THE PLAY THERAPY STUDIO

of Albuquerque


Karen Wheeler, LCSW, RPT-S, CST-T


Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Registered Play Therapist Supervisor 

Sandplay Teaching Member


[email protected]

910-232-5615



Ms. Wheeler is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist & Supervisor and a Sandplay Teaching Member. She has been providing treatment to adults and children since 1994 in various residential, psychiatric and outpatient settings. She has mentored and supervised clinicians since 1998. Ms. Wheeler is a national play therapy and Sandplay trainer, having provided training at the National Association for Play Therapy annual conferences and Sandplay Therapists of America national conferences, as well as for numerous local APT chapters around the country. Ms. Wheeler is known for her development of The Water and Mud Tray Technique which she first presented nationally in 2008. In 2022 she created the Play Therapy Developmental Journey Map which will be launched at a conference in Raleigh, NC on 9/30 & 10/2/2022. 

Services Available

(distance and in-person)

          Clinical Supervision for RPT Certification.......................................................$100/hour

​          Case Consultation for Professional Development..........................................$100/hour

          Clinical Supervision for Social Work or Counselor Licensure.........................$75/hour

          (Licensed in North Carolina and New Mexico)

         Sandplay Process or Case Consultation (Process in-person only).................$100/hour

         Group Staff Consultation .................................................................................$250/2 hours

         Agency Training ...............................................................................................$500/3 hours

Training Topics Available

The Play Therapy Developmental Journey Map

The Water and Mud Tray Technique (Pre-Sandplay)

Play Therapy for Attachment and Trauma

Developmental Play Therapy with Viola Brody

Introduction to Theraplay

Healing the Infant Wound: Developmental Pre-Sandplay

Introduction to Sandplay

Relational Freedom Versus Containment in the Playroom

Introduction to Modalities of Play Therapy