Analysis of sand therapy. A Brief Description of Jungian Ideas Relevant to Sand Therapy - Document

Which of us did not play in the sandbox, did not build castles in childhood? On the seashore, as if some invisible force attracts us to create a bizarre castle. Sea waves roll, wash away our buildings, and we continue to build again and again.

Sand is an amazing material, pleasant to the touch and so malleable that you can create whole fragments of the world, then another, and so on ad infinitum.

Experiencing the unique mystery of being, a person reaches a state of inner balance, freeing himself from everyday fuss.
We dip our hands in the sand and amazing sensations take over us. It can crumble through your fingers and can be shaped. Sand is an unknown and known universe from which you can create your own unique world...

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Jungian Sand Therapy Technique

The technique of "sand therapy" arose within the framework of the Jungian analytical approach and is largely based on working with the symbolic content of the unconscious as a source of internal growth and development. The author of this method, which arose in the 50s of the last century, is considered the Swiss Jungian analyst Dora Kalf.

It is believed that the origins of "sand therapy" are in the book of the famous science fiction writer G. Wells "Games on the floor" (1911). In it, he describes how his sons, through playing with miniature figurines, found expression and relief from difficulties in relationships with family members and with each other. It was this book that inspired child psychiatrist Margaret Lowenfeld, who founded the London Institute of Child Psychology, to put miniature figurines on the shelves of her office. The first child who saw these figurines took them to the sandbox nearby and began to play with them in the sand. This is what laid the foundation for the "technique of building the world" - a diagnostic and therapeutic technique, developed and described in detail by Margaret Lowenfeld. Dora Kalf, trained by M. Lowenfeld, saw in this technique not only an opportunity to help children express and respond to their painful feelings, but also a way to strengthen the connection with the deep unconscious layers of the psyche and help the process of individuation and the development of transcendental function (a mental function that occurs in the result of tension between consciousness and the unconscious and supporting their unification), which she studied with K.G. Cabin boy.

The main principle put by Dora Kapf as the basis of her work is “creating a free and protected space” in which the patient - a child or an adult - can express and explore his world, turning his experience and his experiences, often incomprehensible or disturbing, into visible and tangible images. .

“A painting in the sand can be understood as a three-dimensional depiction of some aspect of a state of mind. An unconscious problem is played out in a sandbox, like a drama, the conflict is transferred from the inner world to the outer one and made visible. (Dora Kalf, Sandplay, 1980)

For work, two wooden trays with sand measuring approximately 60 x 70 x 10 are used (a space that can be easily captured by the eye at the same time). One tray is filled with dry sand and the other is used if the client wants to work with wet sand. The inner surface of the trays is painted blue - thus, the bottom of the tray can depict the sea or the river, and also serves as a symbol of the unconscious. You also need a wide variety of figures, from which the client chooses what attracts or, conversely, frightens or repels him.

In sand therapy, the following items are usually used:

• people - various figurines of people - children, adults, representatives of different professions, fairy-tale characters (sorcerers, witches), gods and goddesses of different peoples, angels, etc .;
• animals - fish (shark, dolphin, goldfish) and other aquatic mammals (fur seals, walruses, whales), amphibians, reptiles, rodents, domestic animals and predators, birds, insects (ants, flies, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, butterflies ) - i.e. various representatives of the animal world;
• plants - trees, shrubs, flowers. You can use artificial and natural plants;

® celestial objects - sun, moon, stars, rainbow, clouds, lightning;

• habitat objects - fences, gates, road signs, bridges;
• accessories - pieces of fabric, threads, buttons, chains, small cloves, coins.
• natural objects - pebbles, bones, pieces of metal and wood, shells, seeds, acorns, chestnuts, feathers, dry plants, crystals, polished glass.

Filling in parts of the sandbox and its sectors will tell a lot of interesting things about a person. For example, if there is a noticeable shift in the action in the sandbox to the top, we have a person prone to dreams. If he does not have balancing figures below, you need to work out the aspect of implementing the plan, drawing up plans. People "mundane" fill the lower sectors of the sandbox. In this case, the development of fantasy in the sand therapy classes will become a balancing moment. A shift to the left or right side will show a person who is owned by either the past or the future. Also, the analysis of "sand pictures" is based on the scheme of dividing the tray: past - present - future (from left to right) and conscious - unconscious (from top to bottom); the selected figures are also analyzed based on the symbolic meaning, how they are located, rotated, including in relation to each other, what is next to them, etc.

The use of miniature figures in sand therapy, combining them into a certain plot, suggests the performances of the internal theater of the individual. The figurines can symbolize subpersonalities (a kind of "mini-I", which has a certain set of characteristics - fears, needs, beliefs, etc.) of the author of the sand painting. Observing the relationship between the heroes of the sand picture, a person can establish the subpersonalities that are actualized at the moment and enter into a dialogue with them. In this case, the main emphasis is on building a dialogue with the figures. It turns out that in the process of sand therapy, the client builds a new relationship with himself. However, the figures used in the sandbox can not only reflect the subpersonalities of a person, but also symbolize real people and phenomena of the environment in which the client is included. In the sand environment, real life situations can be dramatized, in relation to which a person experiences certain difficulties. In this case sand therapy is a miniature of psychodrama. The advantage of the psychodramatic approach here is that the creation of performances does not require the help of a group - all the roles are played by toy figures. Thus, the sandbox creates the conditions for a performance not only in a group mode, but also in an individual one.

a Ritual items.

• Miniature clock, scales, pendulum.

and Caskets, boxes.

And miniature musical instruments.

a Multi-colored glass and crystal balls and much more.

3. Technical devices

Camera, film set.

Sand Therapy Process

The duration of one session of sand therapy with adolescents and adults is on average 50-60 minutes. The duration of one consultation depends on the age of the client and the peculiarities of his intellectual development.

The frequency of consultations depends on the severity of the problem. Recommended 1-2 times a week.

A full course of sand therapy can be 12-15 sessions.

At the first consultation, if a positive decision is made to use sand therapy, it is necessary to acquaint the client with how the process is organized.

1. Sandbox demo.Usually the client is told the following: “Look, our sandbox is half filled with sand, so the blue sides are visible. Why do you think this is necessary? Indeed, the sides symbolize the sky. The sandbox has another secret: if you and I “push the sand apart”, we will find a blue bottom. Why do you think this is necessary? Indeed, the bottom symbolizes water. However, if you feel that the symbolic water is not enough for you, please use a jug of water. Dry sand easily turns into wet sand. You can create any landscape - mountainous, hilly, and flat. In a word, everything here is subject to the will of your imagination.
2. Demonstration of a collection of figurines.Usually the client is told the following: “Look - there are a lot of different figures. You can look at them, hold them in your hands. There are trees, and houses, and people, and much more. When creating your world, your picture in the sandbox, you can use different figures.”
3. Building a sand painting.Instructions: "Choose by

> Shuista, all those figures that attract or repel you, choose as many figures as you want. We have one hour, M you can determine for yourself the time to choose. Everything that you (choose), you must place on a tray (in a sandbox).

1. Discussion of the sand painting.When discussing with the client the picture and the experiences associated with it, the psychologist does not give information | 1 >reviews or recommendations. He only "mirrors" the client

• Shu his own experiences. The main questions of psychology emphasize for the client the significance of the experience of creating a new

internal picture and the place of this experience in the overall picture of life | shenta.

The main questions of the psychologist to the client

The main questions of the psychologist to the client may be the following:

• If the tray were a painting, what would be the name of this painting?
• What are your impressions, feelings from the process of creating a sand painting?
• What is especially important or useful to you in this picture?
• How can the plot or characters of your composition help you in your life?
• Perhaps you have made some discovery or important observation for yourself: if so, would you like to talk about it?

Thus, the psychologist's strategy consists in maximum assistance to the client in the process of understanding himself and comprehending the patterns of his own life.

Key characteristics of sand paintings

Among the key characteristics of sand paintings are:

1. Energy-informational field of the sand picture.
2. The main idea of ​​the sand painting.
3. The plot (or plots) of the sand painting.
4. Conflict content sand painting.
5. Resource content of the sand painting.
6. The symbolic field of the sand painting.

1. Energy information field of the sand picture

Most often, a psychologist has an adequate response to the energy J | the tick of the picture, that is, a certain “working state” is turned on. His first sign is a sincere interest in the painting, a desire to learn as much as possible about it.

We still know too little about the energy-information field of the sand picture, but we understand the importance of this key I characteristic. In fact, the energy-information field of the sand picture is the main repository of knowledge about the composition, but it is still difficult for us to formalize this knowledge. Therefore, other key characteristics come to the rescue.

1. The main idea of ​​the sand painting

The main idea of ​​the sand painting reflects the author's actual life values, needs, "zone of proximal development". In other words, the main idea will tell us what is most significant for the client at the moment. What he is consciously or unconsciously working on, what he is striving for. There are at least three ways to learn the basic idea of ​​a sand painting.

1. Ask the client to name the world created in the sandbox.
2. Invite the client to answer one of the following questions:

in What kind of world is this?

What country is this?

® What is the most important thing the inhabitants of this country could say to the inhabitants of other countries and worlds?

I What can we learn from the experience of traveling this country, this world?

1. Invite the client to describe the sand world.

1. The plot (or plots) of the sand painting

The plot of the sand painting reflects the dynamics of some internal process. Sometimes it happens that inside the picture there are two or more related plots. For example, two

fans, three worlds, two or more main characters. It happens that plots are dedicated to one character, but describe different age intervals of his path: childhood, youth, maturity.

It is conditionally possible to divide the paintings according to the plot dynamics of the pi fi type:

1. dynamic;
2. static;
3. mixed.

dynamic pictures,as a rule, they have a hero (or a hero) who is going somewhere, striving, wanting something, looking for something. In the picture, we find such heroes at a certain length of the path. We can see their past (the world from which they came) and their future (the world to which they aspire).

