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Sandplay Therapists of America

The Link Interview with Lisa Sondin, MFT

The Link Interview with Lisa Sondin, MFT

What is the story of how you were first introduced to sandplay?

In 1980 I opened a Nursery school called Step One with a friend and colleague from graduate school. My friend lived in a cottage in Berkeley that shared a yard with several other cottages. One day we were having a staff get together outside in the yard. My eye was caught by shelves and shelves of miniatures I could see through the window of one of the other homes. I wandered over t for a better look and before I knew it this gregarious women with voluminous blond hair was inviting me in and showing me the case of “Lizzy “. This was Kate Amatruda, sometime in the mid 80s and I was hooked! From there I began my own Sandplay process and began to take classes.

Currently, what symbol holds most interest for you and what about that symbol draws you? Do you have it in your collection? Did you make it/were you presented with it/how did you find it?

This changes all the time for me. Sometimes I get caught up in something a client is using that captures my attention. Most often, it is something that for any number of reasons that has become particularly powerful to me at a given point of time. Recently I’ve been very into Owls. I have a mini collection of them on my bathroom window sill and they greet me every day.

Is there a favorite Sandplay story from a client session, conference or workshop that illustrates how you work in sand or what especially draws you to Sandplay?

I love the flexibility of the sand that it can be dry and flowing, muddy and watery, you can build with it, tunnel under it, even remove it entirely from the tray. This gives clients so much flexibility in expression. I have had sessions where a child used the sand in each of its states, one building upon the other as the child went through feelings of depression, hopelessness, drowning in the muck to a sense of renewal and rebuilding as a creation was formed from the formless. I love that our emotional states can be expressed in such a direct way!

Is there a teacher, presenter or therapist who has influenced your perspective or work in Sandplay who you’d like to mention? In what way did this person influence your journey?

There are so many! Kate Amatruda and Lauren Cunningham were my first teachers and together they inspired me to go back to school, get another masters degree and make Sandplay a focus of my therapeutic work. I also learned so much from Kasper Kiepenheuer. I love the way he incorporated the outdoors and art into the work, and I have tried to learn from this. My work has a strong development/Jungian bent so I have learned a lot from Fordam, Sidoli and Winnicot. I also love John Allen’s work. I have used his idea of a water tray, especially with really young children.

I do have a funny Dora Kalff story. First of all I always found it significant that people write that she created Sandplay in 1956 which is the year of my birth. Second in 1989 I spent that year in Italy. Kate Amatruda encouraged me to call Dora up and ask to be included in her weekly seminars. I was so intimidated to call this woman who I so admired! I made the call and a woman’s voice answered the phone. It was Dora herself, and she sounded just like my grandmother! She had a good laugh at the idea that I could come by train a few times a month to study with her.” Take care of your children”, she said (they were 2 and 6) “and come and study here as a resident later.” I never did get to meet her in person but I’m glad I did work up the courage to call!

I also had the privilege of working at the San Francisco Jung Institute with its wonderful library and its great ARAS collection. I read every Sandplay case study in the place and listened to many fascinating lectures.

Tell us about your current therapeutic work interests.

For the past 10 years I have worked mostly with children. My first master’s degree is in child development so this has been a natural fit for me. I work with children as young as 2 up through the college years. I love being an advocate for a child and watching the Self emerge. I also love being able to connect with and support parents. These days I am trying to balance work with children with couples and individual adults. I am hoping to have completed my remaining papers for STA by May.

Recently I completed the training to use EMDR in my work and I am really interested in creating ways to combine this with Sandplay. Surprisingly there is a strong overlap between the philosophies of these two modalities, especially the strong belief that healing comes from the inside out and that following the client is key. They can also both be used very creatively which really appeals to me. So far I have had some successes uses this combo for fears and phobias. I am working up a protocol to use for test and school anxiety which I think could be very helpful.

I also continue to be fascinated by the power of the archetypes and symbolic work; it pulls me in every time.

Do you belong to a regional or consultation group? What’s that been like?

During my entire career I have belonged to a consult group specifically for Sandplay. These have been fantastic and indispensable. I have learned so much from others in these groups. Also doing this has given me a more in-depth look at how different sandplay therapists approach their work. I have worked with Lauren Cunningham, Kate Amatruda, Alexander Shaia and Tessamarie Capitolo. Each brought a new dimension to my work.

What STA/ISST conference(s)/workshops have you liked the best and why?

I especially loved the conferences in Skamania and Santa Fe. The special atmosphere of each place really enhanced the experience for me.

Lisa, would you tell us how you came to be interested in marketing and now designing figures for sandplay collections: how did you get started, what’s been the best part of doing this with people, a story about finding miniatures?

I know people would be interested in this. I started Sandplay Toys for a few reasons. Number one, like lots of Sandplay therapists, I become obsessed with collecting miniatures. It was fun to be on the hunt for special objects, interesting to research where they came from, who made them and what they meant. Like most people I became frustrated when I couldn’t find things that I felt would be important to have, or if I found things that just broke or fell apart because of poor quality. I definitely have an entrepreneurial spirit (I started a school in my first work life) so I became increasingly convinced I could put together a company to supply the kinds of things people like me wanted in their sandplay collection. I also was in the position of needing to work from home for at least part of the work week because one of my children has special needs. While I love doing therapy, taking care of my child’s needs plus many clients became too much, so I changed to a small private practice and a business based from home.

It took me about 5 years to find just the right people to make the objects I design, this is not as easy as you might think! To have things produced you must have a very clear design plan and a good relationship with the people who actually produce these objects. I am slowly adding to my collection of original designs, I wish I could go faster but for each design I need to order at least 500 pieces! Most years I go to Toy Fair in New York where I search out new and innovative things other people are making so that I can bring them to the sandplay market. I also go to both the San Francisco and LA gift shows for the same reason. I love the detective aspects of hunting down a supplier. For example I have a set of miniature swords from Toledo Spain that are used so much. I’ve been trying to track down a source to bring something like this to Sandplay Toys. When I wanted to sell the Black Madonna from Eisenden, I followed her trail back to the nuns in Eisenden, and they allowed me to import them into the US. I especially like the international contacts and I’d really love to go to the toy and handicraft fair in Nurenberg which is supposed to have some amazing handmade things.

Keeping alive older traditions of handcrafted objects is another thing which really interests me. As an artist myself I am particularly interested in those special things which are handcrafted in the same way for years and have been passed down from generation to generation. I think these objects bring a special energy and meaning to our playrooms. Recently I had some traditional Darumas from Japan along with some Good luck cats. I’ve had flat painted pewter work from Germany, wooden houses from Japan, day of the dead figures from Mexico, the madonnas from both Eisenden and Mexico, clay figures from Italy, wooden houses from Africa and Hopi Kachinas. I am also beginning to carry some contemporary handmade pieces and you will see these at the next STA conference.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

As part of my work for Sandplay Toys I have gone to quite a few conferences other than STA. Many people I meet are hungry for training and information about Sandplay. Many of the people at a typical playtherapy conference that use a sandtray, have little more than an afternoon or two of training. Most have never heard of Dora Kalff or her work. I have great respect for all kinds of work in the sand, there are so many people doing interesting things! I do hope that those of us trained specifically in Sandplay can spread the word a bit more.

I am always interested in new ideas for miniatures so if you have been looking for something particular please contact me!

You can reach me through my website: www.sandplay-toys.com or e-mail at lisa@sandplay-toys.com.
 

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