Correction of the emotional sphere and deviations in behavior by the method of sand therapy. Sand therapy for adults

“You can draw pictures on the sand.

And the sand itself can also be painted.

It has an infinite number of colors and shades that can be mixed.

Sand can be built.

You can talk with sand.

When we touch the sand, play with it, put our hands in it, we plunge into these childhood memories.

The sand invites you to surrender to the game with your whole soul and body, as a child does.

Udo Baer

POSSIBILITIES OF SAND THERAPY

Currently, there are many different methods of psycho-correctional work and psychological support for children with developmental disabilities and their parents, which are successfully used on the basis of the State Public Institution of Social Services of the Moscow Region “Dmitrov Social and Rehabilitation Center for Minors “Island of Hope”.

Let us consider in more detail one of these methods, which seems to be the most accessible, understandable and effective.- sand therapy.

sand therapy 1 in the context of art therapy 2 - non-verbal 3 a form of psycho-correction, where the main emphasis is on the creative self-expression of the client, thanks to which, at the unconscious-symbolic level, the response of internal stress and the search for ways of development occur.

primary goal sand therapy- achievement by the client of the effect of self-healing through spontaneous creative self-expression

1 sand therapy- a method, a way of communicating with the world and with oneself; a way to relieve internal stress, embody it on an unconsciously symbolic level, which increases self-confidence and opens up new ways of development.

2 Art therapy (from art, art) - direction in and , based on and . Therapy creativity, which aims to influence the psycho-emotional state of the client through creative self-expression.

3 Non-verbally - without the help of speech, gestures, signs, emotions.

4 verbally - through speech.

While playing with sand, a person has images from childhood, he dreams and fantasizes with the help of his hands and at the same time creates something.

In the process of interaction with sand, a person is involved entirely, using all his qualities: physical, emotional, intellectual and social. Accordingly, the problem is worked out at all levels (bodily sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts).

By touching the sand, interacting with it, the client receives and becomes aware of the sensory experience of movements and touches. Sand is used in work with clients of different ages and with the widest range of problems.

Sand therapy is effectively used for educational and developmental purposes.

The method has no age restrictions and can be used in working with children from 2 years old to old age.

Advantages of sand therapy over other methods:

Interaction with sand lures and fascinates.

Allows you to harmonize (order) the inner spiritual chaos.

Creates a positive emotional state.

Allows you to address real issues that are difficult to discuss verbally 4 .

It makes it possible to work out thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations that a person is used to suppressing and express them in a socially acceptable form.

Helps to find ways out of a difficult life situation.

Promotes creative self-expression, development of imagination, aesthetic experience, practical skills in visual activity, artistic abilities.

Increases the level of adaptation to stress and new life situations.

It helps to increase the level of self-esteem and adequate acceptance of oneself in society.

Reduces the level of fatigue, anxiety, other negative emotional states and the level of their manifestation.

It relies on the healthy potential of the individual, internal mechanisms of self-regulation and healing.

Helps to react negative emotional experience in the process of creative self-expression.

Has a focus on the process itself, and not just on the result.

Stimulates the effective development of fine motor skills, perception, memory, thinking, speech, communication.

It activates internal resources, mechanisms of self-regulation and self-healing.

Effective and quite effective in the correction of many deviations and disorders of personal development.

It is equally successfully used in work with adults and children, it is interesting, accessible and understandable at any age.

Can be used at home.

In SRTSN "Island of Hope" sand therapy is represented by four areas and three forms of work.

Directions (methods) of sand therapy:

Classic sandbox (sandplay)

Sand painting on light tables (sand-art)

Drawing with colored sand (sandcolor-art)

Kinetic sand (kinetik sand)

Forms of work:

*individual (child or adult)
*steam room (child - parent, spouse, two children from the same family)
* group (group of children, group of parents, group of employees)

“In sand therapy, the world of childhood once again opens up its doors,

and these same doors lead to the unconscious and secrets hidden in it.

Donald Sander

Classic sandbox ( sand play ) - research method of varioussituationsfrom lifeby creating in the sand a composition of miniature figurines andsmall items of various subjects, as well assearch for an exitout of dead ends with a therapeutic game.

This happens due to the fact that in fact, in the unconscious of any person, a stock of correct decisions is stored.

Traditional sandbox - a wooden box with sand, the bottom and sides of the sandbox are blue. Thus, the bottom symbolizes water, and the sides - the sky. Blue color has a calming effect on a person. In addition, the "blue" sandbox filled with sand is a miniature model of our planet in human perception.

“Every child is an artist. The difficulty is

to remain an artist, coming out of childhood"

Pablo Picasso

Sand painting on light tables ( sand - art ) - Sand painting is available for children and adults, it has a relaxing effect on the nervous system, relieves stress and anxiety, and also eliminates fears and anxiety.Sand painting is an immersion in a fairy tale, a worldfantasies, whimsical images, winding lines. Touching the sand, you can feel its warmth, its fluidity, its movement. Creating a sand painting is a fascinating process, it affects all spheres of the senses, awakens creativity, relaxes and inspires at the same time. The soft coloring of natural shades, the contrast of sand and light, the smoothness of the contours and the "powdering" of the lines create magic. Immersion in a pleasant fluid state of calm creativity, contact with natural matter relieves stress, any tension, fears. There are no canons here, it is impossible to make a mistake here. You can draw anything with sand: landscapes and portraits, still lifes and abstractions. The main thing is to give free rein to the imagination and not be afraid to experiment. In order to create sand paintings, it is not necessary to have an art education. The pliability of sand, its natural magic attracts from the first minutes.

Sand painting technologies: sand and sand.

1. Sand: rash from a fist, from a pinch. To draw objects with sand, we collect some sand in our hand, release it in a thin stream from a clenched fist, depict the boundaries of the images on a clean surface of the light table. Rash out of a pinch depict small details.

2. On the sand: Work on the drawing begins with the background. We collect sand in our hands and scatter it in an even layer over the surface of the light table. Sand drawing methods: fist, palm, palm edge, finger, thumb edge, pinch, little fingers, simultaneous use of several fingers, symmetrically with two hands, cutting off excess using special tools.

3. The pattern can be easily corrected.

« Colors affect the soul

they can evoke feelings

evoke emotion and thought.

J. W. Goethe

Colored sand painting ( sand color - art ) - – it is the perfect material for creative ideas. It can be used to decorate the interior: fill transparent containers with sand, stick sand on any surface, creating bright and unusual textures, draw pictures. P According to the observations of specialists working with colored sand, human interaction not only with loose, but also with colored material has a stronger effect, due to the intense effect of color on a person. The color of the sand is very saturated, bright, there are many colors, and the client can intuitively choose for himself the color that he needs right now, “feed” on its influence. Paracelsus believed that in the treatment of color is more effective than a chemical, and Bekhterev A.M. wrote: "... a skillfully selected range of colors can have a more beneficial effect on the nervous system than other potions."Applications and dynamic drawing with colored sand help both children and adults to express themselves, develop creativity, fine motor skills and join artistic and visual activities.

Colored sand technologies: static and dynamic drawing.

Static drawing - the use of colored sand, paper or cardboard and PVA glue to create images, bright sand pictures, applications.

Dynamic drawing - the use of colored sand and a white tray to create changing drawings, images, paintings. For example, a landscape, an emotional state, a mandala (a drawing in a circle) and much more.

"Often hands know how to unravel what the mind struggles in vain"

K.G. Jung

Kinetic Sand ( kinetic sand ), "psychodynamic" or moving sand - has a very interesting texture, it is loose material, the particles of which seem to stick to each other, so working with it is very convenient and pleasant. It is much more interesting than playing with ordinary sand, clay or plasticine. Kinetic sand is similar to wet beach sand, but at the same time it is soft and fluffy and flows through your fingers, leaving your hands clean and dry. It is loose, but you can build a variety of shapes from it. It is pleasant to the touch, does not leave marks on the hands and can be used as a relaxing and therapeutic agent.

kinetic sand- this is an amazing toy for children's creativity, the number of games with this material is limitless.