The advantage of dynamic pictures for the psychologist lies in the fact that in fact the client himself tells about the goals of the consul!, shaving (albeit in encrypted form). He knows what he must come to, what to obtain, what means to achieve this and to use it.

static picture- this is a freeze-frame of a certain plot. In the stagiac sand painting, time has stopped. The heroes of such paintings, as a rule, lead a sedentary lifestyle. Or we catch them and the moment of some action (work, play, meal, bathing, tanning, hunting, etc.). But in any case, this is the usual way of activity for them. To reveal the plot in a static picture, you can give the client the following tasks: “Tell the story of this country. How did it all begin, who created it, how did it happen? What is the future of this country? Imagine that the first day of creation in this country is over, night has come, and after it a new day. Tell me what happened in this country."

If no significant events take place in the country, the plot dynamics manifests itself only in a change in the types of activities of the characters, this may mean that a person has found a certain “zone of stability” for himself and is not yet striving to leave it. Apparently, he needs to "live" in this country for some time in order to gain strength for travel and adventure.

In mixed sand paintingsstatic well-being is violated by the dynamism of a certain hero.

Mixed pictures can contain two worlds: static and dynamic. But in any case, the mixed picture speaks of internal confrontation, contradiction and the search for stability. This type of paintings also sheds light on the conflicting content of sand compositions [18].

1. Conflict content of sand paintings

The conflicting content of sand paintings reflects the inner tension of a person. It is overt and covert.

The conflict content of a sand painting can be described by the following characteristics:

1. level of aggression;
2. direction of aggression;
3. targeting of aggression;
4. the dynamics of the study of internal conflict.

Level of aggressioncan be high, medium or low.

The level of aggression is high if battles are unfolding in the sandbox or there is a character in relation to which active aggressive actions are manifested.

If the heroes of the picture are just preparing for war, or if there are a certain number of armed figures in an outwardly calm world who are not involved in active hostilities, then we can talk about an average level of aggression. If the sand painting is a peaceful spectacle, we see a low level of aggression.

Orientation of aggressioncan manifest itself as autoaggression and heteroaggression. Auto-aggression is visible in the destructive actions towards the main character of the sand tale, in the troubles that the author exposes him to. Heteroaggression is expressed through the confrontation of armies in the sandbox, as well as in the active aggressive actions of the protagonist in relation to other characters and elements of the composition.

Targeting of aggressionshows the addressee of aggressive actions. The figurine (or figurines) to which the aggressive flow is directed can be associated by the client with a specific person from real life (mother, sister, father, grandmother, husband, wife, child, boss, girlfriend, etc.).

1. Resource content of the sand painting

The resource content of the sand picture serves as a support for tichological counseling and is an integral characterization.

Manifestation of resource content:

1. The presence of a special positive energy in the picture. Which- 1 o a section of a picture or a composition as a whole warms the soul. If you ask to talk about this in more detail, you can update the resource hypostasis of the individual.
2. There is a creative idea in a picture or a story about it,

• rattling. If the psychologist focuses the client's attention on this, it is possible to update his resource capabilities.

1. The plot of the sand painting is life-affirming - and on this you can build a line of counseling.
2. The feeling of release from tension after the conflict played out. Now that good has triumphed over evil, you can "start a new life."
3. The flexibility and ingenuity of the hero of the composition in finding ways to overcome difficulties. This can usually be established from the client's story about the painting. If a hero combines direct aggression, cunning, patronizing, avoidance, mutual aid, and other ways to overcome a difficult situation, one can talk about his adaptive resources. He has a high potential to adapt to different conditions, as well as to successfully resolve difficult situations.
4. The potential resource capabilities of a person are manifested in his sand picture as wonderful objects that bring deliverance or a happy resolution of the situation. Subsequently, we will be able to contact them to support and strengthen the client's self.
5. Helper figures.

1. The symbolic field of the sand painting

The symbolic field of the sand painting reflects information about the client's inner world, encrypted in images and symbols. For the researcher, this key characteristic is perhaps the most attractive.

For ease of understanding, we will conditionally divide the symbolic field of the sand painting into three parts. The symbolic field will include:

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1. symbolism of the spatial arrangement of objects in the sandbox;
2. the symbolism of the sand painting landscape;
3. the symbolism of the objects used in the sand painting.

We will sequentially consider each part of the symbolic field of the sand painting. Conditionally dividing it into three parts, we will remember that they exist in unity with each other.

An important condition for symbolic analysis is fixing the location of the client relative to the sandbox.

The surface of the sand painting can be conditionally divided into three equal parts vertically and three equal parts horizontally, as in a Rubik's cube. Thus, the "sand sheet" is divided into nine sectors. Each vertical and horizontal has a certain symbolic meaning. We give it for those who have the leading hand - right. For left-handers, everything will be mirrored.

Vertical split.

"Women's" part. It symbolizes the past, relationships with significant women, mother, connection with home.

The left side is what a person already has, on which he can rely.

The left side can also symbolize the inner world of a person; reflect his deep personal processes.

The present. The central part symbolizes the current human processes. What he thinks about, what he aspires to, what is significant to him. This is especially true of the figurine, which is placed in the center of the picture. Often it symbolizes the I of the client, the image with which he unconsciously associates himself at the moment.

"Male" part. Symbolizes the future. social processes. Relationships in society: kindergarten, school, institute, work. May reflect a relationship with a marriage partner. It also symbolizes plans for the future, anxieties associated with the future.

Relationships with significant men, father, brother, husband, friend. Sometimes it symbolizes limitations in the implementation of the plan.

Horizontal split.

The upper part symbolizes mental processes. What a person thinks about, fantasizes, what he plans, remembers.

The central part symbolizes emotional processes. What a person experiences, what he feels, what he worries about, what he rejoices.

The lower part symbolizes the sphere of real actions, human actions. What he did, what he does, what he wants to do. Earth, soil under your feet. As you can see, the interpretation of the symbolic meaning is multi-valued, multi-level. Therefore, the psychologist is looking for the meaning that most of all corresponds to the state of the client and the idea of ​​the picture.

Even a cursory glance at the spatial arrangement of the figures in the sandbox can provide important information about the characteristics of the client. To do this, you need to answer the question: “Which parts of the sandbox are the most filled, and which were empty?” If there is a certain disharmony in filling the sandbox with figures, the psychologist can determine for himself the most general tasks of counseling.

Sand painting figurines.

The figurines in the upper left corner symbolize processes associated either with past memories or with thoughts of home, mother, or another significant woman.

The figures located in the central upper part can reflect what the client is thinking about at the moment, fantasizing about.

In the upper right corner, as a rule, there are figures that reflect dreams, plans for the future, thoughts about interaction in society: from kindergarten, school to work. Interaction with the father, other significant men.

The figurines that fell into the central left part can symbolize past emotional experiences associated with the house, mother, significant woman.

The most important figures are concentrated in the central part. On the one hand, they describe the current emotional state. On the other hand, value aspirations, something significant, whether it is conscious or not.

The figures in the right central part reflect the aspirations, desires of the author of the sand painting, as well as emotions about the future, men, social self-realization.

Jungian sand therapy is one of the most relevant areas of modern psychotherapy, used in work with both adults and children. The essence of this method is the synthesis of various types of creativity, which are in the nature of self-knowledge and relaxation.

What is used in this therapy

When conducting a psychotherapeutic session, the simplest objects are used. First of all, a relatively small sandbox is taken, specially processed sand, as well as various figures that carry images of certain objects of the world around them: these are miniatures of people and animals, houses, furniture, vehicles. It can also be pebbles, shells, artificial flowers, jewelry chests and so on. Nearby is a vessel with water and various items that allow you to make anything out of sand (rakes, shovels, etc.).

History of Jungian Sandplay Therapy

This kind of therapy originates in the last century. It is believed that for the first time the technique of working with figurines and sand was used by the Englishwoman M. Lowenfeld. As a pediatrician, she noticed that her little patients after such classes become more balanced and thoughtful.

Later, already in the middle of the 20th century, the psychotherapist D. Kalff, a student of C. Jung, created and described the sand therapy technique for the youngest and already established clients. She took a sandbox painted in blue (the color of the sky and water, God the Father - the sky and the Mother Goddess - the water element), and used small figures. The psychotherapist offered children and adults to create “their own world” with the help of figurines and sand. Her clients began to perform this simple task, plunged into the world of their unconscious, secret symbols and images, and created this world on the sand.

What is the purpose of psychotherapy

As a rule, sand therapy classes are of great interest to both adults and children. Surprisingly, practice shows that such immersion in the world of one's own fantasies and symbolic images can be even more effective for adults.

A person who comes to the lesson, picking up different figures and putting together a plot composition from them, creates such a “world of himself” that sometimes the psychotherapist does not even need to explain anything to the client: he himself understands everything without words, seeing from the outside all his problems and difficulties.

An interesting example

One day, a middle-aged woman came to a Jungian psychotherapy class and admitted that she was on the verge of a divorce. The psychologist suggested that she try to create her own world with the help of figurines and sand. The task interested the woman, and she quickly coped with it. When the psychologist asked the client to explain what figures she chose and what they mean, she, without hesitation, said that she chose herself in the form of a lioness protecting her house from strangers, and her husband at the same time became a small and thin giraffe. When the lady looked at this giraffe, she suddenly fell silent, apparently realizing what her conflict with her husband was.

Thus, sand therapy is a unique method that allows clients to know themselves and get aesthetic pleasure from creative work. And, like all things wise, this method is surprisingly easy to use and widely available to everyone.

Do you believe in the effectiveness of psychotherapy?

Yes, I have personally verified this. 20 45 45 0

More likely yes than no, but it doesn't always help 9 45 45 0

I don't know, haven't decided yet 13 45 45 0

No, it's all a lie 3 45 45 0

Wow! It turns out that playing in the sandbox can be an element of psychological help. I didn't even suspect. That's right, you need to play with children or grandchildren in the sand castles and sand castles. It's easy - you do not need to pay money for an appointment with a psychologist. And the sea of ​​​​pleasure and relaxation. As it turns out, it's simple. So the girls, armed with spatulas, will solve their problems on the street.

