Sand Therapy

Kay Bradway Kay Bradway, Ph.D., JA, is a founding member of Sandplay Therapists of America and the International Society for Sandplay Therapy. She is a psychologist and Jungian analyst in Sausalito, California. As far back as twenty-five years ago I tried to define sandplay. In defining the differences between the terms sandtray, sandplay and sand world (Margaret Lowenfelds term) I wrote: Sandtray refers to the vehicle, sandplay to the activity, and sand world to the product (1981, p.134). Fifteen years later I concluded an article entitled, Sandplay and Sandtray with the sentence, Perhaps the time has come to keep the term sandtray as a generic term and reserve the term sandplay for a specific method of therapy using sandtrays (Bradway, 1996). And six years later I was to write: The confusion between the use of the terms sandplay and sandtray continues despite the several attempts to clarify the differences between these terms (Bradway, 2002, p.103). With the increasing recognition of the value of including the nonverbal imagery of sandplay in analytic therapy, Kalffs therapy has been somewhat diluted or changed as used by some therapists. The question becomes: does the term sandplay have to be limited to what Kalff developed? Kalff first used the term sandplay when she noted that a series of trays showed a process of individuation described by C.G. Jung, guided by the unconscious totality. (full textpdf)

What is Sandplay Therapy? Lauren Cunningham Lauren Cunningham, LCSW, is a founding member of Sandplay Therapists of America and the founding editor of the Journal of Sandplay Therapy. Children have always delighted in playing in the sand, bringing their inner and outer worlds together through imagination. Different cultures have also used sand in imaginal rituals of visioning. The Dogon medicine men of Mali draw patterns in the sand and later read the paw prints left in the night by the desert fox to divine the future. Tibetan Buddhist monks spend weeks creating the Kalachakra sand mandala, which is used for contemplation and initiation into Tantric practices. Donald Sandner, in Navaho Symbols of Healing, wrote about the Navaho sand painting ceremonies in which images of world order are created to invoke the healing powers that bring the psyche of the people back into harmony with the universe. Upon the completion of all these rituals the sand is brushed away and dispersed. (full text...)

Doing Nothing One more approach to Sandplay Therapy Linda Ellis Dean 1

Linda Ellis Dean, Ph.D., MFT is a Jungian Analyst who trained at the C. G. Jung InstituteZurich. She is teaching member of Sandplay Therapists of America and the International Society for Sandplay Therapy. Her practice is located in Eureka, California. Dora Kalff, the originator of Sandplay Therapy, once told me she did nothing when she worked. Then she said, It is harder to do nothing than to do something. How can doing nothing during the hours of an analysis or therapy help? What happens in the analytic container, the sacred space shared by the therapist and client, during a Sandplay process? (full text...)

Sandplay with Children

Kay Bradway Kay Bradway, Ph.D., JA, is a founding member of Sandplay Therapists of America and the International Society for Sandplay Therapy. She is a psychologist and Jungian analyst in Sausalito, California.

Sandplay has an accelerating history. It goes back to an early decade of this century when H.G. Wells wrote about his observing his two sons playing on the floor with miniature figures and his realizing that they were working out their problems with each other and with other members of the family. Twenty years later Margaret Lowenfeld, child psychiatrist in London, was looking for a method to help children express the "inexpressible." She recalled reading about Wells' experience with his two sons and so she added miniatures to the shelves of the play room of her clinic. The first child to see them took them to the sandbox in the room and started to play with them in the sand. And thus it was a child who "invented" what Lowenfeld came to identify as the World Technique (Lowenfeld, 1979). (full text...) When Dora Kalff, Jungian Analyst in Zurich, heard about the work in England, she went to London to study with Lowenfeld. She soon recognized that the technique not only allowed for the expression of the fears and angers of children, but also encouraged and provided for the processes of transcendence and individuation she had been studying with C.G. Jung. As she developed the method further, she gave it the name "sandplay" (Kalff, 1980). Jungian analysts from five countries joined Kalff in founding the International Society for Sandplay Therapy in 1985. The American affiliate society, Sandplay Therapists of America, was founded in 1988. The first issue of the Journal of Sandplay Therapy appeared in 1991. The essentials of sandplay therapy are a specially proportioned sandtray, a source of water, shelves of miniatures of multitude variety: people, animals, buildings, bridges, vehicles, furniture, food, plants, rocks, shells-the list goes on-and an empathic therapist who provides the freedom and the protection that encourages children (or adults) to experience their inner, often unrealized, selves in a safe and non-judgmental space. The therapist as a witness is an essential part of the method, but this therapist is in the mode of "appreciating", not "judging", what the sandplayer does. It is necessary that the therapist follows the play and stays in tune with it, but not intrude. The therapist follows the child. Given an empathic therapist, children rarely need any encouragement to start making pictures or scenes and playing in the sand. They come to it naturally. They may engage the therapist in the play but unlike some therapies 2

