A Presentation by

Dee Preston-Dillon, Ph.D.Director for the Center of Culture and Sandplay

www.cultureplay.com

Sand Therapy Comparison

“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.”

Carl Jung

Sand Therapy Comparison

The World Technique

Margaret Lowenfeld, English pediatrician. Founder: London Institute of Child Psychology (1930’s)

• Did not fit observation into existing theory. (Integrated)

• Children choose to work in medium of water, sand, toys.

• Quality of observation: Emphasis on being fully present. Enter child’s world

• No attempt to alter, influence or modify child’s behavior during play

Sandplay Therapy

Dora Kalff, Swiss Jungian Analyst. Originator: Sandplay. (1930-1980)

• Applied theories of C.G Jungian & Eric Neumann (1954). Early life-crisis disrupts manifestation of Self, a weak ego results.

• Children choose to work with sand & symbols.

• Quality of observation: Emphasis on safe & protected space

• Trust innate healing ability of the child: rediscover & reintegrate split off psyche

Theory As Guide

“In my case Pilgrim's Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my

hand to the little clod of earth that I am.”Carl Jung

Theory As Guide

Sand Tray

A generic use of sand and toys grounded in a variety

of theoriesUse and interpretation

depend on theory

• The World Technique• Child-Centered• Filial therapy• Developmental models: Erickson• Adlerian, Cognitive-behavioral• Social theorists: Vygotsky• Constructionists: Narrative Therapy• Gestalt, transactional

Sandplay:

A Projective Technique

Accesses pre-verbal thinking: fantasy, right brain images, dreams  

Symbol meanings: Idiosyncratic personal associations and cultural amplification

Focus of activity:

1st between Child & the Symbols

2nd between Child & Sand Scene

3rd between Therapist & Child

 Psychotherapeutic Process

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”

Carl Jung

 Psychotherapeutic Process

Sand Tray

• Active engagement with the client

• Therapist may give voice to a toy and dialogue with toy or with client

• Toys are viewed for what they actually are and as representations in real world.

• Participation may include parents, siblings, peers

• Sand therapy is viewed as adjunct to talk therapy to actively express distress & solve problems

• Dialogue may occur during and after sand activity

• Preliminary suggestions for a sand scene may be specific to current problem or designed for therapist insight

Sandplay

• No intervention during sandplay: Therapist quietly and patiently attends while child creates scene.

• Sand scenes are viewed as a series of interconnected expressions, a process driven by unconscious movement toward wholeness & balance -- Individuation

• Objects are viewed as symbols imbued with meaning from complexes & archetypes

• Repair to the ego -- Self axis will affect change for the lived world

Containment and Witnessing

“Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.”

Carl Jung

Containment and Witnessing

Sand Tray 

• Boundaries set to contain psychotherapeutic process & depend on theoretical orientation.

• Containment particularly related to problem-solving externalized for interpersonal skills and confidentiality.

• Culture may or may not be included depending on cultural consciousness of the therapist.

• Sand play activity may extend to include other toys, games, and activity.

• Discussion of sand play and scene are guided by the clinician or child depending on theory base.

Sandplay

• Boundaries set to contain activity in the sand tray, between client /clinician and in the environment.

• Containment includes unconscious activity.

• Culture always included when clinician turns to amplify symbols in sand scene.

• Sand play is contained in the sand box and is viewed as relative to ego boundaries.

• Discussion of sand scene relies on stories told by the child. Clinician interpretation is withheld until end of therapy or when the ego is in balance with the Self. Not necessary to interpret since the healing is already taking place.

Training

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The

curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”

Carl Jung

Training

Sand Tray

• Training depends on the initiative of the therapist. In reality, the clinician may not have experience in the sand, nor any supervision.

• Limitations: Therapist may have attended a workshop introducing sand as a medium for play therapy but limited theory or experiential work.

• Therapist may be introduced to sand box in clinic, school or hospital and apply his or her preferred theory of play therapy to the client’s play.

Sandplay

• Sandplay clinicians do not use the sand until they have completed extensive training.

• Training in Sandplay therapy requires the clinician to complete his or her own sand trays with a Jungian oriented therapist.

• Clinician is expected to understand Jungian theoretical constructs and the method of interpretation through amplification.

Dimensions of Sandplay

“The images of the unconscious place a great responsibility upon a man. Failure to understand them, or a shirking of ethical responsibility, deprives

him of his wholeness and imposes a painful fragmentariness on his life.”Carl Jung

Dimensions of Sandplay

Process is anchored in the relationship between the lived world and unconscious activity. (Preston-Dillon, 1999)

• Developmental Events

• The Life-World – Problem Situation

• Familial Arrangements

• Historical, Cultural, Socio-Political Moments

• Personal Unconscious (complexes)

• Collective Unconscious (archetypes)

Jungian Method for

Interpretation

“The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.”

Carl Jung

Jungian Method for Interpretation

Transcendent Function – Inborn Function & MethodActive Imagination (method)

The ability to bear the tension between conscious & unconscious

A Rite of Passage into the Unconscious

• The natural healing function of imagination

• To engage impulses & images, build a relationship with unconscious

• To translate emotion into image

• Problem: over-value conscious situation or perception

• Counter position form complexes: Inner tensions, polarization

• New symbolic position contains both perspectives

Active Imagination

A Suspension of Disbelief

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Carl Jung

Active Imagination A Suspension of Disbelief

To create a dialectic -- To personify the mood and relate to it

• Be Aware & Fully Present & Open

• Invite Unconscious (sandplay, art, clay, narrative)

• Encounter – Create – Give Expression

• Ethical Engagement, Witness, Reflect

• Bring back to Life World

Role of Clinician

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

Carl Jung

Role of Clinician

• Attend: be fully Present, Mindful, Immediate & Open

• Mediate transcendent function and keep channel open between conscious & unconscious

• Offer suggestions on ways to live with the image, relate to it, be with it

• Link image to archeology, mythology, cross-cultural symbols

• Hold the opposites: How is clinician experiencing tensions & image

Photos and Design by LK Hunsakerwww.lkhunsaker.com

“An elder sitting in the back of the room at a Native American council group has authority. Not because he

holds a higher rank, but because he has certain values.”James Hillman