I remember playing in the sandbox at my Grandma's house, mixing in water, forming shapes, digging into the sand. As a little girl, I often made "cakes and pies." I felt so free as I played in the sandbox--I could respond to whatever impulse I had at the moment--it was pure joy. No wonder I became a sandplay therapist--the process spoke to something deep within me. The contemporary of Freud, Carl Jung, found that, when he gave himself permission to build castles and buildings and roads and rivers, he was directly,connecting with his 11 year old self--his structures were a bridge between his adult and his child, and they somehow healed a breach between the two. Carl's job was to respond to his deep need to do this work of his unconscious--even though he didn't know why this seemed so important--and his own innate momentum to heal did the rest.
When a client decides to let her or himself "play" in the sand, in the free and protected space of the therapist, therapy room and the sandtray itself, this healing process can be engaged. As the client chooses miniatures from all parts of life and mythology and places them in the sandtray--using either wet or dry sand, and digging into or molding the sand or not, the parts of themselves that need maturing or healing or bridging are embodied in the creative process in the sandtray and a journey is begun. This journey can end in one touching the Self, that most sacred part that connects with all life or energy. Pieces of oneself that have been disconnected and unknown are brought into the whole of the person. Sandplay therapy has the potential to heal preverbal and very early hurts, as well as to clarify current phase-of-life concerns. It is an exciting and gratifying journey, and I am honored to be the sacred witness to it.