By using kinetic sand you can create various volumetric images (with your hands or with various molds).

kinetic sand- this is an amazing material, interaction with which gives the strongest psychotherapeutic effect. This happens due to the possibility of creating images of bodily sensations on the sand and their transformation. Based on these properties of kinetic sand

plassotherapy (Greek Πλάσσω - sculpt, θεραπεία - treatment, recovery): the direction of psychotherapeutic work with "psychodynamic" sand without the use of a sandbox (on the surface of the table, on the floor) and without additional items (toys, etc.);

The possibilities of sand therapy are endless and unique, and the experience of the author of the article in the SRCN “Island of Hope (2008-2016) allows us to consider sand therapy as a very effective and promising form of psychological support for children with developmental disabilities and their parents.

Karina Gordeeva,

educational psychologist,

art therapist

SRCN "Island of Hope"

SAND THERAPY

When working with adults, this type of play therapy is most often used, such as sand therapy, or playing with sand. This is one of the psycho-corrective, developing methods aimed at resolving personal problems through work with images of the personal and collective unconscious.

These images appear in a symbolic form in the process of creating a creative product - a composition of figurines built on a special tray (box) with sand, just as they appear in dreams or when using the active imagination technique.

The method is based on a combination of non-verbal (the process of building a composition) and verbal (a story about a finished composition, writing a story or a fairy tale that reveals the meaning of the composition) expression of clients.

Sand therapy allows clients to use their unconscious material and bring it to a conscious level. The task of the psychologist is to facilitate this process.

During sand therapy, clients are given the opportunity to choose any objects from a huge number and place them on a tray with sand, thus creating a kind of three-dimensional collage or assemblage.

When creating a composition, the client is deeply immersed in the creative process, and this is reminiscent of the work of an artist or the process of creating ritual items. The inclusion of various objects in the sand composition sometimes gives it a resemblance to “magic” images. When perceiving objects in the sandbox, it is necessary to take into account the physical properties of the materials from which they are made, since they complement the psychological significance of the objects themselves.

Throughout the course of sand therapy, the psychologist should follow the client and not make interpretations, even when it is necessary to take on the role of facilitator. The role of the art therapist is to be a witness, respect the rights of the client and respect his difficulties. The art therapist creates a safe, protected space and maintains the client's sense of security.

Although most experts allocate 50 minutes for a sand session, it is better to plan for 1.5 hours. Extended in time, the procedure allows clients to calmly build and realize.

The History of Sand Therapy

For the first time, the idea of ​​using sand to play with sick and psychologically disadvantaged children was realized by the English child psychotherapist Margaret Lowenfeld in the 1930s. M. Lowenfeld attached great importance to the child's tactile contact with sand and water, which complemented projective play with various objects and dolls. She worked with two trays, one of which was filled with sand, the other with water. The children were also offered regular sandbox molds and boxes of miniature toys. The child was given the opportunity to play freely with sand, water and figurines. The children called this process "building the world." M. Lowenfeld called her methodology - the technique of "building the world."

In the 1950s Swiss psychoanalyst Dora Kalff, having carefully studied the method of "building the world", began to develop Jungian sand therapy, which later became an independent direction in psychotherapy. D. Kalff based her approach to sand therapy on the theory of C. G. Jung. The technology of working with sand was modified by her in accordance with the theoretical basis.

Today, the "sandbox" is actively used in Gestalt therapy, cognitive-behavioral and family therapy, in child psychoanalysis, and of course, it can be included in the tools of integrative art therapy.

As already mentioned, sand, water and miniature figurines are used as materials. With their help, customers are invited to create compositions in a special tray. After completing the work with sand, the client gives a name to his creation and tells the psychologist about it.

The psychologist notes the important moments of the process (features of the client's behavior, actions with sand, the first figurine placed in the sandbox, etc.), fixes the composition on a photo or slide film, and writes down the client's story in detail.

The main goals, objectives and possibilities of sand therapy

Main goal sand therapy - to help the client achieve the effect of self-healing through spontaneous creative expression of the personal and collective unconscious, including it in consciousness, strengthening his "Ego" and establishing a qualitatively new interaction of the Ego with the deep source of mental life - a holistic "I". As a result, there is a significant increase in a person's ability to self-determination and self-development.

The mechanism of psycho-corrective influence is the client's establishing a connection, contact with the deep layers of his own psyche, meeting with the unconscious parts of the "I", their integration into consciousness and achieving through this a better understanding of himself and greater mental integrity.

Main tasks sand therapy: - return to the state of a playing, freely creative child through deep age regression;

Contact with the repressed and suppressed material of the personal unconscious, its inclusion in consciousness;

Contact with the archetypes of the collective unconscious, comprehension of the most mysterious layers of the psyche;

Elaboration of the archetypal contents of the individual psyche, their removal from the depths of the unconscious and integration into consciousness.

Possibilities of sand therapy. This method allows you to harmonize (order) the inner spiritual chaos through:

Working out psychotraumatic situations at the symbolic level;

Reaction of negative emotional experience in the process of creative self-expression;

Expansion of inner experience through awareness of the deep levels of the psyche, including the archetypal one, and strengthening the conscious "I";

Changes in attitude towards oneself, towards one's past, present and future, towards significant other events and in general towards one's destiny;

Strengthening (or awakening) trust in the outside world, developing new, more productive relationships with it.

Sand therapy room equipment

Sand trays. Sand therapy requires two rectangular wooden boxes measuring 49.5 x 72.5 x 7 cm (other proportions are often used, eg 50 x 70 x 8 cm or 49 x 70 x 10 cm). These dimensions are extremely important because they allow the client to keep in view the entire composition, and not its individual fragments. One of the trays is used for dry sand and the other for wet sand! The bottom and inside of the sides should be painted blue, symbolizing water and the unconscious; the outside of the tray should be beige, symbolizing sand and consciousness.

Sand occupies about one third of the volume of the box; it should be clean, sifted, not large, but not too small, and preferably light enough. It is important that it is pleasant to the touch.

Collection of miniature figurines and objects. For sand therapy you will need:

Figures of people of different sex and age, representatives of different historical eras and various professions. Doll families, fantastic creatures, characters of fairy tales, legends, myths, gods and goddesses of different peoples, sorcerers, witches, etc.; - animals (terrestrial, flying, aquatic inhabitants) both wild and domestic, as well as extinct and prehistoric representatives of the fauna, fantastic animals (unicorn, griffin, pegasus, etc.); - houses, other dwellings, furniture, bridges, stairs, fences, gates, buildings with a special purpose (stations, hospitals, schools, etc.), temples of various religions; - food, household utensils, tools; - trees, bushes, flowers and other plants;

natural material: pebbles, moss, tree bark, tree fruits, shells, corals, feathers, dry branches, dried flowers;

Celestial objects (sun, moon, stars, rainbow, etc.);

Vehicles (land, water, air);

- "cartoon" characters; - masks;

Coins, buttons, jewelry, threads, pieces of leather, furs; - mirrors;

Ritual items;

Miniature clock, scales, pendulum;

Caskets, boxes;

Miniature musical instruments; - colorful glass and crystal balls, and much more.

Application conditions, stages and stages

Indications for the use of sand therapy. Sand therapy is used if the client:

Sent to you specifically for this work;

Unable to put into words what he feels or thinks;

Restricted in the expression of their feelings or is

in a state of frustration; - experiencing an existential crisis; - acutely experiencing an age crisis; - struggles with the decision that must be made; - is psychologically traumatized.

Contraindications to the use of sand therapy. Sand therapy should not be used if:

The client strongly resists sand therapy;

the level of trust between the psychologist and the client is not high enough;

The client is characterized by increased excitability.

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. It is usually recommended to carry them out 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.

In the process of sand therapy, the following initial stages are distinguished:

Stage 1 - collecting information and establishing a trusting relationship with the client. The first meeting with the client should discuss a number of approaches that you can use in therapy. By drawing his attention to the sand trays and figurine collection, you can talk about sand therapy as one of the methods you use.

Stage 2 - observation. Watch the customer's reaction to the collection. Notice if he touches the sand, looks closely at specific objects, or seems completely disinterested and quickly moves away from the play area.

