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Sandplay Therapy
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Sandplay therapy is a form of psychotherapy used with children as well as adults, for the purpose of healing through connection with the deep psyche. Its founder was the Swiss therapist Dora M. Kalff (1904-1990), who based her theories on the principles of Jungian psychology and on the work of famed child psychiatrist Margaret Lowenfeld.
In Depth
Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung believed the human psyche is constantly moving toward health and wholeness in a process he called “individuation.” The psyche does this through the symbolic content of dreams, imaginations, somatic experiences, and many kinds of expressive art.
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Encyclopedia
Sandplay therapy is a form of psychotherapy used with children as well as adults, for the purpose of healing through connection with the deep psyche. Its founder was the Swiss therapist Dora M. Kalff (1904-1990), who based her theories on the principles of Jungian psychology and on the work of famed child psychiatrist Margaret Lowenfeld.
In Depth
Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung believed the human psyche is constantly moving toward health and wholeness in a process he called “individuation.” The psyche does this through the symbolic content of dreams, imaginations, somatic experiences, and many kinds of expressive art. In Jungian psychology, bringing this symbolic content to conscious awareness is an important part of the healing process for individuals.
Margaret Lowenfeld discovered that children quite naturally use symbols to recreate their inner “worlds” as they manipulate and play with objects in “floor games.” She later developed a method using this process, which she called “World Technique.” Dora Kalff collaborated with Lowenfeld, designed “the tray,” and added sand for a means by which children and adults alike can bring psychic contents to awareness. This therapeutic practice Kalff called “sandplay.” The term defines a specifically Jungian approach, not to be confused with “sandtray” therapy, which is used as a generic description for various methods within play therapy.
Sandplay therapy is a process intended to facilitate the emotional healing and full personal development of adult, adolescent, and child clients. The therapist utilizes a safe and encouraging environment that may sometimes involve dreamwork, talk therapy, or other methods of opening to the imagination. Importantly, however, the client is given the opportunity to choose from hundreds of tiny objects and figures in order to create in a sand tray a picture of her inner “world.” The scenes that take shape in the tray are comparable to the symbolic images that occur in dreams. Immersed in childlike play, the client loses (much as a child does) the inhibitions of conscious awareness and enters the world of the unconscious. The activity is multidimensional––using eyes, hands, body, mind, and spirit––and thus has a profound resonance with the client. The therapist “witnesses” the scene without direction or interpretation, responding only to the client’s comments. A “sacred space” is held allowing the individual to connect with deep psychic contents in her own space and time. Psychological analysis or interpretation may occur at a later date, if so desired.
Sand tray therapy
Sand tray therapy is a method of psychological or psychoanalytic play therapy which is used to assess the mental health and well-being of children and adults by analyzing how they express themselves through the manipulation of objects in small, tabletop sandboxes (sand-trays). It is often used in tandem with other forms of Jungian psychology / therapy. Sand tray participants are asked to create a diorama (a story or miniature world) by arranging toy people, animals, cars, plants, etc. in the sandtray. The therapist evaluates the subject's choice and use of the objects to help the participant to recognize their deeper "symbolic" natures, and to draw various conclusions about their psychological health. Sand Tray is a non-invasive therapeutic method that works especially well with those individuals who are young or have trouble comprehending and talking about difficult issues, such as domestic abuse or child abuse, incest, or the death of a family member.
Sand tray therapy differs from "Sandplay Therapy." The latter is specifically Jungian in approach, aimed at using imaginative play for the purpose of resolution and healing. Neither therapist nor client is involved in strict interpretation or assessment of the symbolic contents which arise from the unconscious. In fact, in Sandplay Therapy "staying with the metaphor" is an important feature that allows healing to occur when the material revealed may be too intense or painful to talk about. Bringing the symbolic images to conscious awareness is the healing agent.
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