Julie Moxon

I'm a trained primary teacher and a experienced play therapist 

I work in schools and in my own practise 

I am also a certified sand play therapist and clay therapist 

I have worked with lots of children from the age of 4 to the age of 16 years 

I work with children and adults in the sand and with the clay. These are mediums also used in the play therapy, other mediums are puppets, collage making, drawing, painting, games, role play. The therapy is client centred and is non directive.

Sand play therapy is a nonverbal and verbal therapeutic intervention that makes use of a sandbox, small figures, and sometimes water, to create scenes of miniature worlds that reflect a person’s inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns.  Some clients don't talk and that is fine to. The client chooses from a large collection of toys and builds a small “world” in the tray that reflects what is going on in their lives or just makes up a story that comes to mind. The therapist observes the choice and arrangement of toys without interruption, allowing the client to find answers within.

The play,  clay and sand are a from of psychotherapy where a client can heal overtime. This therapy is based on Jungian theory and a lady called Dora Kalff in the 1950's incorporated the use of sand trays into her own form of therapy, which was based on her Jungian training.

Clay Therapy is a form of active psychotherapy where unidentified and unexpressed feelings and emotions become visible through physical manipulation of clay. This therapy is potentially both powerful and profound because worries that previously have caused inner concern or turmoil are given shape and form in the outer world. When problems can be seen it's easier to share difficulties by talking them through with a qualified practitioner in a safe environment.

The play, clay and sand are forms of therapy to help with trauma, anger, bereavement, loss, attachment, separation, harassment, bullying, sexual identity, transgender issues, shame, and guilt.

How I work is to chat over the phone with the client or the clients caregiver 

The next step is to then meet for a free consultation

The consultation is to see meet myself and for the client to familiarise with myself and how I work.  This also gives the client and caregiver time to ask me any questions to find out more about the therapy.

 Once the consultation is over, I ask the caregiver and client to have time to make a decision if they would like to go ahead with the therapy. 

The sessions last up to an hour and are client lead.

The relationship with myself is an important part of the therapy, so eventually the individual will feel at ease and able to express themselves in any way they wish through the creative mediums. The therapy is part of the feeling of total acceptance and is non judgmental , this helps the individual freely express themselves more.

I will then send over a referral form for the client or caregiver and school to fill in to find out more about the background of the person having therapy. The more information the better, this is kept confidential. An SDQ ( a social and emotional questionnaire) will be sent to fill in also, which helps with myself understanding more about how the client feels before starting the therapy.

I keep in touch with caregivers over the course of the therapy to feedback information on how their child is getting on in therapy, without giving away the confidentiality of the individual.

The teenager or adult, I will just check in midway through the therapy to see if there on any positive changes happening for them.

The amount of therapy will be discussed overtime and depends on the progress made. This will be assessed with the individual and caregiver.

I initially meet the parent/caregivers so they can familiarise themselves with me, also the child.  

The first session is about helping the individual feel at ease and to help them familiarise with the room. 

All the mediums will be on offer for the individual and they can feel free to express in the way they wish to.

Drawing, clay, sand, painting, collage making.

A box will be presented to the individual for a place to store anything they make in the room. This box will carry the individual process which can be a valuable resource. Some individuals to have a private box keeps aspect of themselves contained and safe in the room.  

In the first session I will reinforce how the creative arts/play, including drawing, painting, role play, sand, and clay therapy can help an individual talk about their worries, or make metaphors up which show an individuals conscious feelings and also unconscious aspects of self.  

The unconscious drives our conscious level. The unconscious has parts of the self, maybe memories buried away, and these memories need to come to the conscious level to help an individual heal and move forward.  

The creative therapy tends to those wounds that have never been processed.