Clay Field THerapy

‘Work at the Clay Field’ has been developed since 1970 by Prof Heinz Deuser in Germany. It can be described as an art-based therapy approach that is widely used with children and adults. 

Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of hopelessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences. Therapeutic relationships can help such people find constructive ways of managing these reactions. Understanding the emotions and responses that follow a traumatic event can help the person cope with the feelings, thoughts and behavioural responses.

All behaviour is communicating something to us. It can often give us insight into what might be happening in our nervous system. A trauma response can rely on fight or flight (sympathetic arousal) or freeze and shutdown (dorsal arousal).  Signs of a hyper aroused sympathetic response in the nervous system are, hyperactivity such as an inability to sit still and hypervigilance as in heightened awareness of surroundings. A shutdown dorsal response in an individual can look like a very quiet person who is slow to engage with others. 

The ‘Work at the Clay Field’ helps by bringing regulation to the nervous system. There is an afferent message out of the nervous system through motor impulse when the hands touch the clay. We access sensory data which provides feedback to the nervous system which then has the opportunity to reafference the motor impulse to upregulate or down regulate depending on what the nervous system needs.

The Clay Field is a flat rectangular wooden box that is filled with smooth clay that can be dampened with water. The individual is guided to handle the clay at a pace that suits them. How we engage with the clay field is symbolic of how we relate to the world around us. We can have the opportunity to complete movements that may have not been possible at the time of a traumatic event. The focus is not on symptoms but on finding a new pathway forward.