Creative Therapy Courses South West
www.sandplauuk.uk  
Courses 2025

Whether you commit to a weekend, or the full Diploma course magic happens and each weekend is a journey into the depth of your being. This builds your inner support which in turn expands the work you do with your clients. It’s an absolute privilege for me observing changes in students and hearing how their practice develops as a direct result of the learning from these trainings

Foundation in Integrative Sandplay 

A highly experiential introduction to sandplay therapy which builds on any prior experience you may have had and acts as a refresher ooh and so much more... It is an ideal starting point for anyone wishing to start their sandplay journey and also a good ‘topper upper’ for those who have experienced some sandplay in their learning journey. Based on Jungian and transpersonal perspective.

Foundation In Integrative Sandplay Therapy (2 day course)

15th & 16th March 2025
10th & 11th May 2025
12th & 13th July 2025 -  this course may run from Stokeinteignhead please ask
13th & 14th September 2025 -  this course may run from Stokeinteignhead please ask
8th & 9th November 2025

Cost
£245 this includes a deposit of £100

Diploma in Integrative Sandplay Therapy 

This course is organised as four 3-day weekends.

The aim of this course is to bring depth and understanding to your sandplay work from a Jungian and Transpersonal perspective. The course carefully weaves theory and experiential work. This work integrates well into other theoretical perspectives.

2024/5 Diploma in Integrative Sandplay Therapy (4 long weekends) 

This course is underway. Feedback from the first weekend:

‘I found the course really amazing’.
‘Thank you for a stimulating and inspiring weekend’.
‘Many thanks to all for a wonderful weekend of learning’
‘Just thank you’

Cost

Total cost of the course is £2000 payable in instalments.
Deposit: £350 secures a place on the course.

2025/26 Diploma in Integrative Sandplay Therapy

Weekend 1: 21st, 22nd, 23rd November 2025
Weekend 2: 9th, 10th, 11th January 2026
Weekend 3: 27th, 28th February 1st March 2026
Weekend 4: 24th, 25th, 26th April 2026

Advanced Diploma in Integrative Sandplay Therapy - please enquire

Foundation in Therapeutic Art

An introduction to the world of therapeutic art and symbolism. When we express our inner world through paint or pastels, we can somehow make a different sense of ourselves in the here and now.

11th & 12th October 2025

Cost
£245 this includes a deposit of £100 which hold the space for you.

Diploma in Therapeutic Art

Let me know if you would like to join the waiting list for this

Creative Retreats

These retreats are based in Stokeinteignhead TQ12 4QR. We will be on the land and using a bell tent and yurt as our bases. Full access to toilets etc in the house and a compost toilet in the labyrinth field. Local accommodation list supplied along with local camping and glamping opportunities at our nearest neighbour. The summer retreat will be at a time of verdant greens in the valley and garden with whole flocks of blackbirds out feeding their young and a sweetness in the air. The autumn retreat comes at a time of harvest for us at White Cottage the orchard and walnut trees are glorious at this time. There is something about the smell of a walnut tree... one of the delights of living here.

Following the success of last summer’s Labyrinth weekend here are some dates for this year:

7th & 8th June

An exploration of the Goddess and its manifestation within us.

20th & 21st September

On the cusp of the equinox we will work with equinox energies of harvesting all we have manifested during the year and embrace the start of the inner journey as we enter the shortening length of days in the year. 

The weekends will include a mix of sand, art and meditation – a soul filling exploration ..

Sandplay Therapy Group

Regular closed group for a up to 6 people.

Please contact ruthbaker1@gmail.com for more information.

Supervision Groups

Monthly: Tuesdays at The Nautilus Rooms, Totnes

6pm – 8pm

£40 per person

If you would like an online Zoom supervision group contact me. I have an existing online group which is working
well.

Some experience of sandplay is required to join these groups. If you are interested please contact me.

Am I eligible for these courses?

The courses are aimed at counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, coach’s’, and those working more widely in the helping professions and education. They are suitable for people working with all age’s groups i.e., children through to adults, couples and groups.

Course Location

Most of the courses are run from The Nautilus Rooms in Totnes, Devon UK which houses a fabulous collection of sandplay symbols built specifically to give students a full experience of the power of sandplay. 

People travel from all over the country and abroad for these courses. Totnes is on the mainline railway from London Paddington.

Accommodation list is provided.

The Creative Courses at least one of the Foundation Courses to be run from Stokeinteignhead . It’s a wonderful location based on our smallholding with access to a labyrinth, the sea and coast path are a short walk away with the delights of dip in the silky water of the ocean on offer at our local cove. If the weather is poor we have a beautiful bell tent and yurt to shelter in. There are good accommodation options locally including glamping, camping or campervanning at our neighbours organic farm, self catering, bed and breakfast and hotels all close by.

About Ruth

Ruth’s first degree is in psychology, she has been working as a counsellor and psychotherapist, supervisor and consultant for almost 30 years. With the exception of brief forays into the world of publishing and handweaving Ruth’s career has been people facing. She worked with high-risk offenders in the Probation Service offering group and individual work before moving into the NHS where she worked in the field of drugs and alcohol and mental health both as a case worker then project and service management. She has a passion for working with change be they individuals or systems. Ruth offers supervision and consultation to a wide range of organisations from small charities to larger health related organisations. She also offers bespoke training to organisations.

Ruth brings to her teaching her wide experience of working with individuals, couples and groups in a range of settings along with a lifetime’s passion for learning.

She has extensive training in Integrative Sandplay Therapy and Therapeutic Art and is a teacher and supervisor within the Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists (AIST). She is a trained teacher of Mindfulness.

Ruth is a committed student of the Diamond Approach which is a dynamic, evolving teaching and exploration of all that leads to openness, freedom, and realisation of the many dimensions of our human potential—especially the amazing secrets of our spiritual nature.

Ruth exudes a love of nature, she lives on a small holding and enjoys – walking – swimming – gardening, growing and being in wild spaces.

Ruth’s depth of knowledge and experience is valued and commented on by students as is her ability to hold the space for deep and rich learning to take place

Feedback on Ruth’s teaching:
‘Thank you, Ruth, for your gentle teaching, holding and facilitation. As I get older, I find myself a bit fussy about who I feel I can learn deeply from and you are definitely one of those people who wisdom and knowledge has a depth which is so rich I find I can settle in (relax) and absorb with confidence.’

‘…such thoughtful training. Ruth created an environment in which I felt safe and secure at all times. ‘

From Dora Kalff the originator of Sandplay Therapy:

‘In the hands of a properly prepared therapist, sandplay is a powerful invaluable modality….

(And about becoming a sandplay therapist) …even psychotherapists highly experienced in other methodologies .. should have a deep personal experience of doing a sandplay process…

Kalff 1980

More Info

More information can be found at:

www.nautilusrooms.uk 
www.sandplayuk.uk

or contact Ruth directly.


My advertising is somewhat ad hoc so this is an update of courses coming up and an invitation to come and play and enjoy the depth.

Please feel free to share this mailing with colleagues who may be interested in one of these courses – thank you

These courses are accredited by the Association of Integrative Sandplay Therapists


If you would like to be removed from this mailing list email: ruthbaker1@gmail.com