What Is Sandplay Therapy?

Sandplay Therapy is an expressive form of therapy that helps a person explore their unconscious, promotes growth, and encourages healing. Through the use of symbolic figures, objects, miniatures, and sand, children, adolescents, and even adults are able to recreate their inner world. Not only does Sandplay provide an individual with a visual image of their unconscious, but it also gives a person the opportunity to work through their trauma, distress, and internal conflicts in a safe space. In fact, because Sandplay is a non-directive technique, it helps promote self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-acceptance. Most importantly, Sandplay helps relieve anxiety and emotional distress ultimately improving a person’s overall well-being.

The Sandplay process begins by introducing the client to an assortment of items such as animals, people, transportation, bridges, walls, trees, plants, and other various objects. Bounded by the safety of a box, the client begins to recreate their world through unrestricted, creative play in the sand. As the therapist sits silently nearby and observes, the client begins to develop concrete representations of their inner world. Not only does the process provide insight, but it also promotes change in several ways: good conquers evil, boundaries (fences, walls, bridges) are set up or removed, chaos becomes order, transformation begins to emerge, and mastery becomes apparent. Whether a client is overwhelmed with emotions or simply unable to articulate their distress, the sand tray becomes the means in which a person is able to heal.

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