About Jenaii
How do we meet? Those of you who are visiting this website for the first time are seeking something. Perhaps you are searching for a therapist or an expert on sandplay from whom you may learn. Perhaps some synchronicity has landed you here for a purpose that is yet to be discovered.
My office is located in Sebastopol, California on the land where I live. It is quiet, private and surrounded by a garden.The location of my office is important in that my intention is to provide a safe and protected space for the work of psychotherapy. Dora Kalff, a student of C. G. Jung, developed an approach to working with children and sandplay. I first read about her work 26 years ago in her book Sandplay: A Psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche. In the book is a picture of her home in Switzerland built hundreds of years ago. It has an arched wooden door and an inviting path leading to it. She describes how her home is a place where the “child comes upon a world which is completely open to him, and where he is totally welcomed and accepted.” I was so moved by her description that I knew I would work from home and that I would aspire to creating an atmosphere of welcome and safety.
My education includes a doctorate from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in depth psychology. While in Santa Barbara, I also trained at the Family Therapy Institute. I was the Clinical Director of the Phoenix of Santa Barbara, a 24-hour treatment facility for people with schizophrenia. This work was very close to my heart and was invaluable in helping me to understand the breadth of human experience and mental and emotional concerns.
In addition, I worked for six years with sexually abused children and adults almost exclusively. My work with trauma included the use of EMDR and sandplay. The children showed me the power of resilience and the capacity of the heart to repair and heal.
Sandplay therapy has always been a passion as this work with metaphor and symbol serves as a gateway to the unconscious and to all the wisdom that resides there. I am still excited when someone wants to work in the tray or when an intern becomes enthused and brings me photos of a clients’ work. When a client is engaged in this process, the work of individuation proceeds in an amazing and profound way.
I have worked extensively with women and feminist issues, couples, trauma, sexual abuse, depression and anxiety. Regardless of the presenting problem, the work of therapy is about individuation and the task of becoming more fully one’s own self. My own creative path as an artist and a Buddhist, continues to inform the work that I do both professionally and personally.
In addition to using sand play in my private practice, I provide sandplay training for both individuals and agencies. Please visit my page on Workshops for more information about sandplay training.
