Agnes J. Bayley, PhD

LaVon Bobo, MS, LMFT

LaVon Bobo, 1940-2023

It was a wonderful celebration of love and honor that was evoked on October 19th, 2023, as family, fellow STA colleagues, past students and friends gathered to celebrated LaVon passing. LaVon lived a life of dedication and love and lived it to the fullest. The celebration started with the lighting of a candle that linked other Sandplay therapists throughout the United States who were lighting candles in their hometowns since they were unable to attend.

LaVon began her work as a play therapist in the Santa Clara School District and went on to become a School Psychologist and trained many new therapists and worked with hundreds of children over the years. LaVon first met Dora Kalff in 1981 and 1983 when she came to teach here in the United States. Then in 1984 she traveled to Switzerland and studied in an intensive group and she returned numerous times for the next seven years until Dora’s passing. These encounters were life changing for LaVon. She made lasting friendships with this initial group and Luana Rowland was one of her closest and dearest friends. Together they worked on the Board of Trustees for STA, hosted a National Conferences, led small groups, held seminars, initiated the use of Asilomar Retreat Center for sandplay intensives, was a part of the Sandplay Institute that did training around the country, trained and did supervision for numerous students even into her retirement. LaVon also was chair of the Ethics Committee in the early days of Sandplay and was active in sandplay events and trainings throughout Northern California. LaVon was certified as the twelfth CST and earned her final certification from ISST with her presentation in Kyoto, Japan.

If there was one word that would describe LaVon it would be devotion. She had intense devotion to her family, to children, sandplay, yoga and her spiritual practice. She believed that without a spiritual practice you are unable to go on a spiritual journey and do sandplay. She was one of the lucky ones to be able to do her personal process with Frau Kalff and from this she followed her teachings and practices to the letter which included a free and protected space which is essential for healing. Together she created a sacred temenos and she insisted that everyone she taught have their own spiritual practice and to this day so many of her students still thank her for supporting this in them and for having them complete a personal transformative pyscho therapeutic process.

Finally, LaVon found a true connection with Erich Neumann, and she related his work to her work with children and their healing. This was especially relevant to children who had undergone trauma. She often required her students to study Neumann before she would begin a process with them. Being around LaVon was always a gift. You could feel her peace and her love since she was able to meditate and find her center. LaVon was able to contain the material when you were in supervision with her and in return, she was able to reflect back to you what she was experiencing. A true gift to each of us.

One of the photos below is the mandala that all the participants at her celebration shared together. During the ceremony we each had an opportunity to add parts or the whole yellow daisy to the mandala that we were given as we entered the room. The other photo is of some of the CST’s who were there at the celebration. The witch that David Capitolo is holding in the front is the “sandwitch”. She was one of shadow pieces that Tessamarie Capitolo and LaVon shared together and that was created on trip almost 40 years to the Camino Islands outside of Seattle, Washington. She has brought great joy to many over the years and was part of the celebration.

We all love you LaVon and will miss your guidance and love of Sandplay. STA was blessed to have LaVon help guide us through those early days of formation and teach so many. Blessings and Peace to you LaVon.

Antoinette Eimers
STA President

Katherine Bradway, PhD – Founding Member

 

Diana Chee

 

 

 

 

Florence Grossenbacher, MA

       Sue Haskell

Gretchen Hegeman

Eileen Gretchen Hegeman, 2/28/39 – 8/9/2017

I first met Gretchen in 1985 in Carmel at a UCSC workshop with Dora Kalff shortly before she married Dennis Franks in 1986. Her no-nonsense, steely grey hair, a soft yellow sun dress, a striking turquoise ring and her signature Birkenstocks struck me, and I was impressed by the clear and compassionate way that she helped create and contain the temenos of Dora’s workshop. I knew right away that she was someone I’d like to get to know.

Gretchen and Den adored their dogs and adopted strays. I remember one big black dog Lady that Dennis found huddled under a bridge on a cold, rainy night. Dennis passed away in May 5, 2015. Once she called her animal psychic for a reading when my cat was worrying me. She painted large abstract canvasses that she hung around their house, which also showed off a lace collection and many other objets de art. Her home was like wandering through a sandplay process. She wrote one of the first articles for the Journal of Sandplay Therapy about the miniature collection and was well know for her miniature making workshops.