there is no attempt on the part of the therapist to interpret to the child what the therapist may understand of what is going on in the sandplay. The process of touching the sand, adding water, making the scenes, changing the scenes, seems to elicit the twin urges of healing and transformation which are goals of therapy. This does not mean that the therapist remains distant or unresponsive. But the emphasis is on following the child rather than on imposing a structure on the play or even guiding the play. The child's psyche becomes the guide rather than the therapist. The child may need to engage the therapist in the play. I recall a little ten-year old girl whom I call Kathy who came to therapy with problems of fears of failure and of her anger that had built up over the years. She was fearful of expressing her anger and typically placed fences in the tray after having expressed anger toward or about any member of the family. We did not have to talk about this. By placing the fences around jungle animals, she was able to experience an ability to do something about controlling these animals and, in extension, about her anger and then to feel safer to sense and express her own aggressive feelings. At first this did not include me, but eventually she translated her sandplay into an interaction with me. She came to a point where she alternated between having us "fight" with toy cannons in the sand tray and playing out positive feelings towards me. But there was no need to interpret the transference. Kathy worked it out herself. She had us build a sand castle together in the final tray (Bradway and McCoard, 1997). The tray provided for Kathy, as it does for other children, the place to work through many phases of self-healing and growing up. For example, a child's placing water and food for animals in the tray is often a step in learning how to obtain nourishment on their own rather than having to depend on its being offered by others and thus provides a step towards a higher level of ego autonomy. Sources of energy other than food, such as wells, gasoline pumps, windmills, often appear during periods of transition when the ego needs an additional supply of energy in order to cope with a struggle between inner and outer forces. And most significantly, the tray provides for the experiencing of wholeness. References: Bradway, K. and McCoard, B. (1997). Sandplay-Silent workshop of the psyche. London/New York: Routledge. Kalff, D. (1980). Sandplay, a psychotherapeutic approach to the psyche. Santa Monica: Sigo. Lowenfeld, M. (1979). The world technique. London: Allen & Unwin. ...............................................

SAND THERAPY

The uniqueness of Sandplay Therapy includes its combined use of sand, water and miniature figures. This combination helps the participant to explore inner strengths and to find the resiliency that exists in their imagination. Because Sandplay involves the body in the placing of figures and the moving of sand, it is an actual experience, not simply potential. As such, once a participant has created a significant image in the sand tray, it's power becomes available to enrich everyday life. Participants immediately show their individuality by responding to the same materials and introduction in many different ways, but almost always with interest, enthusiasm and eagerness to explore the possibilities. There is little awkwardness, difficulty in establishing rapport, or confusion about what is expected of them. There are several important features of Sandplay Therapy. The PLAY ASPECT is vitalthis method brings up less resistance than more confronting approaches. The client uses HANDS to shape the sand. Through the moving hands energy can be released. Fingers flowing through dry sand leave ripples. Wet sand can be shaped into a landscape. The SAND focuses the energy of those with hyperactivity and attention deficit, encourages regression in a playful way, provides a sensory experience for the desensitized and allows the angry to make positive use of aggressive energy. The sand is also changeable, allowing for stories to unfold. The SAND TRAY contains the scene and provides boundaries for the work being done. By the clients own actions, energies are made visible for which s/he is clearly responsible. The sand tray thus offers security while fostering independence. Within the boundaries of the sand tray the participant makes a visual representation of the inner world. The SYMBOLS that represent many diverse aspects of life add meaning to the use of sand and water. The small figurines enable participants to communicate their deepest thoughts and feelings and usually engage even the most resistant individual. The CLIENTS UNCONSCIOUS presents what the client is ready to deal with. The FACILITATOR is a co-journeyer, one who supports the clients wish to explore. The facilitator must already be clear about his/her own personal need for resolving issues, so that there is no projection onto the client. Support for the client will be to see the counselling process as an exciting journey of growth rather than simply problem solving. INTERPRETAT ION is not used in Sandplay Therapy. The vital role of the facilitator is to support the emergence of meaning from within the client, to follow client-centered practice. The effectiveness of the Sandplay does not depend on the facilitators or clients intellectual understanding of the process, although clear insights will often be evident. The facilitator directs the client to draw or journal and share the insights at the end of the session to bring COMPLETION, perhaps drawing out any particular implications for their current life. The facilitator creates a SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT. The most vital aspect is a feeling of safety that supports the emotional healing. If you, as an adult, would like to experience the potential of Sandplay Therapy, check out our series of Sandplay

