Mid December is wearing on, and wearing me down. The busyness of the holidays, the pressure of the end of the year, and the cold bite of winter is making me threadbare instead of merry. I find myself bah humbugging the dirty, slushy snow leaking into my boot, while ignoring the star lit night, aswirl with gentle snowflakes, each one unique. I’m teetering on becoming the Grinch, while the spirit of the season seems to be filling everyone else with awe and peace.
To all my fellow Scrooges and overworked Christmas elves, I invite you to schedule some well-deserved “me time,” perhaps by experiencing sand tray therapy here at Behavioral Health. But you protest, “therapy is for working on your issues!” And it is. Especially when your issue is burn out. Mental health support focused solely on recharging your batteries and increasing your peace, is therapy too, and sand tray therapy is especially well suited to this task.
Sand tray therapy helps people tap into their unconscious, inner worlds, using miniature figures of people and objects. During the session, participants build their own “small worlds,” replete with meaning, to represent the thoughts, feelings, and memories, bubbling up inside of them. This time of quiet introspection can be deeply meaningful and restoring.
During a typical appointment, participants spend some time choosing objects, then they arrange them in the sand tray, just so, creating a scene, while their therapist observes. When the person feels they’ve finished, they may want to talk with their therapist about what they made, and what they felt while making it.
The scene in the sand tray serves as a concreate representation of the complicated, and often mysterious inner worlds we all have inside of us. The creation in the tray helps the participant share with another person the complex, often wordless parts of their experience that yearn to be shared and known, but often are too private or confusing to express in words.
The act of deep introspection and vulnerable sharing, in a safe caring relationship, people experience during sand tray therapy often makes people feel profoundly seen and heard, with a greater appreciation of their own experience. This can be very healing.
Here’s to your good health!
It’s okay not to feel okay
If you or someone you know has been struggling with their emotions, behaviors, or substance use please reach out to us. We can help you find appropriate tools and services that could help you overcome obstacles in your life. We are here for you. Please contact the Southern Ute Behavioral Health Division at 970.563.5700 for more information or to set up an appointment to see a counselor or therapist.
Reminder: If you need to talk to someone, please reach out.
And for those interested in opioid use education, harm reduction, and support, please contact us for quick Naloxone (Narcan) training and fentanyl test strips. We can schedule individual, family, or friends training times at our Southern Ute Behavioral Health Building, or we can come to you, and the training is around 30 minutes. Please call us at 970.563.5700 to set up a training appointment.