Stage 3 - familiarization of the client with sand therapy. Allow the client to touch the sand, show the bottom of the sandbox, show him a variety of objects and other materials, and inform him that he (or she) can use no objects or take only a few figures or as many as he wants. Tell them that all items are categorized, this will make it easier to find. Show the client a jug of water, paper towels or napkins and remind them that they can use dry or wet sand.

Some clients prefer to talk to or interact with a psychologist. In such a situation, the main thing is to avoid interpretations or questions that could influence the client and take him away from the process.

In the process of sand therapy itself, the following stages are distinguished:

Creating a sand painting. Instructions: Please select all those figures that attract or repel you. Choose as many figurines as you want. We have one hour, and you can decide for yourself the time to choose. Whatever you choose, you must place on the tray (in the sandbox). When the client is left to the process, it is his time to choose the objects and the theme of the sand painting. At this point, it is important to keep quiet, not interfering in the process and not giving any advice.

Distancing and experiencing the sand painting. If clients show obvious emotional non-verbal responses, this needs to be addressed. For example, if a client sighs, you might say, "Something seems to touch you deeply." Don't ask questions. The dialogue at this stage is exclusively between the client and his world. Your reactions or comments are only meant to let him know that you are listening to him and paying attention to his statements. Only make verbal comments if you feel that the client needs confirmation of your presence. It is important to understand that your words that are not relevant can be an intrusion.

Interaction with the sand world. The client can manipulate sand world objects: move them, remove them from the tray, or add some new objects. If the client has changed something, give him the opportunity to re-immerse himself in your world. Pay attention to any changes in the client itself (feelings, behavior) that have occurred with the transformation of the world.

Journey through the "sand world". The client acts as a guide to his sand world or a storyteller. If you observe the client's bodily reactions as you describe the world, you might ask, "What are you experiencing right now in your body?" When the procedure is nearing completion, it is necessary to ask the client how he (or she) would like to end today's meeting: “Today we end. Now you have the opportunity to leave the world as it is, or change something in it.

Integration of received symbolic information to a more conscious level. Clients need to be helped to connect meaningful symbolic images from their sand worlds and the meanings of these images to their real life. The client must see the connection between what is revealed in the tray with daily events. You can say the following: “You just created your world in the sand. How similar are the events in the tray to those that are happening in your life now?

Disassembly of the sand painting. When cleaning up the used materials, it is best to immediately place the figures in their places, by category. This will make it easier for future customers to choose. To do this, do not forget to allocate additional time for organizational moments.

The main questions of the art therapist to the client: - If the tray were a picture, what would be the name of this picture?

What are your impressions, feelings from the process of creating a sand painting? - What is especially important or useful for 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 an important observation for yourself: if so, would you like to tell about it? Thus, the psychologist's strategy is to maximally assist the client in the process of understanding himself and comprehending the patterns of his own life.

Conducting Sandbox Analysis

The analysis is carried out at the following levels.

First level - the object is what the client calls it. First, the analysis takes into account the values ​​that the clients themselves attribute to the objects. For example, often cedar cones serve as trees in client worlds, stones as steps, a cigarette box as a modern block house, etc.

The second level is the functional value of the object, what functions it has. For example, if there is a house in the tray, then its functional meaning is comfort, warmth, protection, housing, separation, preservation, etc.

The third level is the symbolic meaning of the object, that is, the meaning that is attributed to the object from the point of view of religion, culture, and mentality. To do this, psychologists will need a dictionary or encyclopedia of symbols.

Combining the information obtained at all three levels of analysis, the psychologist also connects all symbols, objects and images with each other, as is done, for example, in the analysis of projective drawing tests.

In addition, sand therapists pay attention to the following points:

The first figure placed in the tray (that which

most relevant today) - figures selected for construction, but left in a basket outside the tray (what is not yet ready to become visible, but already indicated); - figures that were often rearranged during construction (what is the object of constant manipulation);

The name of the sand composition, which can provide a lot of information, as it integrates all of its content and is in fact a semantic code. The psychologist carries out the analysis of the sandy world only for himself. This is necessary for building a psychotherapeutic hypothesis, forecasting the development of the client's process, etc. Under no circumstances is the client's world analyzed or interpreted.

Key characteristics of sand paintings

The following key characteristics of sand paintings are distinguished: energy-information field; main idea; plot (or plots); conflict content; resource content; symbolic field.

1. Energy-informational field of the sand picture. Most often, the psychologist has an adequate response to the energy of the picture, that is, a certain “working state” is switched 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 pattern, but we understand the importance of this key 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, so other key characteristics come to the rescue.

2. The main idea of ​​the sand painting. The main idea of ​​the sand painting reflects the actual life values, needs, “zone of proximal development” of the author. In other words, the main idea will tell about what is most significant for the client at the moment and what he is consciously or unconsciously working on, what he is striving for.

You can learn the basic idea of ​​a sand painting in at least three ways:

1) ask the client to name the world created in the sandbox;

2) invite the client to answer one of the questions: - what kind of world is this?

What country is it?

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

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

3) invite the client to describe the sand world.

3. 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 interconnected plots. For example, Two countries, three worlds, two or more main characters. It happens that stories are dedicated to one character, but describe different age intervals of his path - childhood, youth, maturity.

According to the plot dynamics, pictures can be conditionally divided into three types:

dynamic;

static;

mixed.

Dynamic pictures, as a rule, describe a hero (or heroes) who are going somewhere, striving for something, wanting something, looking for something. In the picture, we find them on a certain segment of the path. We can see their past (the world they came from) and their future (the world they aspire to). The advantage of dynamic pictures for the psychologist is that in fact the client himself talks about the goals of counseling (albeit in encrypted form). He knows what he must come to, what to get, what means to use for this.

A static picture is a freeze-frame of a story. In a static sand painting, time has stopped. The heroes of such paintings, as a rule, lead a settled way of life, or we find them at the moment of some action (work, play, meal, bathing, sunbathing, hunting, etc.), but in any case, this is their usual type of activity. To reveal the plot in a static picture, you can give the client the following tasks: “Tell the story of this country. Where did it all begin, who created it, how did it happen?”, “What awaits this country in the future?”, “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 paintings, static well-being is violated by the dynamism of some hero. Mixed pictures can contain two worlds - static and dynamic. In any case, the mixed picture speaks of some internal confrontation, contradiction and the search for stability. This type of painting sheds light on the conflicting content of sand compositions.

1. Conflict content of sand paintings. The content reflects the inner tension of a person and can be explicit and hidden.

The conflict content of the sand painting can be described by the following characteristics: - the level of aggression; - direction of aggression; - targeting of aggression;

The dynamics of the study of internal conflict.

Level of aggression can be high, medium and low. A high level of aggression is manifested in the event that battles are unfolding in the sandbox or there is a character in relation to which active aggressive actions are directed. If the heroes of the picture are just getting ready 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 aggression can be expressed as autoaggression and heteroaggression. Auto-aggression manifests itself in destructive actions in relation to the main character of the sand tale, in the troubles that the author exposes him to. Heteroaggression - through the confrontation of armies in the sandbox, as well as in the active aggressive actions of the main character in relation to other characters and elements of the composition.

Targeting of aggression shows 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.).

2. Resource content of the sand painting. The resource content of the sand picture serves as a support for psychological counseling and is an integral characteristic.

Manifestation of resource content: - The presence of a special positive energy in the picture. Some part of the picture or composition as a whole warms the soul. If you ask to tell about it in more detail, you can actualize the resource hypostases of the personality.

In a picture or a story about it there is a creative idea, aspiration. If the psychologist focuses the client's attention on this, it is possible to update his resource capabilities.

The plot of the sand painting is life-affirming, and on this you can build a line of counseling.

Feeling of release from tension after the conflict played out. Now that good has conquered evil, you can "start a new life."

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 the hero combines direct aggression, cunning, patronage, avoidance, mutual assistance and other ways to overcome a difficult situation, we can talk about his adaptive resources. He has a high potential to adapt to different conditions, as well as to successfully resolve difficult situations.

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 "I" of the client.

Helper figures.

3. 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, the symbolic field of the sand painting can be conditionally divided into three parts:

1) the symbolism of the spatial arrangement of objects in the sandbox;

2) the symbolism of the landscape of the sand painting;

3) the symbolism of the objects used in the sand painting.

