Clayfield Therapy (also known as the Clay Field Therapy or Work at the Clay Field) is a non-verbal, body-based therapeutic method that uses clay as a medium for deep emotional and sensory exploration. It’s often used in trauma-informed, developmental, and somatic approaches to therapy, and can be adapted for use by Occupational Therapists (OTs), especially those working in mental health, pediatrics, or sensory integration.

What is Clayfield Therapy?

In Clayfield Therapy, a person works with a large flat box of moist clay using their hands only—no tools, no instructions. The therapist does not direct the activity, but instead holds a safe, observing presence while the client engages with the clay.

The goal is not to create art, but to allow the body to express and process emotions, experiences, or developmental stages through tactile and sensorimotor interaction.

Core Principles:

• Sensory-based: Engages the tactile system deeply (touch, pressure, temperature).

• Developmentally informed: Can support re-integration of early sensorimotor developmental stages.

• Non-verbal: Allows access to preverbal or non-conscious trauma, emotion, or memory.

• Body-centered: Uses the body’s innate movement and touch patterns to process experience.

• Client-led: No artistic goal, no interpretation by the therapist, only presence and reflection.

OT Perspective: Why It’s Valuable

Occupational Therapists may use Clayfield Therapy to help clients:

• Develop or repair sensory processing and regulation

• Access and resolve developmental trauma

• Reconnect with the body and sense of self

• Improve fine motor skills, tactile discrimination, and hand strength

• Engage in safe emotional expression without needing to talk

Suitable Populations:

• Children with trauma histories or attachment issues

• Autistic individuals or those with sensory processing disorder

• Adults healing from complex trauma or PTSD

• Clients with anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or shutdown states

• People with difficulties in body awareness or coordination

What Happens in a Session?

• The client places hands in a large box of moist clay (usually on a table).

• They explore the clay freely—pushing, digging, smoothing, shaping.

• The therapist does not analyze but may reflect the process gently ("I notice you're pressing very hard on that edge").

• The work is more about how the clay is handled than what is made.

OT Goals Might Include:

• Improved tactile tolerance or sensory modulation

• Rebuilding sensorimotor developmental foundations

• Safe expression of non-verbal emotional material

• Increased body awareness and grounding

• Enhanced emotional regulation through somatic release

Integration in OT:

Clayfield Therapy can be integrated with:

• Sensory Integration Therapy

• Somatic Experiencing or body-based trauma work

• Developmental trauma-informed care

• Play therapy or expressive arts therapy

• Attachment-based OT approaches