Marina, but it seems to me that everything is much simpler. It's just that people have an excess of free time, and they toil with nonsense. Isn't it funny to you that a woman on the verge of divorce solved her problem with sand? But to sit down and think about the situation on her own, so she didn’t have enough strength? What childish reasoning. I can understand when this therapy is done with children, but with adults...

Ella, and the most interesting thing is that it is in demand and people don’t understand it, they give money for such nonsense. In my opinion, it's just a lack of attention. It's like a lonely and sad child comes to other children in the sandbox and they start playing. Naturally, his mood rises immediately. And of course you are right spouses should talk, and not suffer garbage.

Prepared material

teacher-psychologist V.N. Shalamova

How can sand help us?

Sand therapy. How can sand help us?

To all of us, the well-known sand seems absolutely simple and understandable. However, in reality it is an amazing and mysterious material. Both children and adults can spend hours fiddling in the sand, building sand castles or just watching how it spills from palm to palm. Sand can be so different. Dry and light or heavy and wet, it easily takes on any shape. At the same time, it is so fickle, the figures from it are able to crumble in an instant. All these wonderful properties of sand, which give such scope for creativity and imagination, as it turned out, can be successfully used for therapeutic purposes.

Sand therapy is, first of all, an opportunity for self-expression. Sand, water and several small figures of people, animals or objects can help a person open up, express their feelings and emotions, which are sometimes so difficult to convey with words. In addition, sand therapy can help us understand ourselves, cope with complexes. At the same time, therapeutic sessions give a feeling of security and complete freedom.

- Sand therapy is designed only for children?

Sand therapy is essentially a game. It is the game that helps children learn to build relationships with the outside world, to know it and express their feelings. But it's good for adults to play too. So we kind of open the doors for our creativity. And it, in turn, gives us strength for development and change. Sand therapy is a game with symbols that help you hear your “I”, which can tell you a way out of a situation or a way to solve a problem.

Why is sand therapy also called "Jungian"?

The fact is that the creator of "sand therapy" was a student of the famous psychoanalyst K. G. Jung - Dora Kalf. Sand therapy is based on Jung's teaching that our subconscious mind always seeks to help us, cope with problems and illnesses, using hints-symbols. Today, many psychologists and psychotherapists use sand therapy in their practice, thereby helping to decipher the clues of our subconscious.

How are sand therapy sessions going?

If a psychologist uses sand therapy in his practice, in his office you will probably find several shelves with a large number of different figures and trays with wet and dry sand. the psychologist will ask you to choose any figurines that arouse your interest. You will have enough time to choose. Then you will place these figures in one of the sand trays. You can arrange the figures absolutely arbitrarily, swap places. In general, full scope for imagination and self-expression. When, finally, you place all the figures and tell the psychologist about it, nothing will be changed.

The therapeutic effect can come already at the stage of the arrangement of the figures. The specialist will create all the necessary conditions for this. You can also ask a psychologist to interpret what is on the tray, to help connect the gritty picture with real life events. Often a psychologist conducts several sessions, and this does not mean at all that at each you will certainly place figures in the sand.

How exactly does sand therapy work?

Sand paintings are like our dreams. In both cases, they are a reflection of our unconscious. However, dreams are not tangible. And when creating sandy compositions, we get the opportunity to “see” our internal conflicts and experiences. Well, a psychologist, if necessary, will help to consider and realize in more detail what exactly controls our actions and emotions. Thus, we can embark on the path of change.

Often, during the sessions, we seem to restore the once lost parts of ourselves. This alone is enough to change. The hidden complexes and problems pulled out from the depths of the subconscious, with a more conscious and critical examination of them, seem no longer so terrible and insoluble. Just like scary monsters in a dark room instantly disappear, one has only to turn on the light there.

- What are the features of sand therapy and what are its advantages?

First, it is a great opportunity for self-expression. The compositions created during the sand therapy session allow us to express what is often difficult to convey with the help of words alone. And this is a very important point. Well, if you are experiencing difficulties or for some reason cannot tell about your experiences, then sand paintings can help you open up. This is also very important for children, who are often simply unable to describe in words what worries them.

It should be noted that when creating compositions on the sand, no special skills are needed at all, as, for example, with simple drawing. Therefore, any errors are excluded and there is no concept of "wrong". Therefore, in a session of sand therapy, you feel more relaxed and do not tend to overly control and evaluate your actions. After all, the concept of “beautiful” or “correct” sandy composition simply does not exist. While, for example, in painting or modeling, there is always an assessment of the correctness of one's actions.

- Sand therapy is so similar to a regular game. What is the difference between it and just a child playing in the sandbox or on the beach?

Indeed, they are very similar. Play is very important for a child. It is necessary for its development. While playing, the child learns the world and learns to overcome difficulties, ceases to be afraid of the unknown.

It does not matter what exactly the child will do at the reception with a psychologist. Much more important here is the atmosphere itself, the rules and the meaning of what is happening. It's like telling something to different people. It seems the same story, but the form of the story will be different and it depends primarily on who you tell it to and how the person listens to you.

An experienced specialist, carefully observing the course of the game, will always notice a difficult situation for the child in time and help find options for solving it or correct the child’s attitude towards it.

-What is the optimal number of sessions?

In order to answer this question, the psychologist must first get to know you and the nature of your problems. Usually one or two meetings are enough to assess the situation. In some cases, in order to better understand the situation, it will take more time. After that, you will be assigned a specific, optimal for you, number of sand therapy sessions.

-How can I get more information about sand therapy?

You can get the most complete and comprehensive answers to your questions during a personal meeting with a specialist.

contact us , in a personal conversation we will tell you much more.

Sand therapy for big and small helps:

· deal with fear and insecurity

· open a resource in relationships and circumstances

· energize creativity and spontaneity.

Solved problems in children:

· aggressive behavior,

· fears

· difficulties in getting used to the child to new conditions in connection with the change of residence of the family or when its composition changes,

· specific difficulties and features of raising a younger, middle, older or only child in the family,

· communication problems with peers

· verbal aggression (swear words from the mouth of a child),

· pathological habits (nail biting, thumb sucking, hair twisting, etc.),

· conflicts between siblings

· violation of behavior, deterioration of health or bad mood in a child after admission to kindergarten,

· hyperactivity and impaired concentration,

· stubbornness, resistance or willfulness of the child,

· anxiety states,

· timidity, shyness,

· child's disability,

· fear of going to school

· unwillingness to learn

· low self control

· depression in children

Along with the high efficiency of the method, sand therapy also has contraindications. Not recommended in cases where:

Brief description of Jungian ideas related to sand therapy

At the age of 83, in the preface to his autobiography, Jung wrote: "Everything that is in the unconscious tends to manifest itself outside, and the personality also in its development tends to move from an unconscious state to a holistic experience of itself."

At the dawn of his professional career, working with patients with schizophrenia and deeply studying mythology, Jung suggested the existence of a "myth-generating level of the psyche common to all people." His own childhood and youthful dreams showed him the existence of a collective unconscious, reflected in mythological rather than scientific ideas.

Jung made a distinction between three levels of mental life: consciousness (1), personal unconscious (2) and collective unconscious (3). The personal unconscious consists, first of all, of all that material that has become unconscious or lost its brightness and has been forgotten, or because it has been repressed, and, secondly, of those impressions that have never been vivid enough to reach consciousness, but still being the content of the psyche. The collective unconscious, reflecting the experience of ancestors and various possibilities, does not have an individual character and is common to all people, and possibly to all animals, the true basis of the individual psyche.

These ideas of Jung are important for understanding the evolutionary process of the psyche, cultural experience, as well as the life of modern man and his behavior.

After a decisive break with Freud in 1912/13. Jung was able to restore his mental balance through the use of symbolic games, creating "villages" of stones, earth and water on the shore of the lake, just as he did as a child. The embodiment of spontaneously arising images in natural materials helped Jung to understand his experiences and gave vent to his creative imagination. In the future, he again entered into a dialogue with fantastic characters that appeared in his imagination. The material of the unconscious could then be reflected in painting, drawing, sculpture or artistic descriptions. Jung called this process active imagination, considering it as a tool for interacting with the collective unconscious. Storr writes:

Jung imagined the collective unconscious to be made up of mythological motifs or primordial images, which he called "archetypes". Archetypes are not innate representations, but act as "typical forms of behavior, which, becoming conscious, are naturally expressed in ideas and images, like everything that becomes the content of consciousness." Archetypes organize images and representations in a certain way. By themselves, they are not the content of consciousness, but act as some fundamental themes on which the variety of conscious manifestations is formed. They seem so "supernatural" that they take on a deep spiritual meaning.

Edinger wrote: "Archetypes are perceived and experienced through certain universal, highly characteristic, recurring mythological motifs and images." He lists four main categories of archetypal images:

1) the archetype of the Great Mother, which includes both conscious and destructive qualities of the feminine;

2) the archetype of the Spiritual Father, embodying male qualities, consciousness and spirit as opposed to matter;

3) the archetype of Transformation, associated with the themes of travel, descent into the dungeon in order to search for treasures, the themes of death and rebirth, decay and restoration of integrity, as well as with the images of a hero and a child prodigy;

4) the central archetype - Self - a symbol of completeness and integrity, often manifested in the form of a circle in combination with four-part figures, such as a square or a cross, denoting the union of opposites.

Jung defines the Self as both the center and the outer limits of the psyche. It is the main organizing principle of the personality and includes the collective and personal unconscious, as well as consciousness, the center of which is the "I".

