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

“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 as a method of psychological assistance to participants in the educational process.

psychologist,

defectologist teacher

MBSKOU SKOSH №36

When the grains of sand fly into the sky

they turn into stars.

But when the stars fall down

they can no longer be distinguished from simple sand.

Stars are grains of sand that are above your head,

and the grains of sand are the stars that are underfoot.

Felix Krivin

Today, sand psychotherapy is becoming more and more popular in psychological, psychotherapeutic, pedagogical and even theatrical practice. Psychological sandboxes are actively used in kindergarten groups, in psychological counseling rooms, and in psychotherapist reception rooms. Experienced specialists have also appeared who are ready to teach their colleagues the techniques and methods of working with the psychological sandbox, the use of sand therapy in personal and family counseling, psychotherapy for adults and adolescents, as well as in correctional developmental and educational work with children.

This publication is based on a brief review of the literature on the use of sand in psychological and pedagogical practice, and also reflects personal experience author on the application of this unique technology.

1. A brief excursion into the history of sand therapy.

The use of sand to represent the inner world of man has a long history. Even the ancient tribes drew protective circles on the ground and created various drawings from the sand. They knew that sand had strong meditative properties. Tibetan monks from ancient times and to this day practice the creation of multi-colored sand magic circles - mandalas.

The principle of "sand therapy" was proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, a wonderful psychotherapist, the founder of analytical therapy. Perhaps the natural need of a person to “mess around” with sand, its very structure suggested this idea to the great Jung. After all, many psychologists see in individual grains a symbolic reflection of the autonomy of a person, and in the sand mass - the embodiment of Life in the Universe.

Sand play as an advisory technique was described in 1939 by the English pediatrician Margaret Lowenfeld. For the first time in the classes of M. Lowenfeld, children began to use miniature objects along with sand and water. In the 1950s Dora Kalff met with M. Lowenfeld. As a Jungian analyst, she created a theoretical and methodological base and called the technique of playing sand sand therapy.

For a long time, "sand play" existed exclusively in the Jungian paradigm. Currently, representatives of various concepts have the opportunity to use the sandbox in their practice.

The process of accumulating experience in working with sand by representatives of various directions is interesting because, thanks to this, the relationship of a person with the projection of his inner world is explored from different angles. All this suggests that the sandbox is an ENVIRONMENT for a person to communicate with himself and the symbols of the real world. On the other hand, the use of miniature figures, a certain sequence of work organization, the emergence of various consultative techniques, allows us to speak of sand therapy as a METHOD that has sufficient versatility for use in psychotherapeutic, psychological and pedagogical practice.

In Russia, sand therapy has become widespread relatively recently, and its application has its own characteristics. From the point of view of the work techniques used on Russian soil, there is a pronounced eclecticism. And since the unique possibilities of sand were practically not used for educational purposes for a long time, in order to fill this gap, Russian specialists created a system of sand games aimed at learning and developing the personality as a whole. It can be said that today sand therapy in Russia has already established itself as an effective practical method in psychotherapy, pedagogy, psychological counseling and theatrical art. However, the complete concept of sand therapy has not yet been formed.

The accumulated and meaningful experience of using sand therapy in the future will deepen our understanding of this method and create a solid theoretical justification for it.

2. Advantages of sand therapy as a means of accompanying participants in the educational process

Sand therapy can be successfully used as one of the tools to accompany participants in the educational process (teachers, parents and educators). This method allows the psychologist to simultaneously solve the problems of diagnosis, prevention, counseling and correction. In this regard, below we will use the concept of "client", meaning a participant in the educational process (student, parent or teacher).

Let's highlight the main advantages of sand therapy:

1) Interaction with sand has a positive effect on the emotional well-being of children and adults, which makes it an excellent tool for the development and self-development of the client.

2) Sand therapy provides a multifaceted experience due to the multiplicity of symbolic meanings. The symbolism of objects and materials used in sand therapy can serve as a so-called common language, when a person often cannot express or articulate their feelings.

3) The visual form of work makes visible what is blocked at the verbal level, thus removing the control of consciousness. There is an opportunity to materialize past experiences or family traumas and resolve them.

4) Sand therapy creates a bridge between the unconscious and conscious, physical and spiritual, rational and emotional, verbal and non-verbal.

