sandtray therapy is typically utilized with children aged 8 years and older, in conjunction with other therapeutic approaches. Each child's treatment plan is customized to address their unique needs and challenges. ​
take me to the yellow room
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Show me all the rooms
Helping Children Live Happy and Healthy Lives.

Welcome to Helping Children, a platform dedicated to providing insight into our child psychology services (available to Alberta residents)
and our professional practices. Additionally, we offer valuable information and resources related to child psychology and development on this site.
It's crucial to understand that this website does not substitute for mental health therapy; rather, it operates as an informational and educational platform, offering information about our child therapy practices and highlighting some resources we use from the field of child psychology.

Please note that Helping Children is not liable for the use or misuse of the information provided on this website. We strongly urge users to exercise responsibility and consult with qualified professionals when utilizing information presented here. We share our resource books as a reference
for families who may want to become familiar with them. Our choices are made based on their alignment with our educational content,
​and we do not receive any financial benefits from their purchase.

To enhance the visual appeal of our content and maintain transparency, we incorporate images from reputable sources like Canva and Unsplash. Additionally, we use images of the Helping Children Clinic to provide an authentic representation of our practice. It is important to be aware that
the images of the Helping Children Clinic displayed on this website are protected by copyright. Any reproduction or usage without explicit permission
is strictly prohibited to safeguard our intellectual property.

In case of emergencies, please contact your medical or mental health professional, or dial 911 immediately.

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Please click here to view our full disclaimer.

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  • Home
  • Child Psychology Services
  • All About Therapy
    • Our Therapeutic Model
    • Child Therapy Approaches
    • Preparing Children for Therapy
  • The Clinic
    • Meet Dr. J
    • Playrooms
    • Fees
    • Location
    • Philosophies & Practices
  • Resources
    • Articles >
      • From Dr. J's Desk: Newest Article
      • Kids Mental Health & Yoga
      • Ask a School Psychologist
    • Teacher Resources
  • Contact
  • Full Disclaimer