Jung explained the differences in people's reactions to the same stimuli by the presence of different psychological types. He introduced the concepts of "extrovert" and "introvert" in order to designate the differences between the type of personality, which is characterized by the direction of mental energy in the external, objective world, and the one in which this energy is directed inward. In addition, Jung divided four main mental functions - thinking, feeling, sensing and intuition. All these functions are inherent in every person, but usually different functions predominate in different people, while others are less developed. So, for example, someone whose function of thinking predominates does not use feelings enough, and vice versa. The predominance of any one mental function creates a mental imbalance. Edinger writes that "one of the tasks of Jungian psychotherapy is the person's awareness of those functions that are less developed in him in order to achieve mental integrity." Jung's perception of the psyche as a self-regulating system implied the understanding that the dominant mental functions realized by a person will be somehow balanced by unconscious functions. Manifestations of the unconscious may be accompanied by mental imbalance, and not only in the form of pathological changes, but also in the form of certain phenomena indicating insufficient interaction between complementary mental functions. Jung wrote that repressed psychic contents must be recognized and cause a certain internal conflict, without which no development is possible. The conscious "I" usually dominates, while the "shadow" manifestations of the personality are repressed, and just as the high seeks to balance itself with the low, and the hot with the cold, consciousness, perhaps without even realizing it, seeks to balance itself with the unconscious , without which it is doomed to stagnation and ossification. Life is always the result of the interaction of opposites.

Jung designated the process of mental development taking place in adult individuals with the concept of individuation. Edinger defines it as "the opening and continuing dialogue of consciousness and the unconscious, of which the Self is the expression. It begins with the experience of a person in those forms of experience that challenge his habitual sense of his conscious self and lead him to understand that it is only part of the whole psyche.

sand therapy

Sand therapy involves playing with sand and miniature figurines. It allows you to activate your imagination and express the resulting images by means of artistic expression. In the process of ongoing dialogue with his inner world, a person gets the opportunity to present these images in a concrete form. "The form and content of the image are identical, and as the image takes shape, its meaning is clarified. In fact, the images do not need any interpretation, since their content is already presented quite clearly." Images are able to heal due to the fact that they contribute to the inclusion of unconscious mental contents in consciousness and, thereby, ensuring the interaction of the "I" with the source of mental life.

It is not uncommon for clients in the early stages of art therapy or sand therapy to say, "I don't know what to do..." Believing that they are expected to create some finished image, clients experience anxiety. However, when it is possible to remove conscious control over the pictorial process and give the client the opportunity to respond to colors or materials more spontaneously, he begins to create images that are very interesting and deep in content. By uniting with the Self - "the central archetype of unity and integrity, to which the conscious "I" is subordinate, the personality becomes an intermediary between the inner and outer world. Due to this, closer contact is established with the unconscious.

The creation of specific forms helps to comprehend its content. Jung writes that since the "I" acts only as the center of conscious life, it cannot designate the psyche as a whole and is only one of the complexes. Thus, I separate the conscious "I" from the Self, and while "I" denotes the conscious aspect of the psyche, the Self denotes the psyche as a whole. In this sense, the Self includes the conscious "I" as one of its elements. Therefore, in fantasies, the Self often appears as a higher or ideal personality.

Thanks to the play with sand and water flowing in the space of a tray painted blue on the inside, a person experiences a premordial psychic experience.

Miniature figurines represent both elements of the natural environment and attributes of different cultures, religious and mythological characters, which contributes to the actualization of innate mental experience and its awareness, as well as the manifestation of healing effects associated with certain images. "In terms of the Jungian approach, sand therapy creates an opportunity for the manifestation of the archetype of the child, so that a person can gradually come to realize it."

CREATING THE BASIS AND CLASSIFYING FORMS

The client can start his work by creating a sand base, then adding miniature figures to it. The movements of human hands give the sand certain forms that are characteristic of sand therapy. At the same time, the client, if he wants, can not make any manipulations with the sand and immediately place miniature figures on it. The unaltered sand surface is perceived by the client in the same way as the surface of a table or floor. In the literature on sand therapy, mainly such examples of sand compositions are given, when miniatures are placed on the sand without any manipulations with it. Sometimes sandforms imitate rivers, ponds and hills, but no discussion of these is given. However, the most expressive sand sculptures appear in most clinical descriptions in the work of Ammann, who has an architectural background and training in Jungian analysis. Ammann notes that she has always liked three-dimensional forms. It allows the client to use the sandbox as often as they like, and has the flexibility to incorporate sand composition creation into their analysis work. Her approach to the use of sand therapy is characterized by a strong focus on natural materials and processes. Therefore, it is quite possible that the sculptural sand images of her clients in a certain way reflect the fact that the specialist attaches great importance to the artistic, aesthetic qualities of sand compositions, as well as her desire to use sand therapy not as an auxiliary activity included in the analytical process, but as the main tool. work.

Sandwork can be divided into three main types, combining the most common and frequently repeated forms created by children at different stages of their development in the process of playing with sand. The first type of work refers to the performance of certain manipulations with the sand surface. Children fill molds with sand, draw lines on the sandy surface, make prints, collect sand into lumps and create slides. The second type of work is associated with penetration into the thickness of the sand, digging holes and tunnels, as well as hiding objects in the sand and then extracting them. The third type includes works that use water - children can drip it on the sand, controlling the volume, or pour it in large quantities. In psychotherapy, children and adults use all kinds of work. The combination of different types leads to the creation of more complex forms. The form then determines the content of the work and reflects a certain stage of the psychotherapeutic process, thus becoming a symbol of those problems that manifest themselves in the course of interaction between the client and the psychotherapist. Jung wrote:

the symbol always assumes that the chosen form of expression is the best of all possible ways expressions of something incomprehensible, which, however, exists, or that which could potentially exist.

Acquiring a symbolic meaning, sand forms lose the simplicity and unambiguity of their content. The line drawn on the sand becomes a reflection of the archetype of the Path and a symbol of Hermes - the patron of travelers, the one who "always stays with us when we dare to step into new territory and open ourselves to new experiences."

A palm print in the sand symbolizes the very fact of human existence, as well as his request for help and protection from higher powers. Making "cakes" out of sand using molds can mean the birth of a new world, which is accomplished thanks to some outside help. The hill or mountain is associated with the breast, belly or womb and the life-giving feminine. They can also be a symbol of an ancient burial mound, world center, omphalos, the junction of earth and sky.

A depression or cave dug in the sand is usually interpreted as a womb or a grave, as well as a place where treasures are stored, as a spiritual guide or a dwelling place of a prophet. The tunnel symbolizes the transition from one state to another, transformation or birth. Dripping with liquid sand, you can create pointed spiers, meaning aspiration to the spiritual principle. The use of abundant water is associated with the destruction of all forms, followed by the rebirth of the world in its new quality.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CREATION OF THE FOUNDATION

Given the importance of using sand in sand therapy, it is necessary to consider the various factors influencing the client's sand handling experience. Firstly, the small depth of the tray limits the amount of sand used and does not allow deep penetration into its thickness, although it leaves great opportunities for creating forms of different heights. In one of the author's sessions, group members were asked to bring their own sand trays. Most of the trays brought in had a greater depth, but a smaller length and width than a standard sandbox. The forms then created by the participants suggested a greater immersion in the sand thickness than is usually possible using a standard sandbox, when the depiction of depth is achieved mainly by symbolic means. This made it possible to expand the understanding of the meaning of the sand form, taking into account the needs of a person working with sand. The blue color that the inside of the standard tray is painted in is another factor influencing the sand handling process.

The psychotherapist's attitude towards sand and his role in sand therapy, as well as the frequency of its use in the psychotherapeutic process, influence the therapist's instructions for using the sandbox. In some cases, the specialist first invites the client to touch the sand and perform certain manipulations with it, after which they are allowed to select items and place them in the sandbox. At the same time, the psychotherapist focuses the client's attention on the fact that the choice of objects is the most important moment of work and does not say anything about the meaning of working with sand itself and about creating any forms from it.

Another factor that influences sand work is the client's level of training in the visual arts. In connection with the training of sandplay therapists, Weinrib writes: "The therapist listens to the client, observes his actions, empathizes with him and seeks to understand his work, while minimizing verbal interventions."

She adds that the psychotherapist must conduct a deep personal analysis and have sufficient clinical training, including knowledge of the archetypal symbolism. When using the sandbox, he must have the experience of the patient, be familiar with the stages of mental development and how they manifest themselves in the process of sand therapy. He must analyze and compare many photographs of sand compositions. Accompanying clients in the process of sand therapy, he must know and understand himself well.

Artistic training involves the creation by a psychotherapist of a series of sand compositions, which allows to some extent to gain experience in artistic creativity. Many people do not even try to draw or paint, being convinced that they have no artistic ability. If sand therapy were considered primarily as a form of artistic creativity, this would allow the psychotherapist to deepen their ideas and experience associated with the use of visual images. In this case, his clients might have become more active in the use of sand molds. The use of Jungian sand therapy by art therapists as an authoritative and theoretically substantiated psychotherapeutic method has allowed them to expand their arsenal of ideas and instrumental possibilities. However, despite this, the analysis and rationale for the use of sand therapy in the art therapy process has not yet been carried out.

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF SAND THERAPY

The history of sandbox therapy dates back to 1929, when the English child psychotherapist Margaret Lowenfeld first used the sandbox in play therapy with children. Lowenfeld attached great importance to the child's tactile contact with sand and water, which complemented projective play with various objects and dolls. She noticed that children add water to the sand and then put miniature toys there. Thus was born the "technique of building the world." In 1935, Lowenfeld published her book Play in Childhood. Educational psychologist Ruth Bauer mastered and began to apply the "technique of building the world." In 1970, she published The Lowenfeld World-Building Technique, which was the result of forty years of using this method in her work with children. The research also included the use of sand during children's play. Other child psychotherapists such as Melanie Klein, Anna Freud, and Donald Winnicott have emphasized the importance of child play as a means of non-verbal communication. All of them used miniature toys in their work, but did not use sand.

