Sandplay Therapy for Adults
Adults, like children, can and do enjoy sand tray therapy as a way to bypass the logical and intellectual parts of themselves in order to access a deeper, creative aspect. Sand tray therapy has been in use since the 1940s. It emerged in the form of Jungian sandplay, a type of psychoanalytic expressive therapy in which clients were asked to “create a world” in the sand. In current times, sand tray therapy has evolved to be used by therapists from a variety of backgrounds.
How It Works
The sand tray that is used in therapy is a rectangular, wooden tray, several inches deep and painted blue on the inside. The tray is filled about two-thirds full with clean sand. In my therapy room I have two trays ( a wet and dry tray), one that can be used to put water in if the client so desires. I have many shelves that contain a wide variety of miniatures or figurines. These include human figures of different types, as well as animals, plants, buildings, vehicles, and other types of things that are commonly seen in everyday experience, both past and present. Any of these figurines can be placed within the sand tray to create a small, imaginary world. In addition, the sand in the tray can be shifted to make an evocative landscape. Sand can be piled up to show a hill or mountain, or it can be scraped away from the bottom of the tray to show the blue interior in order to represent water.
How It Helps
Sand tray therapy can be used with adults when success with verbal therapies is stifled, or when a therapeutic modality that allows more access to innate creativity is desired. An excellent use for the sand tray can be with grief or trauma, when words are difficult to utter or fully process. When clients touch the sand, it can be very soothing to the psyche, offering a healing beyond what we can visibly understand.
What to Expect
In a session using sand tray therapy, the therapist will typically begin by encouraging the client to explore the sensory experience of the sand tray itself. Many clients may spend a few minutes just experiencing the cool, smooth sand on their fingers. The client can leave the sand smooth and flat or create a landscape by shifting the sand in the tray. Then the therapist will explain how to choose figurines in order to create a world or scene in the sand tray. Then the client will decide where to place each object in the sand landscape. The scene may be static, or it may evolve over the course of the session. The therapist will encourage the client to observe what has happened in the world of the sand tray and discuss the meaning that the client sees in this experience. This is up to the client.
to keep a record of the session.