Let us sequentially consider each part of the symbolic field of the sand picture, conditionally dividing the symbolic field into three parts, remembering 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 pattern 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. Vertically:

"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. This is what he thinks about, what he aspires to, what is significant for 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, college, 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.

Horizontally:

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

sand therapy one of the varieties of play therapy. The sand therapy method is based on Jung's theory that every object of the external world evokes a symbol in the depths of the unconscious. This is one of the modern methods of psychotherapy, which is used in children's and adult practice.

This type of therapy is used for severe emotional stress. Through his feelings, through the touch of hands on the sand, a person feels peace and at the same time great opportunities.

The sand game serves as both a therapeutic and an excellent diagnostic method for a specialist. For children, this is a simple, natural way to talk about their anxieties, fears and other important experiences, to overcome emotional stress. Unlike an adult, a child cannot always express his inner anxiety in words. In this regard, various difficulties may arise in the life of the baby. Sand play with a psychologist gives him the opportunity not only to transfer his experiences into a box of sand and look at them from the outside, but also learn how to successfully interact with them.

So frightening characters become available for dialogue or struggle in the psychologist's office, and, therefore, cease to be frightening.

The principle of "sand therapy" was proposed by C. G. Jung, the founder of analytic psychotherapy. Psychotherapists - supporters of Jung's theory argue that the sand absorbs the negative mental energy of a person, stabilizes his emotional state. In any case, experience and observations show that sand games have a positive effect on the emotional well-being of adults and children, this makes them a wonderful means of taking care of the soul (namely, this is how the medical term “psychotherapy” is translated).

Sand therapy can be used as monotherapy (an independent technique, the only one in the course of treatment), as well as in combination with other psychotherapeutic methods, such as art therapy, fairy tale therapy, symbol drama, etc.

It is no secret that the language of the unconscious is images. Verbal, verbal communication is strongly distorted by internal censorship. For example, an offer to draw to a patient sometimes leads to fear of evaluation. All of us, when we learned to draw, were faced with a discrepancy between the internal image and what is obtained on paper. And then a person, when working with a psychotherapist, refuses to draw. But, fortunately, sandbox games immerse a person in such deep, ancient layers of our psyche, when grades were not so relevant for us. Few people can resist the temptation of creative self-expression in the well-enclosed space of a psychotherapy office, at a specially allotted hour stolen from reality.

For sand therapy, two rectangular boxes with clean river dry and wet sand are used. To create their own world in the sandbox, the child is provided with a variety of miniature toys depicting various characters. Thus, the “creator” has the opportunity to create in the sandbox everything that he has in mind. The therapy is individual, or a couple works, occasionally a whole family, a group form is also possible, but in this case the lesson has a goal: teaching interaction and constructive cooperation. One session lasts about 1 hour and includes both work with the sandbox and analytical analysis and possible conclusions. But, often, this is not necessary, since healing changes continue after the end of the session, as the image that has arisen in the space of the sandbox is realized and it is associated with the problem in the real life of the child.

Application object.

The sand game method is suitable for children from three years old (recently tested with young children), most often designed for long-term therapy.

In the process of work, the child is not given a hard task and criteria. The psychologist creates the conditions for the manifestation of creative creative power in children, the specialist takes a leading non-judgmental position in the process of the game. Depending on the needs of the child, the psychologist is, as it were, on the sidelines or next to the child, his role is not the leading one.

Therefore, the method is suitable for anxious and suspicious children, who are afraid of the task.

Every person wants to create something new, to break something in order to feel the strength, but at the same time he wants to feel protected. These desires are realized in working with sand.

Therefore, the method is suitable for aggressive children and contributes to the removal of aggression. It also increases the self-confidence of shy and withdrawn children.

Playing, the child solves his internal emotional problems. Sand therapy takes a person's perception to a deeper level. Playing out the situation in the sandbox, the child has the opportunity to look at it from the side. This allows you to correlate the game with real life, comprehend what is happening, find ways to solve the problem. In the sand game, the client and the specialist easily exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings, which allows them to learn how to build partnerships.

Therefore, the method is suitable for children with communication and behavioral problems.

The sandbox is made from natural materials. According to parapsychologists, sand and wood absorb "negative" psychic energy. Interaction with it clears the energy of a person, stabilizes the emotional state. Observation and experience show that playing with sand has a positive effect on the emotional well-being of children.

Therefore, the method is suitable for children with an unbalanced nervous system, high anxiety, who have experienced stressful situations.

Sand therapy takes a person's perception to a deeper level. “Living” the impact becomes holistic and meaningful, the effect becomes sustainable. And, most importantly, a powerful creative force is activated in our client. In the process of consulting with a client, certain changes occur: his view of the world around him, events, relationships, and so on changes.

Sand Therapy Materials

The sandbox itself for classes is necessarily blue - the color of a clear sky, positive and setting in a contemplative and creative way. And be sure to have a rectangular shape - it is designed in accordance with Jung's theory and should look exactly like that. The sand is fine, white or light yellow. The use of two sandboxes with dry and wet sand is practiced. But the most important thing is the figurines. Several groups of toys of different colors, shapes and sizes allow the child to build what he wants. Moreover, the choice and construction of toy worlds for the same baby at different times can be very different - depending on his mood, well-being, relationships in the family and with others, including other children. The following groups of miniature toys are commonly used:

• People. All ages, professions, races and nationalities and necessarily both sexes.
• Animals - wild, domestic, different sizes, familiar to the baby and not familiar, cute and scary.
• Cartoon characters - also, from ugly and unpleasant to funny and familiar to the baby.
• "Horror stories" from fairy tales - witches, devils, sorcerers and other "evil spirits".
• All kinds of buildings - from simple houses to castles.
• Furniture.
• Transport.
• Plants.
• “Jewels” are shiny objects or multi-colored pieces of glass made in the shape and cut of precious stones, mirrors.
• Just small items - beads, buttons, pebbles, buttons, feathers.

Rice. Toys are classified according to the purpose of the lesson.

It is important not only which toys the child chose and how he placed them relative to each other, but also in which part of the sandbox he placed them. The area of ​​lived (past) processes and experiences, the actual present, as well as the future and related fantasies and associations are distinguished.

Impact structure.

The purpose of the first session is to introduce the psychologist to the client. Therefore, the first thing that needs to be created for the child is a relaxed atmosphere and unconditional acceptance of any of his features. .

The child must be offered to get acquainted with the psychologist's office (to master the space). The office should become familiar, familiar, so that later it would not be distracted from the main goal. You can turn on background music (classical, relaxation, sounds of nature), it will set it up for creation and creativity. After that, you can show the child toys that he can use in the squeak game. It is necessary to suggest considering them in detail. After that, pay attention to the boxes with sand, touch the wet and dry sand, ask: “which one does he like best?” allow to manipulate with that other sand, pay attention to the fact that the blue bottom of the box looks like water.

After the child has mastered the materials, you can set a task for him. The formulation of the problem depends on the level of development of the child, on his age. You can offer to build a world, a city, a country, as if it were a wizard, or just play, ask in which sand the child will build. Usually children choose one of the boxes. But sometimes a child needs to play in two boxes, mixing dry and wet sand. It is necessary to give the child maximum freedom: he can play in two boxes, and in one; he has the right to use both wet and dry sand in one box.

At first, it is advisable not to focus on situations when sand spills out of the box, it is better at the end of the lesson to offer help to remove the spilled sand. During the first lesson, it is necessary to observe the behavior of the child: how he goes to communicate, how much time he needs to work with sand. All this will be useful for planning future work. After analyzing the work of the child, his behavior at the end of the first lesson, as a rule, is already clear:

• when to schedule a lesson
• what area of ​​the child's psyche should be paid special attention when setting sand tasks
• what position the psychologist will take in the classroom (active or passive), depending on the needs of the child

In subsequent meetings, if an approach to the child is found, at the second or third meeting, and sometimes already at the first lesson in the sandbox, a “conflict” is visible, which at the moment worries the child, violating his emotional well-being. If the child goes to the dialogue, you can ask questions: about the cause of the conflict, about ways to resolve it. Questions should be open-ended and should not contain a solution to the situation, the child must come to a decision on his own. If a decision does not come within several lessons, then you can connect to the game by a specialist or one of the parents.