She was deeply connected to Native American lore and wrote about White Buffalo Calf Woman, the Pipe Ceremony and the American Soul. She always travelled with a small stone carving of White Calf Buffalo along with her “traveling bear.” For her 50th birthday she held a women’s sweat lodge in Turtle Mother, in snowy Seattle. For her 60th birthday she went down the Colorado River with a group of friends. Although constantly challenged by pain from a congenital hip displacement, she was a knowledgeable and adventuresome world traveller, having a strong connection to the symbolic and natural worlds.

Originally an “old time” (as in social activist) social worker, she graduated from University of Chicago. In the 80’s she worked with and was deeply influenced by Dora Kalff and became very devoted to STA. She served on the Board of Directors, was Images Editor for the Journal of Sandplay Therapy, and presented at many sandplay conferences and trainings. In her sixties she became a Jungian analyst at the North Pacific Institute for Analytical Psychology.

Gretchen was 78 years old when she passed away. She was a dear friend and I miss her. She lived fully and I hope her soul travels well.

Lauren Cunningham 8/26/17

Valarie Juerling

Valarie was a beloved member of our New Mexico sandplay family, serving on the board of the New Mexico Sandplay Society, sharing her humor, wisdom, insight and clear vision. She participated in and presented at sand dialogues, most notably a sand dialogue on the honeybee, during which she shared the transformative attributes of the honeybee which invite order and self-regulation into states of chaos and overwhelm. These are attributes which she herself exhibited, both professionally and personally. Her compassion and concern for others led to their healing their wounds, nourishing their spirits, and re-vitalizing their lives.

Valarie trained in Kalffian sandplay which she used for over two decades in different states, most recently in New Mexico, where she was in private practice in Los Alamos. Approximately half of her clients were active in sandplay. Along with her deep knowledge and understanding of sandplay, Valarie’s infectious smile and sunny disposition enhanced the lives of those whom she touched.

 Chonita Larsen, PhD – Founding Member   

Mary Jane Markell – Founding Member

June Matthews

from Judy Zappacosta:
When June moved to Santa Cruz in retirement, she was full of enthusiasm for her new life, new condo, new friends, and a new beginning. Patty Flowers and I had lunch together with June, and Patty suggested that June think of doing something she’d like to teach through UCSC Extension. She looked at me and said immediately, “We need to do something on the Child.” And it was just that easy.

June and I soon started a tradition of walking together in the mornings by the ocean, talking about what we cared about, politically, socially, our families and our shared love of sandplay and children. She walked with vigor, always thinking of what was healthly for her, at her age. She was not going to give up anything easily, and had an inspiring attitude regarding aging. She was realistic, and spontaneous at the same moment. I loved her spirit, and loved her continued care about things she felt were so important! I will forever enjoy memories of sharing tea with her at home, and the serene environment that held her for some years. I will miss you, Junia!

from Suzy Spradlin (President of SF Jung Institute):
I knew June and appreciated her very much. June was part of our early effort to have a child component. She, Kay Bradway, Florence Grossenbacher, and Randa Dimond, and I met several times over the years I was a candidate (early-mid 80’s). We strategized how we could bring in applcants who were child tharepists.

from Lauren Cunningham:
June Matthews was passionate about children and families. She often talked about her own children and grandchildren and devoted herself to treating children and training child therapists in depth work. She was an early student of Dora Kalff and believed in the deep healing that occurred in the psyche through images and the imagination. She referred to Fordham’s and Neumann’s theories in her teaching but also used a down to earth, practical approach in her work. She was immensely supportive as a consultant and yet didn’t mince words. June had an independent spirit and provided a model for just being who you are as a person as well as a therapist. I will miss her wisdom and warmth.

from Harriet Friedman:
I knew June from the early days, when I often went to San Francisco to see Kay and then stayed overnight with June. We always had a great time together and I learned a lot from her and her special take and understanding of the material. I remember her kindness, hospitality, and working with her on a joint presentation that we gave together and all the fun we had putting it together. Later on I remember her frustration in getting her ideas across in the Institute and how hard that was for her. And then, suddenly our relationship seemed to have gotten lost when she moved away from the Bay area. And I missed our talks and sharing her original and creative ideas. She was a great friend and now so sad to hear this most special woman is gone.

from Jill Kaplan:
I met June in 1977 when I was a first grade teacher and she was the sandplay therapist for one of the most profoundly disturbed children I’ve ever encountered. Her love and respect for this young boy was unconditional, and she helped me to see him in a new light. Later, when I came to Sandplay, she agreed to be my consultant. She taught me so much: to trust myself in my work with children, to honor the unconscious and to respect how it can be affected by how we hold and share the work, and especially that “there are no mistakes in the sand.” This has been a guiding light to me, representing true freedom. She was completely original and thoroughly generous. I am grateful for the wisdom she shared with me.