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How Does Sandplay Work?

A client comes to the sandtray or the symbol shelves with their own unique blend of therapeutic needs. While they touch the sand or inspect the figurines a positive or negative attraction to a symbol or sand formation begins this begins the process of projection. Next comes some satisfaction with either the sand shaping or gathering a collection of figurines. Visible form for what is already inside the individual takes shape as a story or a picture. The freedom to create allows the client to drop any defences. Facilitation can help the client observe, explore, comment, reconstitute and heal destructive and sabotaging tendencies. Sometimes there can be immediate feedback from the picture or story, in the form of insight, enhancing cognitive understanding of self and issues. Forming the sand supports a shift in awareness from cognitive and verbal to kinesthetic involvement. Sandplay aids metacognitionthinking about thinking, and acts as an aid for reflection. The sand construction in the tray with the arrangement of figurines often reflects a strength for the client from which they may have been disconnected. By concretising or making visible any conflict or tension, the client is then able to reconstruct the situation and gain insight and a clearer understanding. There is a move from a negative mood to a more positive state. Blocked energy is freed and the client appears more alive and more communicative. The freedom to create, without judgement, enhances self-esteem and in itself is very satisfying. This process of transformation involves a clearer cognitive understanding of self, often accompanied by spontaneous problem-solving. The client becomes an active participant in their own healing process.

The Value of Play !

Play involves the childs physical, mental and emotional self in active and creative expression. In play, attention is centred, while action and awareness, thoughts and feelings merge. In play, children find their own answers from within. In play involving familiar experiences in familiar contexts, children are able to reason logically from a very young age. Play encourages an active connection to thinking and imagination. The ability to make-believe is now recognised as highly correlated with academic success. Imaginative play is used by children to resolve the past, cope with the present and prepare for the future. In play, children can represent different aspects of themselves, inviting rejection as a fly or exercising control as a teacher. Through play they are anticipating the consequences of their actions and the effects of their behaviour on others.

Play allows the childs imagination to become a principle problem-solving tool. It is an essential way in which children become an active participant in, and feel control over, their environment. Children use play to control fears: there is one place where you can meet a ferocious beast on your own terms and leave victorious. That place is the imagination. Through learning to play and create with the symbols in the sandtray, the client comes into connection with deeper levels of the psyche that may have been held in check by the rational mind. Sandplay can be a relief from the challenge of dredging up memories, personal details or data that may be required in more cognitive-based frameworks. Emotional healing