Rice. “Building with Mom”

Playing together will help the child enrich his experience in resolving conflicts, and facilitate mutual understanding between parents and children.

At the end of the lesson, when the picture or fairy tale is completed, it is advisable to ask him the following questions:

• Do you like everything here?
• Is there anything else you would like to resolve here?
• Can anything happen here and change occur?

The last question is provocative. He will show if anxiety lies behind the external successful work: fear of random events. If the child wants to change the panorama, he must be allowed to do so.

No matter how the events unfold in the sandbox, it is impossible to respond to them evaluatively, ask only clarifying questions in order to better understand the child. If passions rage in the sandbox, then, as a rule, the behavior of the child in society is pronounced. During this period, he especially needs the support of significant adults, and an unconditionally positive attitude towards his personality. As a rule, if the intensity of passions in the sandbox subsides, a peaceful course of events sets in, the child no longer wants to play in the sandbox. His behavior also changes. Classes should be stopped only when the pictures on the sand become peaceful and calm. Even after conflict-provoking sentences in the game script.

Stages of work in the sandbox

Carl Jung believed that imagination and creativity are the driving forces of human existence. Jung described the role of fantasy in the creative process as follows:

Not only an artist, but any creative person, whoever he may be, owes all his greatest achievements to his imagination. The dynamic principle of fantasy is play, which is considered to be inherent in the child and thus incompatible with serious work. But no creative process can originate and exist without this play of fantasy (Jung, 1921/1970).

Jung used the term "active imagination" to refer to such a creative process (Lyddiatt, 1971), when the subject, as it were, objectively observes the development of his fantasy, without trying to consciously influence it. In the process of working in the sandbox, a process takes place, in psychoanalysis called sublimation one of the psychological defense mechanisms, which is a process in which any antisocial impulses are, as it were, redistributed into socially acceptable types of behavior, which makes it possible to achieve a compromise satisfaction (Kramer, 1958). Although all psychological defense mechanisms help a person to minimize the feeling of anxiety, sublimation is the most adaptive, as it leads to socially approved results. According to psychoanalytic theory, artistic creativity is one of the types of sublimation, when the creator's fantasies are sublimated into creative visual images. Creativity in the sandbox helps to simultaneously "direct in a different direction" and express feelings of anger, pain, anxiety, fear. Historically, art has helped us express and resolve the conflict between our instinctive desires and the demands and constraints of the social environment.

Sand therapy is a work mainly with the emotional sphere of a person. Therefore, its dynamics is monitored based on the structure emotional sphere person. As is known, L. S. Vygotsky (1982) holds the idea of ​​the unity of intellect and affect in the organization of both the simplest and most complex forms of mental life. . S. L. Rubinshtein (1957) believes that the mental unit always includes intellectual and affective components. The understanding is reached that with the help of affective experience, needs retain control over human activity. Affect provides activity, a cash motivational state; induces, controls and directs behavior. It is associated with various states of consciousness and determines its selectivity. Affect organizes perception and memory, intellectual activity, adequate behavior in situations of success and failure. In her monograph Nikolskaya O.S. writes: “... had the opportunity to look at the affective sphere from an unusual point of view, from which, as it seems to us, already known phenomena appear in a completely special way, its functions, structure, systemic structure are understood more clearly, its ontogenesis, biological foundations are seen in a new way and cultural development, health and disorders. We got this opportunity thanks to our work with children suffering from early childhood autism.” She singled out four main levels of the human emotional sphere.

Field reactivity level

The perception of the harmony of the external world, the assimilation of its rhythms is, on the one hand, one of the main sources of maintaining and restoring our mental tone. On the other hand, the first level and here clearly manifests itself as a level of mental protection. It protects a person from experiences of unbearable intensity. The mechanism of affective satiety allows you to "cut off" too strong positive and negative experiences. Thus, the affective processes are stabilized in the comfort mode. Of particular importance for self-regulation is also the fact that at this level there is a liberation from an intolerable, but really irremovable affective impression. It can be assumed that the experience of this level is one of the main components of the repression mechanism that allows a person to survive and maintain affective stability even in seemingly unbearable conditions.

Rice. “Happy City”

Maintaining affective processes in comfort mode is carried out in the sandbox thanks to constructions that carry the experience of peace, comfort, harmony, balance in the environment. At this stage, the child usually builds peaceful pictures in the sand. All residents of the country are friends, everyone is happy, nothing threatens this way of life. There is a static nature of images, unwillingness to change something, rearrange, inadmissibility of temporary s x changes.

Level of stereotypes

The second level of affective organization assumes responsibility for resolving a class of more complex tasks, which requires deepening and intensifying contact with the environment and, accordingly, leads to the development of a qualitatively new type of relationship with the world. First of all, this is manifested in the appearance of active selectivity in contacts with the medium. The experience that organizes behavioral stereotypes is characterized by a very definite feeling of pleasure and displeasure. The sensual coloring of pleasant and unpleasant gives it brightness and concreteness.

At this stage, the child usually begins to interact more actively with the sand. He needs to beat the images, the dynamics of events. At this stage, the child clearly divides characters and events into good and bad. At first, there is no struggle yet, but defense mechanisms are being formed. At this stage, sandbox work can relive past events in a playful way, which allows for a constructive look at the traumatic event of the past. At this stage, the struggle between good and evil begins to unfold in the sandbox. During several sessions, the child plays out the same events, the behavior of negative and positive characters is repeated all the time. Good and evil are roughly equal in their powers. If the psychologist tries to offer additional resources for the victory of good, the child takes the side of evil and thus maintains a balance.

Rice. “The horses are chased, they ran away from the herd; they hunt hippos to take them to the zoo” (work of a 6-year-old child with negativism in behavior)

Rice. “War of the Worlds: A tsunami came and the world was torn apart” (age 9)

Thus, at the level of affective stereotypes, there is a process of accumulation of energizing positive experiences and binding, encapsulation, and partial neutralization of traumatic, negative, impressions.

Expansion level

The third level of affective organization of behavior represents the next stage in the development of interaction with the environment. This gives a chance in the development of activity is provided by the emergence of qualitatively new forms of interaction with the world.

When moving to this stage, the child usually says: “Why am I making up all the evil fairy tales? Today I will compose a good one.”

In this regard, the key impression that triggers the orientation of this level is the moment of a shift in the balance of forces between the subject and the environment: the appearance of a new, unknown aspect in a stable picture of the environment, an unexpected violation of a life stereotype. With the help of affective orientation, we answer the question: do we continue to control the situation and can we predict success? A positive response allows you to highlight the failure as a barrier and triggers exploratory behavior, gives you the opportunity to focus on constructive troubleshooting; the negative inhibits the expansion of the subject and connects protective mechanisms of other levels to the organization of behavior. Behavior is woven into the ring of active adjustment, guided by it, and carries new information. For the first time, an active dialogue between the subject and the world is organized at this level. The affective mechanism of the third level forms a new view of the world. Perceiving his relationship with the environment as cause-and-effect, the subject gets the opportunity to see the cause-and-effect relationships around him.

At this stage, there is an active struggle between good and evil in the sandbox, and good greatly outweighs. A specialist can connect to the child's game, discuss different ways the characters act in emerging situations. The child himself, as a rule, conducts an active dialogue with the psychologist. It is also favorable to involve parents or others in the game at this moment. significant people. Often the child himself asks for this. Good, or the characters he acts with, win. Evil loses its original strength or changes its structure (becomes non-evil).

Rice. “The dinosaur is not bad, he just wanted to take the gold” (work of an aggressive child)

The contrast of the previously presented world is removed, the tension gradually subsides.

Level of emotional control

The fourth level completes the system of basic affective organization. Mastering a new type of affective perception of the world, it makes it possible to carry out the most active, complexly structured forms of adaptation. The adaptive meaning of the fourth level is determined by the fact that the ability to empathize opens the way for us to use the affective experience of other people in individual adaptation. The fourth level creates an image of a reliable, stable environment, protected from surprises and vicissitudes. Such protection is provided by emotional confidence in the strength of others, in their knowledge, in the existence of emotional rules of behavior that guarantee adaptation without sudden breakdowns. At this level, the subject receives a sense of security, comfort of the surrounding world. the behavior of the subject is organized at the fourth level by the direct emotional reactions of other people and the emotional rules of behavior set by them. Following them provides the subject with a sense of self-confidence, security, and reliability of the surrounding world. The experience of an emotional connection with people, with their emotional laws, is a powerful means of maintaining his own active position.