Jungian Sandplay Therapy was developed by Swiss Jungian child psychotherapist Dora Kalff after Jung advised her in 1956 to study sandplay therapy in London personally with Lowenfeld. Kalff studied at the Zurich Jung Institute for six years. She complemented Lowenfeld's technique with a Jungian approach and her deep knowledge of Eastern philosophy. Jung's idea that the creation of artistic images is an alternative method of psychotherapy, set forth by him in his work "Transcendental Function", made it possible to significantly expand psychoanalytic views on visual art and the author's relationship with his work. The technique of "active imagination" proposed by Jung helped to understand that the inner world of a person is rich and diverse, although a person often does not realize this, and that by creating conditions for the manifestation of fantasy, one can become aware of previously hidden or suppressed feelings and ideas. Kalff's approach to sand therapy is based on these ideas. She sought to create a "free and protected space" for her clients, where they felt free to play with the sandbox. Her views were based on "Jung's fundamental hypothesis that the human psyche is inherent in the desire for integrity and self-healing." Kalff noted that her observations of the process of sand therapy "confirm the notion that the Self directs the process of mental development from the moment of reasoning." She noticed the appearance in the sandwork of her clients of rounded images, consistent with Jung's observations and "symbolizing perfection and perfect being", as well as square images, "appearing when psychic wholeness is achieved." Kalff's statement that stages of a person's mental development are reflected in the process of sand therapy finds theoretical justification in the works of Jungian analyst Eric Neumann. Kalff also pointed out the possibility of using sand therapy in work with adults and children and drew attention to the fact that adult sand compositions reflect the same stages of mental development as children's work. Through the work of Dora Kalff, sand therapy was introduced as an integral part of the analytic process, a specific form of Jung's "active imagination" method.

Jungian sand therapy involves the use of two rectangular trays painted blue on the inside. One tray is filled with dry sand, the other with wet sand. Kalff slightly changed the dimensions of the trays (49.5 x 72.5 x 7 cm) previously used by Lowenfeld, thanks to which the tray acquired such geometric proportions when the diagonal of the square formed by the vertical size of the rectangle began to equal its horizontal size. Kalff preferred to place the trays not on the floor, but separately, at the level of the table. A large set of miniature characters and objects located on the shelves next to the trays was supposed to represent the whole variety of natural forms and elements of the human environment. In addition to them, Kalff also used natural materials: fabric, thread, paper, etc. The set of miniature characters and objects used by Kalff included symbolic, ethnic and religious objects, reflecting a variety of cultures, thereby providing the ability to convey the contents of the collective unconscious, complementing the usual phenomena mental life.

Along with representatives of Jungian analysis who have mastered Kalff's sand therapy, other professionals - psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers - are increasingly using the sandbox as an auxiliary tool. "Kalffian" sand therapy was an important, but still only periodically used method, interspersed with verbal interventions. Dora Kalff's book was the first published work on Jungian sand therapy. Literature on sand therapy since the 1970s was written primarily by representatives of Jungian analysis, emphasizing its ability to intensify the dialogue between the psyche, sand and objects. Within the framework of the Jungian approach, sand therapy was considered mainly as a means of evaluating the process of individualization in accordance with Neumann's ideas about the stages of mental development. The symbolic content of the miniature objects was analyzed using a "magnification technique" based on the study of psychological, anthropological, ethnic, cultural and mythological associations with objects.

The tripartite transference that occurs between the client, the therapist and the image has been taken into account by sand therapy practitioners. The role of the psychotherapist as a silent witness - a participant in the psychotherapeutic process - is fundamentally different from the role of the analyst, who is accustomed to the use of interpretations and direct work with transferences and countertransferences. Sand therapy practitioners find working with this technique less stressful than the analytic process. Bradway and McCoard use the term "co-transference" to refer to the more complex nature of the psychotherapeutic interaction that occurs during sandbox therapy. Ammann even compares it to music when he writes that this interaction is carried out in accordance with the principle of resonance. The researcher considers the psychotherapist as a kind and "instrument" that should "sound" in full force. Only in this case, the client can catch its sound and tune in to the appropriate frequency. Triangular transference is also characteristic of art therapy and has been discussed by art therapists for quite a long time. Art therapists, accustomed to acting as silent witnesses, experience certain difficulties in assessing the "foundation and form" used by the client during sand therapy. The too close attention that these specialists pay to the phenomena of transference and countertransference prevents them from observing the course of sand therapy. The point is not just to observe the actions of the client, but to assess the level of his figurative representations that arise in the process of creating sand molds.

SOME ASPECTS OF SAND THERAPY AFFECTING THE CREATION OF SAND FORMS

Physical Properties of Sand Tray

Sand tray dimensions, shape and geometric proportions

The dimensions of the sand trays used by Lowenfeld and Kalff are about the same. Lowenfeld used a 52 x 75 x 7 cm tray, while Kalff used a 49.5 x 72.5 x 7 cm tray. These minor changes to the size of the tray were made by Kalff so that the client could keep the whole sand composition in view. , and did not turn his head when examining her. True, even when working with the Lowenfeld tray, the client has the opportunity for a complete overview of the composition. Due to a typo in the publication of Kalff's book, psychotherapists began to create trays of the wrong size, although they also had a rectangular shape. Thomson notes that a careful assessment of the dimensions of the tray indicates their close relationship with the "proportions of chaos." In doing so, he quotes Stewart as recommending the use of a sandbox about 30 x 20 x 3 inches. This equals 51 x 76 x 7 cm, which is larger than the Kalff tray. Rice-Minukhin writes: The average size of sandboxes used by psychotherapists, according to recent research, is approximately 18 inches wide, 23 inches long, and 3 inches high. Size is a regulating factor in the process of unconscious expression and protection of the client from the associated destructive manifestations. Such expression concerns the deep preverbal level of mental activity and does not imply conscious regulation of the depth of regressive experiences.

The dimensions of the tray used by Rice-Minukhina are 46 x 58 x 7 cm, which is much smaller than the dimensions of the Kalff tray. Weinrib confidently recommends the use of trays measuring 28.5 x 19.5 x 3 inches, which is the same size as the Kalff tray.

Such fluctuations in the size of the sandboxes caused sandpit psychotherapist Jackson-Baszynski to travel to Switzerland to measure the sandboxes Kalff used herself. She questioned the correct size of the

the sandbox itself, recalling what Dora Kalff wrote about the symbolic meaning of "basic geometric shapes, especially when it comes to their ability to reflect the development of the psyche. Jackson-Baszynski found that the true dimensions of the tray are 49.5 x 72.5 x 7 cm. She also drew attention to the fact that with such dimensions of the sandbox, the diagonal of a square with a size corresponding to the width of the sandbox is equal to its length.

Questions regarding the shape of the sandbox, along with its proportions, have also been the subject of controversy for a long time. Signell writes: "While on the coast, sometimes I draw a circle in the sand and collect in it the objects that I find nearby." In a footnote, she adds: "I'm always drawn to the shape of the circle being the female container - it's more attractive to me than the traditional rectangle; so if it were possible, I'd rather have a round sandbox in my office." The issue of using trays of a different shape is discussed by Ammann: Due to the inequality of sizes, a rectangular tray causes mental stress, restlessness and a desire to move, to continue working. A square or round space creates balance, a sense of peace and focus on the center. One can compare the analytic process with a constant search for a certain center in a space deprived of it... The client seems to move towards the periphery until he finally discovers this center, his personal circle in the rectangular space of the sandbox.

Considering different options for the proportions and shape of the sandbox, you can pay attention to several important points. The shallow depth of the sandbox (7 cm or 3 inches) remains the same despite changes in the width and length of the tray. The basic rectangular shape is also retained. The alternative forms of the circle and square were not widely used as a symbolic container or temenos. As Jackson-Baszynski noted, the Kalff tray is characterized by a certain ratio of width to length, which forms a visual balance that is not immediately perceived by the eye, but may be felt when perceiving the shape of the tray and causing a sense of balance.

It seems that Kalff and Ammann attach great importance to the shape and proportions of the sandbox. The board height of 7 cm does not allow creating sufficient depressions in the sand, but allows the creation of high forms. Therefore, the small depth of the tray and its blue, "watery" interior give the impression of two-dimensionality. This evokes associations with a drawing on paper, and not with a sculptural image. This may suit clients for whom this sandbox depth is sufficient; for others who want to create three-dimensional images, it can limit. As noted in the introduction, participants in the author's five-day practice brought their own trays, and many of them had more depth than a typical sandbox. Thanks to this, the participants of the classes managed to create various depressions in the sand, which was reflected in the nature of the personal myths created later.

Some art therapists use paper of various shapes and sizes, such as a square, circle, oval, or an elongated rectangle like a Japanese scroll. It is assumed that the different shape, size and proportions of the paper sheet cause different reactions in the client. Starting from the need for movement and ending with a sense of peace and contentment. In addition, the client intuitively chooses those that meet his inner needs. Kalff was convinced of the importance of basic geometric shapes such as the square, triangle, and circle. "We recognize the validity of all these symbols of the integrity of the human psyche, since they are found everywhere and always, since ancient times." Her tray was rectangular in shape, perhaps because this shape forces the client to seek their own center in it.

Sand and water sometimes prompt the client to engage in non-symbolic behavior, such as throwing sand around, spilling sand from a tray, or asking for more sand than can fit on a low-sided tray. The need for real, and not symbolic, water makes some customers want to place a vessel filled with water in the sandbox or pour water directly onto the tray. Given the above, the question of the proportions of the sandbox, its shape and depth seems to be very important, since these parameters affect the behavior and results of the client.

The blue color was chosen for painting the inner surface of the tray by the founder of Jungian sand therapy, Dora Kalff. In her book, Kalff does not write about the blue color of the inner surface of the sandbox, however, those who studied with her or read about her work knew that she used this color. Mitchell and Friedman write that in Kalff's sand therapy, the blue color of the inner surface of the tray symbolizes the sky or water when raked. “After the client touched the sand, Kalff used to explain to him that the blue color of the inner surface of the tray was intended to remind of water. However, she completed her remarks by suggesting that the client put into all the elements of the sand composition the meaning that he considers necessary.”