Perhaps the most important, but most misunderstood reason for unacceptable behaviour is because a child is suffering stress or unhealed trauma. When a child is feeling stressed (from such things as sibling rivalry, shared parenting, parental stress or illness, a breakdown in relationships, pressure from school, etc) or re-experiencing an unhealed trauma, (such as birth trauma, hospitalisation during infancy, an insecure attachment style, the mothers post natal depression, or abuse) rather than verbal expression, they tend to show their feelings through their behaviour. It is at these times that a child needs a stress-free environment, reassurance, closeness and love rather than punishment, lecturing or rewarding. Sometimes this is not sufficient to change the childs behaviour. Luckily, children naturally know how to heal by releasing pent-up emotions through play, laughter, crying and raging. Our role is to support these natural stress-release mechanisms, which allow healthy outlets for anger, fear or grief. Children who cry and rage about seemingly insignificant events are usually attempting to heal from earlier trauma. Encouraging these natural emotional release processes, rather than attempting to divert, distract or put a lid on them, is essential to the healing process. Allowing children to express and feel the energy of their emotions brings emotional healing and enhances positive mental health. In our western culture we often fear, hide or ignore emotions, especially unpleasant ones. How often have we heard statements like, "Don't cry, you're a big girl now", "You're tough, you'll be alright" or even, "Stop jumping around and making silly noises"? Comments like these teach children very early on that it's not appropriate to cry or even show excitement and what's worse, that there is no place for difficult emotions, so they must be pushed inside. These unapproved and avoided feelings of pain or excitement become repressed in the body. Under pressure or when stressed these feelings either burst out like a volcano or cause illness, physical aches & pains, anxiety or even depression. Parents, teachers and caregivers are often trying to protect their child from feeling painful difficult emotions or may even feel their child is trying to manipulate them. Additionally, their child's pain may even trigger their own embarrassment, insecurities, fears or memories. However, by distracting or pushing down a child's emotional expression we are really taking from them the body's own natural healing mechanism and also losing an opportunity to teach our child that emotions are a normal part of everyday life, how to regulate them and how to release them in a safe way. If you'd like to know more about how to support children in safe emotional release, check out our Parenting from the Inside Out series of workshops or our training for child professionals.

Words explaining the need to say how she feels from a 10 year old client.

Using art process to express emotions in an adult client.

Mandala of "My Body Strength" after Emotional Release. This client was able to finally voice how she actually felt about a family friend.

"Supporting the Emergence of the Self"

"A basic postulate of Sandplay Therapy is that deep in the unconscious there is an autonomous tendency given the proper conditions, for the psyche to heal itself." - Estelle Weinrib 'Images of the Self-The Sandplay Therapy Process' Sandplay Therapy provides: a means of self-discovery, healing and integration a transformation or redirection of blocked energy access to the childhood world of imagination and play, reawakening our own creative nature a means by which children and adults, unable to articulate their feelings and experiences, can find expression and integration safe entry into the deeper archetypal, mythic and transpersonal realms of the psyche an activation of our natural, self-healing capacity an opportunity for a creative non-rational experience, as a balance to society's overemphasis on the ego's intellect Sandplay Therapy was developed by Carl Jung and Dora Kalff from the original work of Margaret Lowenfeld. The process involves creating scenes in a tray of sand, using realistic miniatures chosen from the therapist's collection. These miniatures cover all areas of life such as people, plants, animals, houses, transportation, creepy crawlies, crystals etc. The sand may be moistened with water so that it can be molded or shaped into whatever 'landscape' the individual wishes to create. The use of sand and miniatures gives us a symbolic way of expressing our feelings and viewing our lives. Sandplay provides a fun, non-threatening approach to the unconscious, and a safe space in which to explore feelings and life situations that may feel overwhelming. The client may not have a particular focus in mind, however, playing with the sand, making a landscape, and adding symbols from the shelves, enables the psyche to find its own bearing, free of the ego's influence. Using the sandtray, we are able to play out our fantasies, and to externalize the inner world. "Sandplay heals wounds that have blocked normal development. It enables the constellation and positive activation of the Self and the emergence of a stable ego capable of relating equally to the outer material and the inner spiritual worlds - to life in the here and now, and to the transpersonal dimension. At its best, sandplay therapy is a prime facilitator of the individuation process. At its least, it is an invaluable adjunctive modality." - Estelle Weinrib 'Images of the Self-The Sandplay Therapy Process' Sandplay therapy is wonderful for children and adults! a sandplay in progress Karen with a client