Often at this stage, the child notices positive traits in negative characters, understands that he and other heroes were wrong, the opposing sides agree among themselves, find compromises. A stable world is coming. No provocations on the part of the psychologist to change events are supported.

In the process of psycho-correctional practice, one can observe how, with successful work, the child rises up these steps in a certain order, and, conversely, with a deterioration in the state, the reverse process can be traced.

Forms of work in the sandbox.

Jung considered several different forms and variants of sand therapy: diagnostics, provision of primary psychological assistance, short-term psychotherapy, long-term psychotherapeutic impact. Depending on who tried to practice sand therapy, it underwent many changes, and in its modern form it is represented by three stages of correcting the state of the child: chaos, struggle and conflict resolution.

Storytelling approach.

In the context of fairy tale therapy, we consider the sandbox, firstly, as an environment for creating fairy tales and fairy tale worlds. Tales that have long been living in the soul, which have developed on the events of life, get the opportunity to become seen and tangible. When a child looks at the figures placed in the sandbox, the plot comes as if by itself. This is how the ability to compose fairy tales develops. Which, in turn, contributes to the comprehension of life experience. Creativity in the sandbox, the style of interaction in the process of fairyland, is a projection of the inner world. Playing various life situations on the sand, the child finds solutions and puts them into practice.

A fairy-tale beginning given by a psychologist can help the child develop the plot and achieve the goals of correctional work.

The most important moment comes when the process of creating a fabulous picture is completed and you can move on to the discussion. The child talks about the events that occur in the picture with the help of a psychologist, analyzes the situation and looks for different ways out of it. In group work, interacting with peers, the child learns: obey the rules of the game, negotiate, accept the views of another person, etc.

Psychodiagnostics in the sandbox.

Analyzing sand paintings and “Sand Tales”, the following phenomena can be diagnosed:

• Presence of internal conflicts
• Level and direction of aggression
• Conflicts with significant loved ones
• Potential resource opportunities
• Ways to overcome difficulties

In group work.

• The nature of the interaction in the group
• Distribution of roles
• Behavior style of each group member

Work in pairs / senior group /.

It is mainly used in working with children up to five years old inclusive or who are not able to establish interaction with each other and other children.

Group work in third grade.

Purpose: to teach conflict-free interaction; learn to accept someone else's opinion; develop creative thinking.

Analyzing the work, you need to pay attention to the following details:

• What kind of water is this (open, closed, swamp, river), where does it flow.
• How the parts of the sandbox are filled (is there an offset to the right, left, etc.)
• What is the way of arranging objects (chaotic or structured).
• What sand did the child choose (dry or wet)
• How are the figures in relation to each other
• Number of individual groups of items
• Dominant color
• Willingness or unwillingness to change the already built world
• Emotions of the child in the process of work

Ask your child for the following details:

• Who is the main character, his qualities
• What events take place in the sandbox
• What are the relationships between the characters
• Is everyone good in this world, what can be done
• What do you want to change
• What can happen if all of a sudden...

When interpreting the work, it is important to separate the personal, the interest of a specialist in the opinion of the child will help to form a trusting relationship.

Features of working with children in sand therapy.

The position of a psychologist

The most important thing in the work is an unconditional positive attitude towards the client. The child must feel that he is perceived as an independent significant person, he is free to act and speak without fear of condemnation.

It is necessary to try to see the world through the eyes and experience events as well as he experiences them. The psychologist should, as far as possible, refrain from interpreting (by ear and from suggesting solutions to his problems). The advantage is given to the initiative of the client, and the specialist only directs it in the right direction.

During classes, it is necessary to take a position, as it were, in the shadow. Those. to be out of sight of the child while working with sand, and only if the child comments on his actions all the time - to be near and conduct a dialogue with him. During the lesson, it is necessary to keep a protocol in order to track the dynamics of sand games.

Planning classes depending on the personal characteristics of the child

Working with aggressive when setting tasks, a child needs to provoke the emergence of conflict situations on the sand, to allow battles to unfold even if the victory of negative heroes is possible.

From experience with an aggressive child. Egor 8 years old

Personality characteristics at the beginning of classes: A child with defensive aggressiveness. Before school, I changed several kindergartens, I could not adapt anywhere. At a side glance, he immediately stood out from the general mass of children: a contemptuous expression on his face, a refusal to participate in mass games. According to the stories of teachers: he fights cruelly and calls names, he has no friends. When examined by a psychologist, he showed the following results: The picture “I'm at school” - the presence of only black and red colors, the entire picture is shaded with random lines. Anxiety (Temml-Dorki-Amen) high. Social status - outcast.

Family Relations From a conversation with her mother, it turned out that she was brought up in a matriarchal family. She tries to build her family patriarchal, and her husband takes a leadership position. However, her sibling grew up weak-willed and compliant like her father. Zhenya's mother is worried that her son will grow up like his father and brother.

Second meeting (damp sand)

The main character Dragon (neither good nor evil) lives on a volcano, the monsters protect him. Various animals live in the forest, fish and hippos live in the sea.

Monsters attacked a peaceful country. They killed everyone. Some have been turned into zombies. Then they were all killed and buried under the volcano.

(During the story, the figurines “kneaded”, mixed with the ground).

One revived and brought trees and animals back to life, as well as hippos.

Fifth meeting

The plot is about the same. The dragon became known as a dinosaur.

Those on the left want to conquer the lands of those on the right. There was a terrible battle. (Describing the battle, for the first time he did not rearrange and bury the figures). All died.

Nobody won. Draw.

The seventh meeting, but not the last.

The animals decided that they had nothing more to be afraid of monsters and made an agreement with them.

Each side occupied its own territory, and there was peace.

Last work: The animals realized that the monsters are not evil at all, but simply do not look like them, because the aliens made friends with them. The monsters even protected them.

Changes at the end of the cycle of classes: The expression of the face became calm, the look is open. Teachers note that quarrels with classmates have stopped. Expresses his dissatisfaction with classmates in words. Evaluates the behavior of other children. Friends appeared. According to the mother, go to school with pleasure, began to talk more about the school. During the psychological examination, he showed the following results: The drawing “I am at school” has no shading, black color is used for contours; anxiety is normal; social status - accepted.

Working with closed encourage the child to create 2 clans (cities, countries, families) in the sandbox, followed by building bridges of connections, etc.

Rice. “Fortress” (work of a withdrawn child)

Hyperactive to encourage the creation of a single state, its centering, its structuring. Ask him in more detail about events and characters.

From experience with a hyperactive child. Vova 5 years old

Personal characteristics at the beginning of classes: Very mobile. Doesn't stand still for a minute. Behavior becomes antisocial if it is not noticed. Disadaptation is observed in the kindergarten, educators are set against the child. Petya himself often quarrels and fights with the children, does not obey the teachers, considers himself bad.

Type of parenting at home : “hyper care”, “disability”. Grandmother and mother believe that his illness (encephalopathy) is to blame for everything, they despaired and do not know what to do. During classes, he looks around warily, waiting for an assessment.

The first two meetings he poured and collected sand in a heap. Buried toys and beads.

Third meeting

Garage, road and park for children. Only children can walk in the park. On the road they will be crushed by a car, and they will be scolded.

During the game, he discussed the following problems: a quarrel with a girl in a kindergarten, various cases on the topic “possible and impossible”.

Fourth meeting

On the finished building, it began to rain from dry sand. At first he watered the trees, then the waves rose more and more, and everything was flooded. Then the storm subsided and the water receded.

Subsequent meetings played the Flood with various variations.

Eighth meeting

Island in the middle of the ocean. Trees and flowers grow on it. And there are never storms.

Changes at the end of the cycle of classes: Became less fussy, more accommodating with parents and teachers. I changed kindergarten, where I easily adapted. Parents have changed their attitude to the diagnosis of the child and the style of interaction with him.

