Big Island Sandplay “Talk Story”- King Tut’s Existential Crisis

Participants will explore King Tut’s “existential crisis” and the topic of childhood anxiety in sandplay as Dr. Freedle shares a working preview of her presentation for the 2020 STA National Conference.

Description:

Archeologist Howard Carter nearly gave up on his life’s work until he made an epic discovery: The tomb of “Boy King” Tutankhamen. The treasures found there reveal the nature and significance of the spiritual journey of the ancient Egyptian in life and death. Through archetypal and neurodevelopmental paradigms, this workshop will explore best practices for treating children with severe anxiety using sandplay.  Concepts and treatment approaches will be illustrated through a case study of 7-year-old “Carter” whose anxiety is situated in the context of the high conflict divorce of his parents and the asynchronous development and emotional intensities associated with giftedness. Carter’s industrious play leads him through the darkness of alienation to the bright and sacred light of his own kingly treasures.

Objectives:

1. Describe the neurodevelopmental factors associated with anxiety disorders in children and apply these factors to differential diagnosis.
2. Define asynchronous development in gifted children and describe its impact on creative and emotional processes.
3. Define “existential anxiety” and list four sources of anxiety in children of high conflict divorce.
4. Distinguish symptom reduction from transformative change in sandplay therapy.
5. Identify and track three archetypal themes from Egyptian mythology that become activated in Carter’s sandplay process to promote psychological/spiritual development.
6. Assess treatment response using Mitchell and Friedman’s model for charting archetypal themes (2017).

What is Sandplay “Talk Story”?
• A regularly scheduled gathering for interactive learning about sandplay therapy as developed by Dora Kalff
• Group exploration of selected topics in sandplay such as myth, symbols, archetypes, and Jungian personality theory
• An opportunity to earn training hours toward certification as a sandplay therapist
• A way to strengthen our sandplay community on the Big Island

STA Teaching Member Facilitators:
Lorraine R. Freedle, PhD, CST-T;  Sherry Renmu Shepherd, PhD, CST-T

To Register:
Email Dr. Freedle at lrfreedle@gmail.com

2020 ANNUAL SCHEDULE:  Big Island Sandplay 2020 Schedule rev.