Sandplay Therapy

A Client's Sandplay Experience Birthing a Star I wrote the following piece immediately after a Sandplay Therapy session I had with Karen. I'd made a mound of sand in the centre of the tray, and placed amazingly weathered, 'writhing' pieces of driftwood around it, as if to guard it. As I stroked the mound of sand in the centre, it felt as if I were stroking the part of me no one had ever recognized or acknowledged in my childhood - the deepest, truest, most fragile self. And then I felt it speak the following to me: Don't forget me. I'm amazing. I'm the music magpies sing. I'm the shining inside laughter and tears. I'm more precious than all the money in the world. And the world hasn't seen ultimate beauty until it's seen me. Do you know my time has come to open? And that the long incubation was magic in disguise? When I burst open, I'll take your breath away! Do you know nothing can ever stop me? Do you feel the power of my fragility, feel the power women know in their deepest places, feel the power of this ageless voice? Do you have any idea how much power you have here in me? I'm what flowers in the aftermath of death. Do you know you need never leave this place again, that you can live from here for the rest of your life? Can you say me into the world? Write my voice, sing my sound? My calling never stops you've heard me all your life, in birdsong, rain, and wind; heard me in hope, and yearning; heard me in awe. There are pieces of earth in me, and pieces of star, slivers of ocean and a million lights. If my voice has found you, you've reached the inner sanctum. You can do miracles from here. Your rage is my release, is the fire that opens the pod. I've called your rage, and watched it blast through walls of lies. Your time has come. There have been many deaths, I know - small crimes against the soul - and you've sometimes felt in tatters, miles from any light - but these monuments to loss the ocean gave you, this driftwood shaped like dance, stands sentinel around you, warding off all theft. Caress me when I call you - you'll be kindling magic, crafting dream, birthing a star from deep inside. (Lisa Seckold)]

SANDPLAY THERAPY The following article is an extract from: Sandplay Therapy a step by step manual for psychotherapists of diverse orientation by Barbara Labovitz Boik and E. Anna Goodwin In sandplay therapy the therapist pro vides a sand tray, water, and a multitude of objects and materials with which to imaginatively create scenes in the circumscribed space of the sand tray. Sandplay can be used effectively with children, adults, couples,

families, and groups. As Ruth Ammann analogized, the sand tray is like "a soul garden", a kind of container for the display of the client's psychic life. The sand tray is an "inbetween-space," where the client's inner and outer life can develop and reveal itself. The tray is that free and empty space where the client has the opportunity to create her/ his own world and transform her/his existing world with fresh insight. The therapist provides a safe and accepting environment in which the client can allow her/his inner voice to speak. To continue Ammann's metaphor, this "in-between-space," in which the conscious and uncon scious material can unfold, come together, and be made concrete, is also the space between the client and the therapist. This is the space where the unconscious and conscious of the therapist and the client meet and interact (Ammann, 1994). Sandplay provides the client access to her/his innermost feeling core or psyche. In sandplay therapy the client represents in images what is happening in her/his inner and outer world. By making concrete what the inner voice is expressing, the client brings into external reality her/ his own relationship with her/himself and allows unconscious material to be revealed. This concrete, observable manifestation of subliminal material brings into greater consciousness that which has heretofore been repressed or unknown. In the course of people's lives they create personas to interface with the external world. They often repress feelings and thoughts and lose touch with their Selves, the center of their psyches. The constant activ ity and demands of individuals' everyday lives, the dissociation from traumatic and painful experiences, the messages people receive to shut off their feelings, to be rational or think linearly, to conform and to subdue their imaginations, all serve to block them from their Selves. The more people are blocked, the more disparate the persona is from the Self. "The deeper the emotions and feelings are covered up, the more distanced from consciousness memories and a part of our person alities have become, the less likely it is that we can find the words to express them" (Ammann, 1993). As they become more aware of their unconscious processes by allowing the unknown to be seen through the creation of the sand world, individuals can gain energies and insights which were denied to them. In describing Jungian theory, David Hart, in an interview with Adelaide Bry, stated that "the cooper ation of conscious and unconscious life leads to a greater unity and greater strength within the individual" (in Centerpoint I, 1995, p. 19). Sandplay can provide the framework for this cooperation. Sandplay takes many forms. The connection with the sand in and of itself helps to ground, center, and/or regress the client to a place that needs healing. One of the reasons that this occurs is because as chil dren most people played in the sand and in the dirt. Sandplay often takes a person back to some childhood memory. Some clients use no objects at all; they touch, move, and make formations in the sand. Some use few objects; some use many. Some use the sand dry; some wet the sand with water. Some build their scene quickly; some work slowly. Some create a static world; some create an ongoing, moving story. Some report the experience as very centering and tranquil. Some enjoy the playfulness of sandplay. Some experience very deep emo tions, reexperiencing past pain. There is no right way or right out come. It is important to trust that each client will do what s/he needs to do at that moment in time. It is also important for the therapist to be as aware as possible of her/his biases, values, and unresolved issues. This awareness allows the therapist to be open to receiving what the client is experiencing, with minimal judgment. "Sandplay therapy is a prime facilitator for the individuation pro cess" (Weinrib, 1983). We concur with the Jungian precept that the psyche naturally moves toward healing and wholeness. This aspiration for wholeness toward which the client may have been striv in g unconsciously becomes increasingly realized as the unconscious be comes conscious. The client reconciles her/himself to, and becomes more aware of, different aspects of her/his personality and the blocks and wounds that have interfered with healing and wholeness. Sandplay is like a dream experience, in that it brings to consciousness what the client doesn't see in reality. This helps compensate for her/his lack of awareness.