Grandmother and mother began to listen more to the arguments of the father in communicating with the child.

Anxious children provoke to create situations and events with scary characters.

Rice. Burying characters (high anxiety child)

Features of working with young children

Have not yet developed in young children role-playing game, at this age it is common for a child to manipulate sand. Therefore, games prevail in the classroom: hiding objects, pouring, modeling, prints (of hands, molds, wheels), building slides, pits, rolling various objects from them. The game at this age is rhythmic, repeatable in its plot, and this is the necessary foundation for the formation of figurative play, characteristic of preschool age.

These games stabilize the emotional state of the child, develop tactile sensitivity and fine motor skills, teach the child to listen to their own feelings, analyze the results of experiments. These games contribute to the development of speech attention memory.

Features of working with preschool children

The leading activity of this age is a role-playing game. Therefore, you should not demand from a child of this age a static picture in the sand. Often, having built a picture, he begins to beat it, moving and rearranging the characters.

Hyperactive children in first and second grade still play like preschoolers. It is necessary to allow them to do this and wait for the denouement in the game to come.

Features of working with children of primary school age

Imagination at this age becomes more flexible and mobile, capable of anticipating successive moments, the possible transformation of one state into another. The child's special interest is both the real world with its desires, dreams, and the fantastic, frightening, attractive world of a fairy tale.

At this age, it is already possible to offer to build static pictures, but realizing that the craving for play in a child of primary school age is still great, we can suggest rebuilding the picture: “how it will be in the future.” If necessary, the child will play these events, as a preschooler plays them. If not, then he will simply rearrange the characters by changing the picture in the sand.

From work experience Semyon 7 years old

Personality features at the beginning of classes: Sexually aggressive, there were cases of demonstrative onanism. Restless in class. Interferes with neighbors. Antisocial behavior is periodically replaced by sincere repentance and admission of guilt. Gives "change", even if he was hurt by accident. He clearly states what he was wrong about and promises to improve. When examined by a psychologist, he showed the following results: Drawing “I am at school” - drew spiders and scorpions, explaining that he hates school; Anxiety - increased; social status - not accepted.

Family Relations Parents are divorced. According to his mother, he does not get along very well with his grandmother's husband, he does not obey his grandmother. Mom works a lot, often comes back late.

Second meeting (dry sand)

Territory of the evil. They killed all the tourists who, out of curiosity, entered their territory.

The evil ones are afraid that they will ruin everything and drink all their water.

Do you want to change something in this country?

I don’t want to change anything, because it will be different heroes.

Fourth meeting

Good arrows at the ready. They are waiting for the evil soldiers to deal with them and defeat them.

All enemies are dying. And never come back again

Seventh meeting

Zachin: Choose your main character. Imagine that you are a magician and do everything for him that he asks.

If he could, he would conjure a bride for himself, with whom he would marry.

He would populate the entire island with civilians.

This world would be guarded by soldiers.

– What could be different here?

If there were no danger, then the soldiers would not be needed. .

Changes at the end of the training cycle: Became calmer. The roommate does not complain about him. I began to study better. During a psychological examination, he showed the following results: The picture “I am at school” drew a change, said that he was already used to school. Anxiety - increased (50%). Social status - accepted. At this stage, the work is not finished, the meetings continue.

There were no changes in the family.

Construction of work depending on the intelligence of the child

The versatility and fullness of the sand world depends on the life experience and erudition of the child, so the formulation of the problem depends on how the child fantasizes. Whether to offer him a ready-made beginning of a fairy tale or let him go free swimming.

Literature

1. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva T.D. Grabenko T.M. //Workshop on creative therapy// St. Petersburg: 2001
2. O.S. Nikolskaya //Affective sphere of a person. A look through the prism of childhood autism.// M.: 2000
3. Workshop on art therapy / ed. A.I. Kopytina / St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.
4. Steinhard Lenor.// Jungian sand therapy.// St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001
5. Symbol dictionaries also come in handy for work

sand therapy

What associations does the word "sand" evoke in you? What do you remember when you hear it? Perhaps some immediately imagined a sand pit, huge dump trucks carrying sand for some kind of construction site, but most still remember a sandy beach on the warm sea, summer and a fabulous vacation...

Remember how you once stepped on a soft sandy carpet, the sun's rays caressed your body. You stroked the fluffy sand with your hands, and it gave your body warmth, health and peace.

The golden beach, the azure sea, the sound of the surf and the cries of seagulls, a light breeze... All this fascinates and allows you to relax, forget about problems and relax.

You are happy to run your palms over the sand, build magical castles out of it and feel peace and bliss. In some unimaginable way, painful thoughts suddenly disappear, problems go away, peace and tranquility appear.

The game of man with sand has been known since ancient times. Getting to the beach, every child with great enthusiasm begins to build sand castles, bridges, roads and entire cities. But why do adults, once on the beach, suddenly begin to "draw" pictures from the sand, or build sand castles?

The fact is that the pliability of sand provokes a person’s desire to create a miniature of the real world out of it. At the same time, he acts as a Creator or creator, not attached to the results of his work. A child builds a sand castle, admires it for a while, and then he himself, a sea wave or someone else, destroys this castle, and with great enthusiasm he begins to build something new. One episode of life ends, giving way to something new. And so it goes on endlessly. And it is in this that one can see the unique Mystery of being: everything comes and goes, there is nothing that would be irreparably destroyed, the old gives way to something new. Living this Mystery many times, playing with obedient grains of sand, a person reaches a state of balance, calms down - in his inner space the proportion of fuss, routine and experiences decreases. Thus, the process of playing with sand can provide real effective healing of the human soul.

sand therapy- one of the amazing methods of therapy - in the context of art therapy is a non-verbal form of psychotherapy. This is one of the ways to communicate with yourself and with the outside world; a unique way to relieve internal stress, embody it on an unconsciously symbolic level, which allows you to increase self-confidence and open up new ways of development. Sand therapy makes it possible to restore your mental integrity, collect your unique image, picture of the world, touch the deep, true Self.

For many of us, it can be difficult to see and understand the reasons for what is happening to us. We often cannot find the right solution to a problem that has arisen.

Sand therapy figuratively enables a person to see what is really happening in his inner or outer world. Images become a language that allows you to communicate some unconscious material about a person to himself and to a consulting psychologist.

The technique of "sand therapy" arose within the framework of the Jungian analytical approach. It is largely based on working with the symbolic content of the unconscious as a source of inner growth and development.

“Fantasy is the mother of all possibilities, where, like all opposites, the inner and outer worlds come together,” wrote Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, the founder of one of the areas of depth psychology, analytical psychology.

Jung's active imagination technique can be seen as the theoretical foundation of sand therapy.

Jung defined the sandbox as the childish aspect of the collective unconscious, the opportunity to give traumatic experience a visible form. The creation of sand stories contributes to creative regression, work in the sandbox returns to childhood and contributes to the activation of the “child archetype”.

The author of the method of "sand therapy" - Dora Kalf (Swiss Jungian analyst), considers the main principle that she puts as the basis of her work - "creating a free and protected space" in which the client - a child or an adult - can express and explore his world, transforming their experience and their experiences, often incomprehensible or disturbing, into visible and tangible images. “A painting in the sand can be understood as a three-dimensional representation of some aspect of a state of mind. The unconscious problem is played out in the sandbox, like a drama, the conflict is transferred from the inner world to the outer and made visible” (Dora Kalf, “Sandplay”, 1980).

Currently, "sand therapy" has become widely known, and its use remains attractive to many professionals. The creation of sand paintings has moved to the psychological, psychotherapeutic plane and successfully exists in it at the moment. The method of playing with sand is equally used when working with children and adults. A professional psychologist can not only correctly evaluate and analyze the pictures and images created from the sand by the client, but also see the existing problem, correctly guide the person on the path to solving it. Knowing the sources and characteristics of their experiences allows a person to feel more confident - when a person can find an explanation for his experiences, he calms down, the feeling of panic is replaced by a feeling of certainty and confidence.