                       Flavia Craft Millikan, LMFT, CST-T

Flavia Millikan, LMFT, CST-T passed on May 15, 2025 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Flavia was very active member of STA, a respected teaching member who spent much time with Kay Bradway and Dora Kalff. Flavia was an extraordinarily patient, kind, and knowledgeable teacher. Joyce Cunningham reminisced that “those of us who knew her remember her warm smile, beautiful eyes, relatedness and spark.” Flavia’s integrity and capacity for holding were unsurpassed. Her group consultation, originally in Berkeley, went on for another ten years in her home office in beautiful Glen Ellen, California. She wrote two very special articles for the Journal of Sandplay Therapy, on Hestia and Self Psychology in Sandplay. These articles are also now available (without clinical material) online.

Hestia: Goddess of Hearth and Fire, Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 1, (2), 1992)

Relationship and Process in Sandplay: A Self-Psychology Perspective. Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 2 (1), 1992.

Her sandplay figures and her books on Jungian psychotherapy and sandplay were donated for the STA 2024 National Conference Silent Auction through the thoughtfulness and generosity of her daughter.

Linda Cunningham’s personal memories of Flavia: Flavia was an extraordinarily patient, kind, and knowledgeable teacher. Her capacity for holding was unsurpassed. Her group consultation went on for ten years in her home office in beautiful Glen Ellen, California. I have many fond memories of Flavia. I was in her sandplay consultation group for almost ten years. I loved driving the back roads of Sonoma County to Flavia’s home office in Glen Ellen, in the heart of California wine country. She had a beautiful garden, and sometimes after our group we’d walk through her garden and she’d point out different plants and name them. Sometimes we would all go out to lunch after consultation, to one of the restaurants in town that had decks overlooking the Sonoma River. Sitting in the sun, eating good food, laughing together, we all became friends. When Flavia decided to retire, our group ended. I contacted her once or twice a year and we’d make a lunch date. I’d drive up to Glen Ellen, pick her up, and we’d go to our favorite restaurant, Yeti, a Himalayan restaurant overlooking the river. Then, in 2017, the night before Flavia and I had a lunch date, the Santa Rosa fire blazed through not only parts of Santa Rosa, but also Glen Ellen. Flavia’s was one of the only houses left standing in her neighborhood but it had suffered much smoke damage. I called Flavia that day and left messages that I could come and get her, but she didn’t answer—she had been evacuated in the middle of the night as the fire was rapidly approaching her neighborhood. Flavia was taken to safety, but I never saw her again. I was able to get in touch with her daughter, who confirmed that Flavia was okay, and I kept in touch with her daughter in recent years as a way of checking in with Flavia and sending my love.

Mary MurrayMary Murray, MS

Mary was one of the early sandplay therapists in New Mexico, helping to develop our sandplay community.  She was a founding member of the New Mexico Sandplay Society and was on the NMSS board, serving as treasurer.  Mary also served on the national board of Sandplay Therapists of America.  Her article Bones was published in the Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume V, Number 1, 1995.

Mary’s laughter and gregarious nature endeared her to those around her. Her work as a sandplay therapist demonstrated her deep ability to witness and hold her clients, leading to the transformation of the lives of many adults and children.  Mary was an excellent therapist, an outstanding teacher, and a perceptive and supportive consultant/supervisor.  She freely shared her love of life, her love of family and friends, and her love of sandplay.

Barbara B. Nelson

 

 

Sheila OstranderSheila Ostrander

By Sally Sugatt and Kate Adams
Sheila Ostrander was a wise woman who loved sandplay therapy. She was always a welcome participant at our early sandplay trainings in Mystic, CT because she brought a lively intelligence and curiosity to the work.Sheila Ostrander, born into a working class family in New England, was the first (along with her two siblings) of her family to attend college.She had a lifelong love of learning that extended into later life when she took up the study of sandplay. Sheila studied psychology in college and her affinity for working with children was recognized early on. A preschool where she worked paid for her to attend the Gesell Institute in New Haven, where her skills were immediately recognized and she was offered a job.Sheila worked for several decades as a School Psychologist in the Connecticut schools and later opened a private practice where she offered sandplay to the many children she treated over the years. Sheila was a person of great spirit with a real zest for life. Her clothing and artistic jewelry were always full of color – just like her beloved perennial garden. No one who knew Sheila will soon forget her winning smile and easy laugh. She will be missed.

         Lou Stewart, MD

 

Estelle Weinrib – Founding Member

       Rosalind Winter