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We see Sandplay as an adjunct to therapy. Therefore therapists will continue to use the techniques that have served them well in their professional careers. It is important for therapists to honor their own style and theoretical orientations. Sandplay complements many differ ent therapeutic approaches. Gestalt techniques, visualization and imag ery, psychodrama, body work and movement, cognitive restructuring, art therapy, and hypnosis are some of the therapeutic strategies that interface with and augment the sandplay process. Summary What is Sandplay? Benefits of Sandplay Facilitates the individuation process Frees creativity, inner feelings, perceptions and memories, bringing them into outer reality and providing concrete testimony Utilizes most of the senses, providing an expanded experience Regresses the client to past experiences, allowing healing and integration Creates bridges from the unconscious to the conscious, the inner to the outer world, mental and spiritual to physical, nonverbal to verbal, thus revealing hidden material Invites spontaneous play; no right or wrong way Allows defenses to diminish because it is non-threatening Functions as a natural language for children and a common lan guage for use with diverse cultures and developmental stages Empowers the client by allowing movement from the position of victim to creator and by impacting her/his own course of therapy Serves as an adjunct to therapy, making sandplay available for use by therapists of various orientations Provides therapist the opportunity to do personal work Imaginative activity in the sand Natural mirror for the individuation process Access to innermost feeling core Observable manifestation of subliminal material Symbolic language for communication Safe and accepting environment Within a circumscribed space With or without water With or without objects Static or moving world Adjunct to therapy Used with children, adults, couples, families, groups

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What is Art Therapy?

At some point in their lives, people may find themselves overwhelmed by the intensity of their emotions which are difficult to face either by themselves or with others. Art therapy offers an opportunity to explore these intense or painful thoughts and feelings in a supportive environment. It involves using a wide variety of art materials, for example paints, clay and batik, to create a visual representation of thought and feelings. Art Therapy can be an individual activity but is often used very successfully in group situations.

Who is it for?
Its for everybody. For managers and staff under pressure </TD< tr> For people who are generally stressed and overworked For people with mental health problems For people with severe learning difficulties For children and young people who have problems conforming in school and with personal problems at home For people who feel they are problem free but would like the opportunity to explore issues within themselves

What skills do you need?

The simple answer is none. Art therapy requires no artistic ability. The Art Therapist offers guidance and support and the opportunity to explore issues of concern using a variety of art materials.

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Why invest in Art Therapy?

As an individual, on a personal level it could be used as a means of exploring inner issues. It is a safe way to express strong and sometimes sensitive or destructive feelings. It can be used for stress and anxiety management. To enhance communication between individuals, groups or professional teams. It is used to explore change. It is of particular benefit to people experiencing difficulties with written and verbal communication. As a professional manager of vulnerable people in the community, Art Therapy could be used to instil confidence and promote life enhancing change in the people for which you have responsibility.

Some clients views on Art Therapy "Its not about being an artist, its about using visual symbols to explore feeling and emotions.....its about seeing feelings, making them visible to yourself". "Theres a beauty that is free to grow, an expression that can be extended, a space that is fun, safe and good to be in, thats art therapy". "It is the process that is important, not the product". "Im interested to see how my mind works - that part of my mind Im not conscious of."

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