2025 Study Group
HKSTA holds monthly study groups for our members. Members get together to share their insights and experience surrounding Jungian Sandplay in form of book sharing, study of symbols and other topics relevant to becoming a Sandplay therapist.
If you would like to register for our study group, please join our membership. Attendance for our study group is free.
December 2025
The Archetypal Journey in Pinocchio
In this study group, Sally Chan will facilitate the discussion about the archetypal journey in Pinocchio by sharing the sandplay process of a 26-year old woman with depression and anxiety problems. How did she go through this archetypal journey toward maturity, authenticity, and the realization of the true self?
In Jungian analysis, the story of Pinocchio is considered a powerful allegory for the process of individuation. It is an initiation ritual. It is an archetypal journey of descent into the depths of the unconscious mind. It is often called the Hero’s Journey. According to the work of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, it involves a cycle of departure, initiation, and return, leading to self-discovery and integration. How does the representation of the modern myth of Pinocchio play a powerful role in developing an understanding of the message of the unconscious mind of our clients?
Date: December 29, 2025 (Monday)
Time: 7:30pm-9:00pm (HK time)
Mode: Webinar on Zoom
Presenter: Sally Chan, Certified Sandplay Therapist, Family Therapist
This study group is exclusive to HKSTA members.
Deadline of registration: 22 December 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/3HH6Ytd8jnNkpmX47
Source: From HKSTA
November 2025
Due to special circumstances, we regret to inform you that the November study group has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
October 2025
Source of this photo: From Presenter
Date: 28 October 2025
Time: 7:30pm to 9:00pm (HK Time)
Presenter: Bhakta Ng, ISST Certified Sandplay Therapist, Psychotherapist based in Okinawa, Japan
Venue: Webinar via Zoom
Language: Cantonese
This study group is exclusive to HKSTA members.
Deadline of registration: 26 October 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/6tJTs6t49u229aTM6
Green and Red: Complementary Colors and holding opposites in Sandplay process
In this study group, Bhakta Ng, ISST Certified Sandplay Therapist, will present a case study that illustrates how complementary colors: red and green, illuminating the dynamic of psychological opposites in the Sandplay process.
Drawing inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy inherits the red shoes from the Witch of the East and is pursued by the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West, we will explore how color symbolism reveals both blessing and curse, danger and protection, destruction and renewal.
The case study focuses on a client whose trays expressed the polarity of red and green. Like Dorothy’s red shoes, which carried both risk and safety, the client’s symbols held the tension of opposites, loneliness and connection, abandonment and renewal, passivity and animus strength. Within the protected space of Sandplay setting and therapeutic relationship, these tensions could be contained and gradually integrated.
Key themes to be explored:
1. Complementary Colors in the Psyche: How red and green represent archetypal opposites and generate energy for transformation.
2. Wisdom from The Wizard of Oz: Insights from the tale and reference book, The Wisdom of Oz: Reflections of a Jungian Sandplay Therapist.
3. Case Illustration: Bhakta’s final case study, showing how red and green appeared in the trays.
4. Transformation through Opposites: How Sandplay allows destructive and life-giving forces to coexist until integration emerges.
September 2025
Sharing of ISST Congress Highlights
We are delighted to have our members who have returned from the ISST Congress share some of their highlights and learnings at our September study group. Details of the meeting as follow:
Date: 25 September 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (HK Time)
Venue: Webinar via Zoom
Language: Cantonese
Facilitator: Ms Chris Cheung
This study group is exclusive to HKSTA members.
Deadline of registration: 23 September 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/bMjoMVWuftGxXeLF7
Source: From HKSTA
July 2025
Source of this photo: From Presenter
In this study group, May Liu will present a compelling case study of David (pseudonym), exploring the birdcage's role in sandplay therapy as a symbol of patriarchal repression and the journey toward autonomy.
Drawing on La Von Bobo's (1997) "Neumann's Map: Guide to Sandplay as Natural Evolutionary Process," the discussion will focus on David's sandplay process, where the birdcage evolves from a symbol of constraint to its absence, reflecting Neumann's (1954) archetypal stages of ego development. This study group will explore how sandplay therapy utilizes the birdcage to facilitate psychological growth within Hong Kong's cultural context, bridging personal, archetypal, and cultural dimensions.
Date: 25 July 2025 (Friday)
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm (HK Time)
Mode: Webinar via Zoom
Language: Cantonese
Presenter: May Liu, Certified Play Therapist, School Social Worker
This study group is exclusive to HKSTA members.
Deadline of registration: 19 July 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/ZwBQKHXCAgvyYYv59
June 2025
Take a walk into the forest
Trees are a must have figurine in any sandplay collection. The theme of going into the forest is also a common scene in sandplay for venturing into the unknown, to discover if there is anything hidden behind the trees.
For our June Study Group, we will literally venture into a forest. It will only be a short walk, then we will do a meditation activity with a singing bowl while we rest and soak in the ambience of the forest to see what revelations our active imagination is going to reveal to us.
Date: 29 June 2025 (Sunday)
Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 noon(HK Time)
Venue: Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve
Language: Cantonese
Facilitators: Ms Berenice Lee and Ms Chris Cheung
Deadline of registration: 25 June 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/VQU5F1KN3XQ5sQEN6
Source: Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (HKSAR Govt.)
April 2025
In this study group, Chris will share an article "Sandplay Therapy with Individuals on the Autism Spectrum" (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA & Duluth, Minnesota, USA, Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2015). This paper discusses the theoretical background, methods, and results of employing sandplay therapy, emphasizing its potential for contributing to positive therapeutic outcomes in individuals with high-functioning autism. Chris will facilitate discussion by sharing the sandplay process of an adolescent girl with ASD.
Date: 24 April 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm (HK Time)
Mode: Webinar on Zoom
Language: Cantonese
Presenter: Chris Cheung, Certified Sandplay Therapist, Educational Psychologist
Deadline of registration: 18 April 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/4E3rGqhTCHax5yJb8
Source of this photo: From Presenter
March 2025
The Enemy Within
In this session, Bhakta Ng will share a compelling case study that explores how a client in the sandplay process confronts and transforms her inner "enemy". The case study centres on the symbolic "wolf ", an archetypal figure that mirrors the shared antagonist found in fairy tales like The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.
Date: 26 March, 2025
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm (HK Time)
Venue: Webinar on Zoom
Language: Cantonese
Presenter: Bhakta Ng, ISST Certified Sandplay Therapist, Psychotherapist based in Okinawa, Japan
Deadline of registration: 14 March, 2025
Registration: https://forms.gle/VQU5F1KN3XQ5sQEN6
Source of this photo: From Presenter
February 2025
In our coming February Study Group, Adrian will be sharing his thoughts and insights from his reading of "Phallos: Sacred Image of the Masculine" and "The Phallic Quest: Priapus and Masculine Inflation" followed by a fruitful exploration of archetypal masculinity and human sexuality.
Date: 20 February 2025
Time: 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Mode: Webinar on Zoom
Language: English
Presenter: Adrian Davis
Registration: https://forms.gle/HJLbNvLe1AHARKcB6
January 2025
No Study Group
We shall be celebrating Chinese New Year at the end of January.
So our monthly study group for January will be cancelled.