By the way, water and sky can always be depicted by placing a blue cloth or paper on a tray, so the blue color of its inner surface must play some additional role. In order to understand the role blue color plays in sand therapy, it is necessary to have an idea about the effects of different colors on the psychological and physiological state of a person. Blue is commonly associated with depth, height, and continuous distancing. The deep, rich sky blue is described by Walker as "the color with the most tranquilizing effect." Blue color promotes the secretion of neurotransmitters that cause a state of rest, slowing the heart rate, lowering body temperature, reducing sweating and reducing appetite. Each of the four basic mental functions, according to Jung, (thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition) has a corresponding color expression. Feelings are represented in red, sensations in green, intuition in yellow, and thinking in blue. Edinger notes that "thinking is associated with the rational ability to structure and synthesize discrete information through the use of generalizing concepts." Steinhardt writes: We will understand the role of the color blue, which is painted on the inner surface of the tray, if we do not limit ourselves to its association with water and sky. Blue, like a stage backdrop, gives the client a sense of perspective and distance, or encourages them to go deeper.

For an artist, the phrase "blue color" is too general and non-specific definition, since there are at least six different shades of it, and each of them is characterized by unique properties. When using a sandbox, the creation of a sand mold is closely related to the fact that its inner surface is painted in a bright blue color of a certain shade. Bradway describes the first sandbox she used as a square, red tray with no hint of blue on the sides. Later I found out that my sandbox didn't match the official dimensions of Dora Kalff's sandbox, so I made the well-known white rectangular sandbox at 19.5 x 28.5 x 2.75 inches. The bottom of the tray was painted blue, while the sides were left white. Later, when I started using a sandbox with sides painted blue on the inside, I noticed that clients began to create more three-dimensional compositions.

Bradway describes the young man's reactions to the sand and blue as follows: He dipped his fingers into the sand, reaching the blue bottom, and outlined an oval in the sand, as large as the dimensions of the rectangular box would allow ... The rest of the time he smoothed and tamped the oval the island, using one or both hands, traced with one or more fingers all new ovals, pushing the sand further and further away, so that, in the end, a clear blue space formed around the central sandy hill.

It is likely that if the sandbox had not been blue, contrasting with the color of the sand, this shape would not have manifested itself so brightly.

However, many of the illustrations given in sand therapy books do not reflect the blue color of the inner surface of the sandbox, either it is not a pure blue color, or the shade is too pale or, on the contrary, too dark. The hue of blue should be chosen accurately enough to match the practice of sand therapy, especially since different shades of blue are so dissimilar and have different qualities. The choice of wet sand often indicates the client's willingness to confront deep feelings. Thus, a more saturated shade of blue is unconsciously associated with depth. The lighter azure blue, on the other hand, is more suitable for dry sand work and does not touch the client's deepest feelings to the same extent as cobalt.

Blue color in nature (water and sky) is often combined with sand. Therefore, the perception of sand without a background blue color, apparently, will be incomplete. The presence of cobalt in the sandbox creates a natural and dramatic contrast with the pale hue of the sand. Three-dimensional forms can be created as a result of the client's perception of rich blue and its association with depth, as well as due to the contrasting combination of sand with it.

Frequency of Sand Therapy Sessions, Sand and Instruction

Frequency of sand therapy sessions

As an adjunct to analysis, sand therapy is a non-verbal method used at varying intervals that allows you to touch the pre-verbal level of the psyche. The sandbox can be used both regularly and only a few times during the psychotherapeutic process. Obviously, the frequency of its use is determined by the desire of the client to work with her, at the same time, the attitude of the psychotherapist himself to sand therapy plays an important role. This can be illustrated by the following example. Kalff writes: Sand therapy is a method to help the client experience and reflect the process of individuation. I never considered it as an auxiliary tool, supplementing verbal analysis and used only at certain points in the psychotherapeutic process. Applied in this way, sand therapy contributes to successful psychotherapy, but I do not think that in this case it is accompanied by the same effect that I have observed in its repeated and prolonged use as the main tool of psychotherapy.

Mitchell and Friedman add: "Kalff emphasized the non-verbal nature of sandplay therapy, especially in the early stages of work, but at the same time allowed for the usefulness of a verbal, analytical approach in the subsequent stages of psychotherapy." Kalff, however, does not illustrate his words with photographs of sand compositions and does not explain them, limiting himself only to revealing that the sandbox is the main tool of psychotherapeutic work. At the same time, the photographs placed in the book testify to the creation by her clients of very interesting sculptural images. Kalff had a wide range of knowledge in music, visual arts and Eastern philosophy. All of this, apparently, affected the work of her clients.

Jungian analyst and sand psychotherapist Weinrib presents the sandbox as an element of the analytic process and uses it only occasionally: Images are not created at every meeting. Sometimes weeks or even months pass between the creation of sand compositions, since the image that rises from the depths of the psyche and is concretized in the creative act must be formed and come out at a certain time. When the client is not creating a composition, regular Jungian verbal analysis is performed, including discussion of dreams, work on typological problems, problems of personal relationships and others ... In sand therapy, the process of reasoning and reflection (i.e. understanding) is less significant than the healing process itself .

Bradway writes: I have also found that verbal analysis and sandplay therapy usually go hand in hand, but sometimes one takes on more importance than the other, and in some cases the two work is even done by different psychotherapists. Often verbal analysis begins to play a leading role, and the sandbox turns into its complement. In other cases, the sandbox becomes the leading tool of psychotherapy, and verbal analysis becomes an adjunct to sand therapy. This is how Dora Kalff used her method. It happens that analysts who do not use the sandbox themselves send their clients to me, and I let them work with the sandbox in parallel with the verbal analysis.

Bradway continues: "Most analysts use sand therapy mainly as an adjunct to verbal analysis. Some use it in parallel with it, and sometimes as a substitute for dream analysis." Ries-Minukhin prefers to "use sand therapy in combination with a long and deep Jungian analysis, designed for many years."

Ammann uses verbal analysis and sand therapy simultaneously with each other, or alternates between them; the intensity of the process is determined by the preferences of the client himself. Ammann does not write anything about the frequency of using the sandbox, but the clinical descriptions she cites indicate that she is quite sensitive to light and shadow, understands form and texture, the role of the time factor, and the combination of fine art with the creation of sand compositions.

Work using the sandbox as an element of verbal psychotherapy is carried out only periodically. Meanwhile, in this case, the images created by the client remain stable, which is manifested in the reuse of the same miniatures, their identical arrangement, as well as in the creation of similar sand forms. Such stability indicates that the psyche "generates" images of a certain circle, has its own memory and uses a certain, symbolic language. Art therapists know that there are never too many images. Forms and materials may change, but as all new images are embodied in the work of the client, mental processes occurring at the verbal level come to their resolution. In art therapy, the sandbox can be used every week for many sessions, or it can be used two or three times in a row, alternating between creating sand compositions with fine art work, and then returning to the sandbox again. Sometimes it is only used once or twice a year. The frequency of using the sandbox or visual techniques is determined by the preferences of the client, forming a certain ratio of both. Thus, two types of creative expression are used in the art therapy process instead of the traditional combination of a sandbox with verbal analysis.

The use of sand therapy in the art therapy process is not discussed in recent books by authors such as Mitchell and Friedman or Bradway and McCoard. At the same time, there are publications devoted to the combined use of sand therapy with psychodrama, music, dance movement therapy and art therapy.

Beginning sand therapy

Margaret Lowenfeld, the author of "World Building Technique", offered children a sandbox, using clear instructions for creating a sand composition. She told the children that the work being created should convey what they could not express in words. Mitchell and Friedman characterize Lowenfeld's approach as follows: She pointed to a sandbox and explained that the sand could be left covering the bottom of the sandbox for objects to be placed on, or piled up, and that the blue color of the bottom of the tray could represent the sea, lake or river. After that, she showed the child the contents of the toy closet and asked the children to "create a picture out of the sand" using the items in the closet or doing without them.

According to Lowenfeld, "when work began, instructions became redundant - interest in creativity explains everything." Although the researcher encouraged clients to choose and place various objects in the sandbox, she did not forget to say that the work with sand itself is of great importance.

Bradway has been using sand therapy for many years, without any specific instructions, but believes that they are determined by the circumstances. "Bradway believes this approach is similar to the one she used in working with clients while studying sand therapy with Dora Kalff. Kalff used to say: "Look at the shelves, find what interests you the most, put it in the sandbox, and then add any other items if you like."

Mitchell and Friedman use an instruction reminiscent of the one quoted above: “After the psychotherapist has shown the client a sandbox and given him the opportunity to work with sand (touch, perform other manipulations), he invites the client to choose among the items on the shelves those that are most interesting to him, and arrange them on a tray of sand so that some kind of scene is obtained. Kalff's, Mitchell's, and Friedman's instructions give little space for pre-manipulation of the sand, which may lead the client to leave the sand untouched or to perceive it as secondary to the arrangement of the miniatures. Weinrib prefers a looser approach:

I do not give any instructions, but simply ask the patient to create whatever he wants in the sandbox. The patient can depict a landscape or create any other composition or sculpture, or simply play with the sand. Using the sandbox, the patient has the opportunity to express any of his fantasies, bring them outside and present the parameters of his inner world in specific three-dimensional images.”

Weinrib describes a mentally disturbed patient's first sandbox experience: He stood for a while looking at the sandbox, then dipped his hands into the sand. He stroked the sand, touched it, thrust his hands into its thickness, as if discovering this material for the first time in his life. It seemed that, plunging his hands into the sand, he was trying to satisfy a certain hunger.

For Weinrib, working with a sandbox is akin to meditation: "A person stands in front of a sand tray or cabinets full of figurines and waits until an idea or image arises in his head."

Ammann uses a similar approach: Working with the sandbox, the client expresses everything that spontaneously appears in his head for an hour. He is completely free and can play or not play with the sand, behave as he pleases. The analyst gives him no instructions. The client can use figurines if he wants to, but some adults prefer to simply sculpt with sand.

