Third CAST Web Conference

April 9-10, 2022

Holding Free and Protected Space in Our Time

The theme of the CAST 2022 Web Conference is: Holding the free and protected space in our time. This theme resonates strongly with the increased need for safety and containing in uncertain times, like the time of COVID-19 we recently have faced collectively.

Join us online April 9 & 10, 2022 for two days of presentations, speakers and discussions, including the keynote presentation Freedom and protection of the therapeutic space by Maria Kendler.

The conference will be simultaneously presented in English and in French. Bring your own translator for other languages! To arrange translation please email.

The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) has granted 15 CEUs for attendance at the CAST conference. Additionally, there are 5 ISST training hours for full attendance at the CAST conference.

See the full CAST Web Conference 2022 Program here.

Registration Fees

CAST Member Both Days $210 / One Day $120
Non-member Both Days $260 / One Day $140
Student Both Days $170 / One Day $90
Registration will close on April 6, 2022

REGISTER NOW

Payment by e-transfer is the preferred method of payment; it can be made using your bank’s online banking portal and sending the e-transfer to: Canadian Association for Sandplay Therapy, treasurer@sandplaycanada.ca. Please indicate in the comments section the name of the registrant.

Important Dates:  

• April 9 & 10, 2022 — CAST Web Conference 2022
• March 1, 2022 – Early Bird Discount Registration Deadline
• April 6, 2022 – Registration closes

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Freedom and protection of the therapeutic space
Original and recent reflections

The creation of a “free and protected space” was central to Dora Kalff in order to make psychotherapy work in an optimal way. In this lecture we will explore how she described the idea of freedom as well as the task to protect the client’s process from outer and inner disturbances. According to her, the therapist has to bring both – freedom and protection –  actively into the therapeutic relationship. This approach is somewhat different from the classical concept of transference. A specific inner activity and perhaps concrete interventions may be necessary in order to create and recreate the “free and protected space” throughout a therapy session and a whole Sandplay process. Practical examples from literature about Sandplay therapy and from my own experience will illustrate how this essential concept can be put in practice, especially when the usual setting is disturbed by outer irregularities like sanitary regulations due to the actual pandemic. 

Presenter

Maria Kendler, MPhil, MSc, teaching member of SGSST and ISST since 2009. 

Maria is a clinical psychologist, with professional experience in individual and institutional settings. Presently she is working in a private practice in Morges and in Vevey in the French part of Switzerland. She uses Sandplay with children, adolescents and adults. 

For many years she has been teaching Sandplay Therapy in Switzerland and abroad. 

She is the president of the Swiss Society for Sandplay Therapy (SGSST) and the responsible editor of the Swiss-German Journal for Sandplay Therapy (Zeitschrift für Sandspieltherapie). She has published articles about Sandplay in different clinical settings in the American  Journal for Sandplay Therapy and in Zeitschrift für Sandspieltherapie. She contributed a chapter to the book “Into the Heart of Sandplay” (Ed. by Dyane Sherwood & Betty Jackson) as well as to the book “Europe’s many souls. Exploring Cultural Complexes and Identities” (Ed. by Joerg Rasche and Thomas Singer).

Find out about next ISST Congress and other international events here.