Sand Tray Training Institute of New Mexico
We are dedicated to training clinicians in an in-depth and ethical use of the sandtray modality. We base our training on integrating traditional methods of sand therapies with current neuroscience concepts of the embodied brain, relational research, and mindfulness. We are committed to training therapists to witness and support the inner intelligence and healing capacities that lie within each human being.
We design our courses for psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers. The curriculum is developed from research-based theory and clearly articulated core clinical competencies. Our training is based on a hands-on, immersive style of learning, allowing clinicians to draw from and trust their own experiences as valuable tools in skill development. We offer all of our courses in-person, and some are available online to facilitate a training program that is best suited to the individual needs of each clinician.
The Sand Training Institute of New Mexico was founded in 1995 by its director, Theresa Kestly, PhD, and it has been in continuous operation since that time.
Theresa Kestly, PhD
Director
Theresa is a psychologist, educator, consultant, and a registered play therapist/supervisor with the Association for Play Therapy. She is an international presenter, and she maintains a private practice with specialties in play therapy and sandtray therapy in Corrales, New Mexico for children, adults, families, couples, and small groups. Theresa served as a senior staff psychologist at the Albuquerque Family and Child Guidance Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she specialized in child, adolescent and family therapy, consultations with the Indian Health Service, and consultations with the Albuquerque Public Schools. She supervised psychology, counseling, and psychiatry trainees as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico. Theresa served as the first president of the New Mexico Association for Play Therapy. She is the founder and director of the Sand Tray Training Institute of New Mexico in Corrales, New Mexico where she provides large-group seminars and small-group intensive training for psychotherapists in child and adult sandtray therapy. Theresa is author of The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Play: Brain-Building Interventions for Emotional Well-Being (Norton Interpersonal Neurobiology series).
Author
Theresa is a psychologist, educator, consultant, and a registered play therapist/supervisor with the Association for Play Therapy. She is an international presenter, and she maintains a private practice with specialties in play therapy and sandtray therapy in Corrales, New Mexico for children, adults, families, couples, and small groups. Theresa served as a senior staff psychologist at the Albuquerque Family and Child Guidance Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she specialized in child, adolescent and family therapy, consultations with the Indian Health Service, and consultations with the Albuquerque Public Schools. She supervised psychology, counseling, and psychiatry trainees as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico. Theresa served as the first president of the New Mexico Association for Play Therapy. She is the founder and director of the Sand Tray Training Institute of New Mexico in Corrales, New Mexico where she provides large-group seminars and small-group intensive training for psychotherapists in child and adult sandtray therapy. Theresa is author of The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Play: Brain-Building Interventions for Emotional Well-Being (2014, Norton Interpersonal Neurobiology series).
Other publications:
- Kestly, T (2024). Endowed with Play Circuitry. In Tucci, J., Mitchell, J., Porges, S., and Tronick, E. (Eds.), The handbook of trauma-transformative practice: Emerging therapeutic frameworks for supporting individuals, families, or communities impacted by abuse and violence. (pp. to come). Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
- Kestly, T (2023). Sandtray and expressive arts in child psychotherapy: Using play as a neural exercise. In Malchiodi, C. A. (Ed.), Handbook of expressive arts therapy (pp. 207-221). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
- Kestly, T. (2018). A Cross-Cultural and a Cross-Disciplinary Perspective of Play. In Marks-Tarlow, T., Solomon, M., & Siegel, D. (Eds.), Play and Creativity in Psychotherapy. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
- Kestly, T. (2017). The secret garden: Use of the sand tray and figurines from an interpersonal neurobiological framework (pp. 317-327). In Turner, B., (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Sandplay Therapy. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Kestly, T. (2017). Play therapy through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology: Up and over the mountain (pp. 137-156). In Malchiodi, C.A. & Crenshaw, D. A. (Eds.), What to do when children clam up in therapy. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
- Kestly, T. (2016). Presence and play: Why mindfulness matters. International Journal of Play Therapy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pla0000019.
- Kestly, T. (2015). Sandtray and storytelling in play therapy. In Crenshaw, D., & Stewart, A. (Eds.), Play therapy: A comprehensive guide to theory and practice (pp. 156- 170). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
- Kestly, T., & Badenoch, B. (2015). Exploring the neuroscience of healing play at every age. In Crenshaw, D., & Stewart, A. (Eds.), Play therapy: A comprehensive guide to theory and practice (pp. 524-538). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
- Kestly, T. (2014). The interpersonal neurobiology of play: Brain-building interventions for emotional well-being. New York, NY: Norton.
- Kestly, T. (2010). Group sandplay in elementary schools. In Drewes, A. & Schaefer, C. (Eds.), School-based play therapy (pp. 257-281). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Kestly, T. (2005). Adolescent sand tray therapy. In Gallo-Lopez, L. & Schaefer, C. (Eds.), Play therapy with adolescents (pp. 18-29). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Kestly, T. (1990). Emotional Processing, Seating Preference and Hemispheric Asymmetries. Dissertation Abstracts International.
- Design and Writing of Music Guide for Mexico As Seen By Her Children Teaching Kit (1981). Washington, D.C.: The National Foundation for the Improvement of Education.
- Harrington, T. (1974). Ross L. Mooney’s Writings: Implications for a Transactional View of Education. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
- Harrington, T. (1969). An Experiment Using Recorders to Teach Sight-Singing. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, RPT-S
Theresa is an RPT-S with the Association for Play Therapy (APT). All of the courses taught at the Sand Tray Training Institute of New Mexico may be used toward meeting the requirements for becoming a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) or a Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor with the APT.