Ammann describes his approach as follows: "Very often, sand as the main element of technology is just as important a means of expression as the figures located on its surface." While she no longer provides detailed explanations, the photographs she cites show that clients have a good understanding of the working conditions. This book describes the moments of sand therapy associated with the creation of a sand foundation and expressive forms.

Weinrib, Bradway, and Ammann's ways of preparing clients for sand therapy are reminiscent of the beginning of art therapy work. Before inviting a client, art therapists often prepare the office accordingly. Materials for painting or graphics located in a conspicuous place, paper on the table, easel, clay on a wooden pedestal - all this tells the client about the possibilities he has. There is no need to use any special instructions, except when the therapist reminds the client that he has the right to use any materials he wants for his work.

Relationship to sand in sand therapy

Psychologist Ruth Bauer, who studied Lowenfeld's "world-building technique", made a major contribution to the development of sand therapy, focusing on the use of sand. Influenced by "world-building techniques," psychologists such as Charlotte Buechler, Hedda Bolgar, and Lieselotte Fischer developed diagnostic methods based on the use of a specific set of thumbnails. They did not attach much importance to the sand and did without it, using their own diagnostic methods. Mitchell and Friedman emphasize the difference between this approach and that used by Bauer in her work with 76 clients ranging in age from 2 to 50 years old. Bauer found that the constructive use of sand (caused by the client's manipulation of it in some way to create a creative product) adds a very important element to sand therapy, creating additional expressive possibilities and providing the therapist with important information for analysis, as well as giving a special depth to the client's experiences in the process. creating their own world. Sand makes it possible to express a wide range of different feelings: it can be poured, struck at it, various objects buried in it, etc. Creation of many forms, such as hills, valleys, roads, rivers, waves, furrows, etc., allows not only to intensify the client's experiences, but also to give interpretations a special depth. In his later work, Bauer also writes that the constructive use of sand indicates a client with average or even high intellectual abilities (and therefore typical for clients over 12 years old) and active imagination.

In his research, Jones shows that "the features of children's creative expression when using the sandbox confirm Piaget's ideas about the stages of cognitive development. The structural complication of sand compositions created by children as they grow up is consistent with Piaget's model." Jones reports on the use of the sandbox by age groups of children: "Children up to two years of age poured sand on both the tray and the floor, and placed the figurines on and off the tray." Children between the ages of 2 and 4 "mainly buried the figurines in the sand and then pulled them out. This simple dramatic game gave them a vague borderline feeling." Children aged 5 to 7 "used the sand to create stable shapes and had a clearer edge feel." Children from 8 to 12 years old "created some simple structures out of sand, although they did not work with it very often." Adolescents from 13 to 18 years old "used sand only to represent land and water, and their borderline feeling was already quite clear."

Thompson quotes Eickhoff, who wrote that the most interesting and effective psychotherapeutic tool is the sandbox with its equipment. There are also such plastic materials as sand and water, which allow expressing the strongest feelings, since they can be thrown or splashed, molded from wet sand, dig it, form a smooth surface. Specific symbols can then be placed on the sand base so that the observer sees the whole situation clearly.

Bradway states: For me, the virtues of the sandbox lie in the plasticity of sand and water combined with miniatures, and the freedom to do whatever you want with them in the presence of a non-intrusive, wise and trustworthy psychotherapist.

She refers to Edingep, who notes: Concepts and abstractions do not have plastic properties... Although the images of dreams and imagination have them. They connect the external world with the internal... Our spiritual "substance" has the same properties. Moods and affects shake us until they form something visible and tangible, and then we already interact with them as with real objects.

Bradway repeats after him: The Sandbox has significant plastic possibilities. Emotions and moods are brought to life through the use of sand and water, both with and without miniatures... Healing occurs due to the creation of different forms from sand, adding water to it drop by drop or whole cups, thanks to the arrangement of objects, burying them in sand - thanks to the ability to perform some action, regardless of whether it is destructive or constructive, and also due to the high degree of trust in everything that happens during sand therapy.

All of the above quotes emphasize the importance of playing with sand and its presence on the tray. Working with sand, reflecting the stages of mental development, implies significant expressive possibilities.

Therapist, Transference, Countertransference and Resonance

The question of the client's relationship with the therapist, as well as the manifestations of transference and countertransference in the course of sand therapy, is constantly discussed. The founder of sand therapy, Margaret Lowenfeld, believed that when a child plays with sand, water, and miniatures, there is a transfer to the sandbox itself, and not to the therapist. Such a view is radically different from the usual notions of transference to the psychotherapist, shared by such representatives of the psychoanalytic trend as Melanie Klein, Anna Freud, Susan Isaacs and Donald Winnicott. Starting with Kalff, in the works of Jungian analyzes using the sandbox, one can find numerous discussions on the topic of transference and countertransference. They, as a rule, reflect the theoretical views of the authors, their training and professional experience - all the tools that the psychotherapist brings to non-verbal psychotherapy, which is sand therapy.

Mitchell and Friedman, in discussing various approaches to the analysis of transference in sand therapy, pay special attention to the point of view of five psychotherapists - Lowenfeld, Kalff, Weiprib, Bradway and Ammann. Kalff, combining Jungian ideas with his own creative ideas, writes that during sand therapy there is a two-way interaction in which the therapist cannot take an authoritarian position, since he has already been treated before, just as the client is now going through it. In the process of treating the latter, the decisive role is played by the personal characteristics of the psychotherapist, and by no means his knowledge.

For Kalff, a positive transference to the psychotherapist becomes possible only thanks to the specialist's ability to create a "free protected space" for the client and is the most important condition for the client to achieve psychic integration.

Weinrib considers the sandbox as a kind of "transit object" that provides the client with the opportunity to internalize the object elements of the sand composition, and not just the experience of his communication with the psychotherapist.

Bradway notes that the client's choice of miniatures and their arrangement in the sand composition reflects a transference phenomenon to the therapist. She also writes about co-transference: "I use the concept of co-transference to refer to feelings associated with the relationship between the therapist and the patient. In contrast to the concepts of transference and countertransference, which usually refer to successive reactions of the patient and the therapist to each other, the concept of countertransference denotes simultaneous bilateral processes, both on the part of the psychotherapist and the patient. In addition, Bradway points out that the psychotherapist must not only undergo personal therapy, but also have a deep knowledge of archetypal symbolism, clinical approach psychopathology, and family dynamics, in addition to his ability to analyze the manifestations of transference and countertransference. As a specialist in the field of verbal psychotherapy, she emphasizes how difficult it is for a psychotherapist to learn to be silent, but only to observe the actions of the client, understand him and empathize with him. Such empathy contributes to the manifestation of the patient's self-healing capabilities. Bradway explains how this is achieved through sand therapy. The author also suggests that the patient's creative activity associated with the creation of visual images in the presence of a psychotherapist is an additional psychotherapeutic factor. Ammann metaphorically describes the relationship between the client and the therapist in the process of sand therapy. She denotes the superimposition of transference and countertransference reactions on each other with the concept of "resonance" and compares the creation of a sand composition with the work of a gardener, calling the sandbox "the garden of the soul." It is as if the therapist is giving the tent a small piece of land on which to grow his world, using his own hands and free choice. The psychotherapist is the "owner-gardener" of the symbolic garden, as well as the tool needed to care for it. In the interactive space between the client and the psychotherapist is the "garden of dreams" - "the place where the conscious and unconscious elements of the psyche of the client and the psychotherapist meet and interact." Ammann believes that the sand composition created by the client reflects the personality of the psychotherapist. The metaphorical image of the garden is associated with knowledge, natural processes of growth and development of the natural principle. The gardener has certain knowledge and skills, however personal experience work on the ground is of paramount importance. If we correlate this metaphor with the activity of a psychotherapist who uses a sandbox and has a certain professional training, then it can be recognized that the psychotherapist's personal creative experience regarding his work with formless material will influence his psychotherapeutic activity. Ammann writes that the analyst or psychotherapist is included in the client's healing process due to resonance. The principle of resonance is very simple. If you have a four-stringed violin in your hand and another four-stringed violin on the table, whenever you play the violin, the strings of the instrument lying on the table will also begin to vibrate. Let's say you're a bad violinist and only play two strings. Then, during your playing, only two strings of the violin lying on the table will vibrate. If you are a virtuoso, and you have at your disposal an unusual violin with nine strings, then not only another violin will sound, but perhaps a lute hanging on the wall in the same room or a magic harp. By playing his violin, the therapist can bring the strings of the client's violin to life and allow it to resound.

This quotation indicates that through the action of resonance, the knowledge and experience of the psychotherapist contribute to the manifestation of the client's inner potential. Ammann asks: "How can you teach someone the art of cooking without ever trying to cook your own food?". Reading her descriptions of sand compositions, you immediately understand that she has behind her - her own experience of creative work with the sandbox.

Although Ammann is an architect, she does not write that sand therapy practitioners must have training in the visual arts or independent creative work experience. In describing the process of sand therapy, as well as Bradway, Ammann uses a musical image. At the same time, the works of her clients are by far the most interesting examples of artistic sculptures ever illustrated in sand therapy publications. In this regard, I have a question: how capable is this or that specialist of teaching sand therapy without having experience in artistic creation, given that working with a sandbox is a form of visual art?

A professional art therapist must have sufficient experience in artistic creation, knowledge of the materials and history of art, as well as the stages of mental development and the forms of graphic expression associated with them. He must understand the process of creating visual images and plastic forms, the features of color and materials, as well as many other things related to artistic practice. Along with all of the above, Jungian art therapists can use the techniques of working with dreams, active imagination and amplification. The relationship between the client, the images he creates and the psychotherapist form the basis of the art therapy process. All that knowledge and experience that relate to the field of artistic creativity are of great importance for sand therapy. At the same time, we have to explore more deeply the relationship between the images created in the process of sand therapy and the images that are the product of art therapy work.

