Author Description

This book is designed to educate sex therapists and mental health professionals on the power of using sand when treating sexual issues, providing guidance in accessing their clients’ unconscious to seek new ways of healing. Uniquely integrating sex therapy with sand therapy, Dawson describes how understanding and applying non-pathological theories and neuroscience to different modalities, such as Internal Family Systems and Polyvagal Theory, can help clients move forward from shame, sexual dysfunctions, and trauma. The book begins by introducing how therapists can use sand as a doorway into using metaphor and imagery in their practice, with information on how the nervous system keeps somatic experiences trapped in the body being explored. Written in an easy, accessible style, the book also includes handouts, belief cards, and case studies throughout to help therapists see the benefits of using sand with clients in practice. Including forewords by Dr. Lorraine Freedle and Doug Braun-Harvey, this book is geared toward mental health professionals, such as sex therapists and marriage and family therapists, who are working with individuals and couples seeking treatment from complex trauma and mental and sexual health issues. It will appeal to students as well as advanced mental health clinicians looking to expand their therapeutic tool kit.