Today, many different methods of psycho-correction and diagnostics are known: fairy tale therapy, working with clay and plasticine, drawing, music art therapy, etc. The sand therapy method differs from other forms of art therapy in its ease of manipulation, the possibility of creating new forms, and the short duration of the existence of created images. The possibility of destroying the sand composition, its reconstruction, as well as the repeated creation of new plots, makes working with sand look like a kind of ritual.

Some properties and features of sand:

Sand is a natural material, it fills with energy and gives a feeling of the Creator to any person interacting with it.

Sand is a very malleable creative tool, objects made from it can be easily changed at any time without much regret.

Sand is a democratic material, it allows everyone to work with themselves, and even those who do not have a special artistic gift, and therefore are afraid of evaluation and refuse to draw.

Sand successfully absorbs negative energy, moreover, it transforms aggression into positive charges.

Sand consists of the smallest grains of sand, working with which activates sensitive points on the fingertips and nerve endings on the palms, which has the most positive effect on the work of all internal systems of the human body;
Sand and working with it takes time, it teaches a person patience.

The creation of successive sand compositions reflects the cyclical nature of mental life, the dynamics of mental changes. It does not require any special skills. Miniature figurines, natural materials, the possibility of creating three-dimensional compositions give the image additional properties, reflect different levels of mental content, and help establish access to preverbal levels of the psyche. The visual image is very important when working on disorders that have their roots in early childhood, when the child could not yet speak.

Creatively interacting with millions of grains of sand, a person conducts a kind of "self-therapy" - he begins to clearly see and understand conflicts hidden from his consciousness and even finds rational ways to solve them. And all this once again proves that the sand element can work wonders!

Sand therapy goes well with listening to calm music - sounds of nature or relaxation melodies allow therapeutic processes to go on a deeper level.

In sand therapy, a wooden tray (sandbox) of a standard size (50 cm x 70 cm x 8 cm), sand, water, miniature figures and objects are used (it is best to select figures and objects no higher than 10-12 cm.) Such dimensions optimally correspond to the size normal visual field. You can make a sandbox yourself, or buy a ready-made one. The sandbox, or sandbox, is a unique tool for interacting with many life events, including interpersonal relationship issues, trauma, personal growth, integration, and transformation of the Self.

The bottom and sides of the sandboxes are most often painted blue - this resembles a model of the world: the blue bottom symbolizes water, and the sides symbolize the blue sky. In addition, a rich blue color can have a calming effect on a person.

From time to time you can change the colors of the boards.

According to the laws of color therapy:

- black color causes ambiguous impressions (fear, intrigue, mystery). However, black paint contains a great therapeutic resource, because it is worth sticking white / yellow circles on the black sides - and the starry sky is ready! Such color symbolism forms confidence: there are no hopeless situations;

- green- the color of plant life, therefore, causes deep feelings, gives rise to a special frankness;

- yellow(gold) is associated with the desire to achieve a goal, which will give a sense of life perspective and free from internal and external restrictions;

- red- the color of activity, sexuality, impulsiveness and creativity, therefore it is especially useful for provoking repressed aggression, when “tasteless” experiences are often not spoken out, but silently “swallowed”. As practice shows, the red sides associated with the rising / setting sun help people who are burdened with guilt to open up. But it’s not worth painting the bottom of the sandbox purple, otherwise there will be “destructive” associations with lava and magma of the volcano;

- violet- the color of pregnancy, motherhood, fantasy and fairy tales. Such a sandbox will help you experience mystical feelings and immerse yourself in your feelings as deeply as possible.

Sand can be anything: river, sea, quartz ... It can have a yellowish or grayish tint, but its obligatory quality is cleanliness, because during intensive work the sand gets energetically dirty. In the natural environment, natural cleaning of the sand mass occurs due to the work of the sun, wind and water. At home, at least once a month, the sand should be sieved and heated (you can in a pan, under a lamp or under the sun).

And do not forget to put a container with clean cool water next to the sandbox to make it rain in the toy world, easily build buildings, create seas and rivers.

In the sandbox, you can:

Draw on the sand with a stick;

Erect various kinds of reliefs on the surface of the sand (hills, hills, valleys, depressions, curbs, houses, ditches, etc.);

Scatter colored sand grains, pebbles, beads in a patterned order;

Arrange on the surface or in sandy reliefs a variety of objects and figures, symbolizing people, objects and images from reality or non-existence.

In sand therapy, all possible objects found in the surrounding world can be used. A variety of figurines are used - real and fabulous, mythological, created by man and nature, attractive and terrible. It can be sets of soldiers, dolls, toys from Kinder Surprises - everything that your imagination allows. All these objects make up a kind of collection for sand therapy. The use of natural materials allows you to feel a connection with nature, and man-made miniatures allow you to accept what already exists. To complete the experience, you may need both landscapes and interiors.

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 )

Those. various representatives of the animal world;

Plants - trees, shrubs, flowers. You can use artificial and natural plants;

Objects of heavenly space - 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.

When a client chooses figurines to create a sand composition, internal mental processes are transferred to miniature objects. He can identify himself with any figure, endow him with desirable qualities, and through him carry out new scenarios, even the most unrealizable ones. In addition, you can model and create your own environment by choosing the appropriate toy characters as friends or foes.

The sequence of appearance and location of the figures gives the psychologist a lot of useful information. For example, a toy placed in the center often symbolizes the "I" of the author of the picture. The figurine that appears second represents the symbol of something most important to the author at the moment. Sometimes figurines are buried. This symbolizes what is being repressed into the unconscious or what is still unconscious.

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 upward shift in the action in the sandbox, 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.

The use of miniature figures in sand therapy, combining them into a certain plot, suggests the performances of the internal theater of the personality. The figurines can symbolize the subpersonalities 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. This approach is appropriate for representatives of Gestalt therapy and psychosynthesis.

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. Playing in the sandbox of specific life situations allows the client to change their attitude towards them and find the right solutions for themselves.

With the help of miniature figures, you can repeat the plot of any situation that happened, but replay the ending or other problematic part in a positive - desired way for you. At the same time, our subconscious mind scrolls through what happened in a different way and does not dump the problem into the treasury of complexes. It is important to remember that mental "restoration" is especially successful when the eyes follow the events, and the hands "fix" the thread of thought. That is why performances on the sand are a very effective way to relax and transform minuses into pluses. Images created in the external environment reflect the inner world, the unconscious state and increase a person's understanding of himself.

“In the art-therapeutic process, the use of sand as the main material of visual work implies a “dialogue” of hands with sand and water. Conducting frequent sessions of sand therapy encourages the client to create a whole series of sand forms, which are the basis for the arrangement of miniature figures. Sand compositions, both with miniature figures and without them, can contain various content that is difficult to verbalize,” writes Lenore Steinhard.

The most important psychotherapeutic resource when working with sand is the possibility of a creative change in form, plot, events, relationships. This idea underlies the fairy tale therapy approach to working with the sandbox.

When working with sand, an additional emphasis is placed on tactile sensitivity. Therefore, the transfer of traditional teaching and development tasks to the sandbox gives an additional positive effect - on the one hand, the motivation for classes increases significantly, and on the other hand, the development of cognitive processes in the child occurs more intensively and harmoniously.

In addition, sand has a wonderful property to “ground” negative psychic energy. It has been noticed that in the process of therapeutic work with sand, the psycho-emotional state of a person is harmonized.

Sand therapy activates a person's innate self-healing resources and provides an opportunity for further progress towards psychological health.

The article was prepared on the basis of freely available materials on the Internet

Literature:
Wikipedia
Diekmann H. Methods in analytical psychology.- M .: LLC "CGL" RON ", V. Sekachev, 2001.- 329p.
Zinkevich-Evstigneeva T. D., Grabenko T. M. Workshop on sand therapy. - St. Petersburg: "Rech", 2002.-224p.
Sakovich N.A. Technology of playing in the sand. Games on the bridge. - St. Petersburg: Speech, 2006.-176s.
Steinhard L. Jungian sand therapy.-St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.-320p.
Jung KG Memories, dreams, reflections. Minsk: Potpourri, 2003.-495p.
Jung K. G. Man and his symbols. - M .: Silver threads, 2002.-296s.
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Article by Oksana Naumych (perinatal psychologist)