Much of the work on Jungian Sand Therapy concerns its use as an adjunct to verbal psychotherapy, where it was first used. Meanwhile, since sand therapy is associated with the creation of visual images, it can be attributed to one of the options for art therapy work. The art therapy process involves the creation of a whole series of artistic images by the client, and the use of the sandbox can also be considered, first of all, as a kind of artistic practice. Drawing, painting, sculpture, collage and the sandbox have specific expressive possibilities. The sandbox is different in that it allows you to create specific three-dimensional compositions that can be considered as a kind of sculptural relief or collage. The above and the fact that working with the sandbox is characterized by considerable spontaneity determines its special appeal in the eyes of some clients. Using the sandbox in art therapy, one should consider it not as the only possible type of artistic creativity available to the client in the course of verbal psychotherapy, but as one of the methods of artistic creativity, along with many others, with specific capabilities. In the modern literature on sand therapy, the creation of a sand base and its symbolic meaning, as well as the inclusion of this technique in the art therapy process, have not yet been discussed. The creation of the sand mold can be seen as an important indicator of the client's taking personal responsibility for their actions and experiences, followed by the arrangement of miniatures symbolizing different mental contents. Miniatures indicate the potential for further mental growth of the client, however, like seeds, they give the best shoots, the more fertile the soil is. Therefore, the creation of a high-quality sand base by the client is of fundamental importance. The more clearly the psychotherapist understands the role played by the creation of the sand foundation, forms and visual images, the more the participant in the art therapy process receives for himself using the sandbox.

Included: short course content... Basic characteristics parent-child relations. ... jungian) Organization of the process sandy therapy ... performance for each participant the possibility of self-realization; - performance... For example, available at the client...

Evgeniya Troshikhina
Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Sand Therapist

jungian sand therapy

The boundlessness and liveliness of fantasy gives rise to a variety of methods and techniques of psychotherapy. As a means of working with clients, you can use drawing, modeling, play, dramatization, puppet theater, shadow theater, music, dance, telling and composing stories, using parables, fairy tales, creating collages, making dolls and much more. The therapist and the client jointly search for appropriate means of self-expression. For some people, this means is playing with sand, for others - drama, for others - staging fantasies. Some are drawn to drawing, others to clay, and still others to storytelling. Difficulties and problems are symbolically expressed in the products of creativity, and in the process of regular meetings, the images of fantasy are promoted and, as a result, the possibility of conflict resolution and healing arises. As E.F. Edinger, “moods and feelings shake us until they form something visible and tangible, and then we already interact with them as with real objects.”

Creativity opens up space for the life of images, which is experienced as a feeling of the deep reality of the interaction of the inner and outer worlds. Only a symbolic life can express the daily aspirations of the soul.

Sand therapy is rooted in the symbolic play of children. Children love to play in the sand. In the summer we often see how they build dams near streams, sand castles on the beach, and younger children make Easter cakes in the sandbox. In the game, children live their feelings, understand relationships, fantasize. In case of failures, resentments, meetings with strong feelings, such a game allows them to restore balance in their souls and understand the world around them. By playing their games, children go exactly where they need to go.

Sand play as a counseling technique was first described in 1929 by the English pediatrician Margaret Lowenfeld. In a special tray filled with sand, the children created compositions using water, as well as miniature figures and objects they liked from boxes or shelves. The children often called the resulting compositions "my world", and Lowenfeld called her technique "World Building". Currently, sand play and sand compositions are used in many areas of psychotherapy, in organizational counseling and deep psychotherapy, in individual and group work, when working with children and adults.

The theoretical principles of the Jungian approach to sand therapy were formulated by the Swiss Jungian child psychotherapist Dora Kalff in the late 1950s, after she, on the advice of Jung, was personally trained by Lowenfeld. She used a tray measuring 49.5x72.5x7.0, painted blue on the inside, symbolizing the sky and water, and half filled with sand, as well as a jug of water and hundreds of miniature figures and objects located on the shelves. She resized the tray and placed it on the table so that it would be convenient for the client to keep her entire composition in view. She called her technique "Sandplay" and today it is widely known as "Sand Therapy".

In Jungian sand therapy, the client is asked to create something in a tray, while noting that water, figurines, objects can be used if desired, and after completing the composition, he is given the opportunity to give a name to the construction, as if it were a picture, and say something about the composition. There is no clear instruction, it is determined by the circumstances. Dora Kalff used to say this: "Look at the shelves, find what interests you the most, put it in the sandbox, and then add any other items if you like." June Atherton, president of the International Association for Jungian Sand Therapy, prefers to use a basket in which the client, looking at the figures on the shelves, puts those that attract him. She talks about it like this: “the client chooses everything that pleases or scares, as if “asks” to be taken or repels. There is no pressure on what and how many pieces to take and how to use them. The client can simply place them on the sand, or he can create a picture.”

A set of figurines and objects reflects, if possible, different aspects of human existence: people, animals, plants, houses and other structures, transport, furniture, food, weapons, musical instruments, celestial bodies and phenomena, stones, shells, chests and jewelry , symbols of different religions, gods and goddesses, mythical and fairy-tale characters, symbols of love, death and rebirth, space and time, geometric shapes, archetypal symbols, etc.

During the entire time of communication with the client, the therapist provides a “free and safe space”, namely, he is an attentive accompanying person who tries to understand the client and conveys his desire to understand as much as possible. His position is "active presence", he does not lead the process, but only follows the development of the client's fantasy. He is a servant of the process.

According to D. Kalff, building a world on sand releases the inner unconscious content of the psyche. It splashes onto the tray, taking on a symbolic form in the form of grottoes and bridges, hills and rivers, people, animals, mythical creatures, treasures in chests and buried skeletons. Everything built, “his own world”, a person can cover with one and then becomes visible and accessible to awareness that which was blocked at the verbal level. The construction opens up the possibility of a unique access for both the client and the therapist to the study of the conscious and unconscious world of the creator of the sand painting, the opportunity to "see the world in one grain of sand."
The integration of unconscious material leads to an increased sense of wholeness, the inner strength of the Ego.

D. Kalff believes that the child's Ego begins to develop from birth, that the Ego draws strength from the deep inner feeling of the infant's unity with the mother, which develops gradually and reaches a peak in the second or third year of a child's life. Discrete connection with the mother traumatizes the inner sense of wholeness and interferes with the normal functioning of the ego. In the context of therapy, the specialist creates a “free protected space”, which is a condition for the emergence of a sense of unity in both participants, which is similar in nature to the “mother-child” relationship, and then the client has the opportunity to re-experience the emotional relationship in the transference and achieve mental integration.

When building in the sand, a person's ability to create symbols is manifested. The psyche spontaneously produces symbols, and this ability is activated when a person is lost and cannot cope with an internal or external situation. The symbolic function opens access to the deep resources of the psyche. The ability to symbolize develops in a person from birth. The image of the mother is the first symbol that allows the child to feel safe even when the mother disappears from view, to understand that at the same time she still exists.

M. Fordham believes that the ability to form symbols occurs as a result of close emotional communication between mother and baby. The ability to hold the image of the mother develops gradually and this is facilitated by the behavior of the mother. For example, from ancient times, mothers play the well-known game "Ku-ku" with their children, when the mother hides behind the fabric or the back of the crib, and, after a while, appears again. Over time, a small child accumulates the experience of returning to the mother. The capacity for symbol formation then continues to develop as the parents enrich, in a psychological sense, the child's life. The child has favorite toys with which he sleeps, books read from cover to cover, a rug over the bed, the first beautiful shoes. Mother constantly refers to the history of his life: "Do you remember how we came here last summer and went to the lake ...". So, with the help of the closest people, the inner world of the child is built, and, becoming an adult, a person remembers a host of things that are associated with tender feelings coming from childhood.

The lack of ability to form symbols, according to M. Fordham, occurs due to a violation of the emotional connection between mother and child, in the absence of a mother, and also as a result of a serious illness of the child. In turn, severe psychological trauma can disrupt the already formed ability to symbolize. From this point of view, the process of building on the sand during therapy can contribute to the development or restoration of this function.

Creating a sand composition can help the client make sense of what is happening to him. As J. Atherton notes, “many of the symbolic objects have universal, mythological meanings, and can show the client universal truths or clarify his personal myth. The figurines and symbols provided by the therapist provide significant relief to blocked or "darkened" parts of the soul. Sand therapy both explains and liberates, bringing a depth of visual understanding to what is so often verbally blocked. And even if the truth seen is terrible, or the myth is tragic, the very work in a tray of sand brings relief and reconciliation. Sometimes therapy is as simple as letting the invisible become visible. Then night fears and ghosts evaporate illuminated by work with sand.

The sand therapy method is suitable for working with people who have negative emotional experiences and are overwhelmed by unprocessed emotions. This includes children and adults from dysfunctional families who have experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, faced with traumatic events, traumatic individuals with behavioral problems, neurotic manifestations, addictions. According to J. Atherton, “these are the people who too often feel that they are “not heard”. Those who are both desperate and out of touch with deep-seated suffering and needs.”
In principle, building in the sand can be used with everyone and knows no age limits. The only exceptions are psychotic patients.

Sand therapy is a deceptively simple technique. Despite the apparent simplicity of the method, it is a deep and subtle tool and requires the therapist to constantly develop professionally and take steps towards individuation. An important concern of the therapist is to create a relationship that is felt by two people as a unique experience of living connection, which is necessary for development. This attitude of the therapist results in a space in which the client feels so free and at the same time protected that he allows himself to be healed. This therapeutic space is held by the therapist. In addition, the tray itself is another symbolic container that can hold.

K.G. Jung believed that establishing a therapeutic alliance would activate the healing potential inherent in the human psyche. He considered this potential as an integral part of the "archetype of the self", which leads along the path of individuation. When activated through a therapeutic alliance, the archetype takes the client where he needs to go.