Sandtray is one technique that play therapists use to treat children, adolescents, adults, and families (Homeyer and Sweeney, 1998). Here, the children can work through problems and traumatic experiences, which they are unable to verbalize, but can act out in play. There are specific tools used in sandtray therapy. First there is the sandtray. Then there are the sand and the water, which are earth symbols. They are appealing to the child's eyes and other senses. Finally, there is a collection of miniatures, which serve as symbols and images. They are used as words in play, much like grown-ups use words in conversation to express their pain and emotions.
A Case Study
Julie, her name is changed to protect confidentiality, is an eight year old Caucasian female from a lower middle class family. She came to see me because she has had anxiety over her mother's divorce and has problems with her father not being consistent in her life. She will scream, throw things, and temper tantrum if he does not call when he says he is going to call. When he does call, she gets anxious and does not know how to react. Therefore, she will yell at anyone in her way.
Our first session alone was spent using the sandtray. Here we used dry sand in box painted with blue paint inside and filled with sanitized sand. First, Julie played in the sand rubbing her hands in it and swirling it around in circles. She smoothed out the sand and made several concentric circles. Next, she divided the sand box in half. She heaped up all the sand on one side of the box and layered it down to a blue bottom of the tray. She said this was the sand at the sea-shore and the ocean was at the bottom. She took out male and female figurines and paired them together. Some she put at the top of the pile of sand and she stated they were waiting to go down to the beach. Then she took some more figurines and put those three-quarters away from the ocean. She said that they were walking to the water. A final couple, she put one-quarter away from the ocean. Here, she stated that these people are thinking about going into the water. That was the end of her first sandtray.
Julie has never been in counseling before. She seems to be telling me what she is experiencing in counseling. She is at top of the sand and is coming down closer and closer to the water, but she is afraid to go into the water for fear of what it is going to be like. She was testing me out to see what it would be like in therapy. She was not sure she could trust me yet. This is a perfect first sandtray and tells us where she stands. Are we not all afraid when we enter a new situation and do not know what is expected of us? We are Julie standing at the edge of the water.
Why Therapists Use Sandtray Therapy
1. Sandtray therapy gives expression to non-verbalized emotional issues.
2. Sandtray therapy has a unique sensory approach.
3. Sandtray therapy serves to create a necessary therapeutic distance for clients.
4. Sandtray therapy provides natural boundaries and limits, which promotes safety.
5. Sandtray therapy provides a unique setting for the emergence of metaphors in play (Siegelman,1990).
6. Sandplay therapy is effective in overcoming resistance in therapy.
7. Sandtray therapy can offer a medium of expression for someone with poor verbal skills.
8. Sandtray creates a place where one can experience a sense of control over their environment.
9. Problems can be accessed more easily and thoroughly through sandtray.
In Julie's sandtray we can see how important it was for her to be able to use the sand in the sandtray to express herself. She was able to tell me of her fear even though she did not have the words for the fear. This is the dynamic of the metaphor. Many other things can be said of the sandtray scene, but I am only amplifying what I see and not doing direct interpretation as what is done in sandplay. Sandplay is similar to sandtray, only it uses a Jungian base in terms of interpreting levels within the sandtray itself and focuses on interpretations.
This is just one example of sandtray and how it can be used. You should not use sandtray unless you are trained in the method and certainly not for personal use.
Homeyer, L.,& Sweeney, D. (1998). Sandtray: A practical manual. Royal Oak, MI: Self Esteem Shop.
Siegleman, E. (1990). Metaphor and meaning in psychotherapy. New York: Guilford.
Carolyn L. Nelson is a licensed clinical social worker who has been in the field over 20 years. She writes for her Blog at http://blog.therapistscornerblog.com/
She also can be reached at her website at http://www.therapistscornerblog.com/