5) Sand therapy provides spontaneous play where there is no right or wrong way. Sand worlds are created without prior preparation, without planning and modeling, and therefore correspond to the inner world of the creator.

6) Sand therapy allows you to remove the control of consciousness. The process of creating your own world from sand allows you to soften the resistance and reduce the protection of the client, creating a safe space for him to open up.

7) Sand therapy is a natural language for children.

8) In sand paintings there is another most important psychotherapeutic resource - the possibility of a creative change in form, plot, events, relationships. It is this idea that underlies the fairy tale therapy approach to working with the sandbox. A person playing in a sandbox with miniature objects embodies the figure of the Wizard, who interacts with natural and social forces, gets the opportunity to creatively change the situation or state that is stressing him at the moment. By transforming the situation in the sandbox, the client gains experience of self-solving difficulties, both internal and external. This is where his power as a Wizard comes into play. A person transfers the accumulated experience of independent constructive changes into reality.

Paying attention to sand therapy in the context of psychological and psychotherapeutic work, it should also be emphasized that there are powerful sandbox resources for corrective developmental and educational work with the child. In the sandbox, an additional emphasis is placed on tactile sensitivity, the "manual intelligence" of the child. Therefore, the transfer of traditional training and development tasks to the sandbox has an additional effect. On the one hand, the child's motivation to study is significantly increased. On the other hand, the development of cognitive processes is more intensive and harmonious. And if we take into account that sand has a wonderful property to "ground" negative mental energy, then in the process of educational work, the psycho-emotional state of the child is also harmonized. In other words, the use of a sandbox in pedagogical practice gives a complex educational and therapeutic effect. Moreover, today we can already talk about such an effect not only in relation to normally developing children, but also to their peers with special needs.

3. General conditions for organizing psychological work with sand.

In sand therapy, general principles of interaction with the client apply and additional ones appear.

General principles of interaction with the client

Principles set the "rules and conditions of the game" and are reflected in our every "step" and action.

1. The principle of "comfortable environment"

For the success of the process, it is necessary that the client feel comfortable and safe. A comfortable environment implies, on the one hand, the level of partnership with the client; on the other hand, a number of "environmental" factors: soft lighting, a comfortable sandbox, a good location of the client relative to the psychologist, etc. We select a task that matches the capabilities of the child, client; we formulate instructions for games in a fabulous form; we exclude a negative assessment of his actions, ideas, results, encouraging imagination and creativity.

2. The principle of "unconditional acceptance"

Acceptance of the appearance of a person, his physical condition, life experience, contradictions, values, motivations, aspirations and desires - all this is the key to the success of counseling. In sand therapy, we accept all of the client's actions in the sandbox.

3. The principle of "accessibility of information"

All appeals, remarks, interpretations and recommendations given by the psychologist must be formulated in an accessible way for the client.

4. The principle of "concretization"

According to this principle, the psychologist seeks to understand the true reason for seeking advice. Often in counseling practice, the reason stated by the client is not true.

5. The principle of "objectification"

Often the client, emotionally reacting to the details of what is happening, loses a holistic vision of the situation. However, without understanding the meaning of what is happening, it is difficult to find an adequate solution. Therefore, the consultant, on the one hand, concretizing the problem, tries to show the client a holistic picture of what is happening, not allowing unnecessary details and details to turn his perception into a “patchwork quilt”.

6. The principle of "orientation to the potential resource of the client"

Considering the problem of the client, in parallel, the psychologist explores his potential resources. Information about the potential of a psychologist can be given by a story about his hobby, about what he does best, what he dreams of, what makes him happy, what he has acquired new when faced with a problem situation, etc. In the future, the psychologist formulates his recommendations and builds a program of work, focusing on the client's resource.

7. The principle of "integrationinto the social environment"

If changes occur abruptly in the process of psychological work, the client becomes maladjusted. This principle involves taking care of the client not only in the psychologist's office, but also far beyond its walls. The psychologist warns and prepares the client for possible changes in his environment. In addition, this principle involves consideration of the client's problems in the system of his social relations.

Additional Principles Manifested in Sand Play

1. Animation of abstract symbols: letters, numbers, geometric shapes, miniature figures and natural materials. The implementation of this principle allows you to form a sense of the reality of what is happening.

2. Real "living", playing all kinds of situations together with the heroes of fairy-tale games. On the basis of this principle, the mutual transition of the Imaginary into the Real and vice versa is carried out. For example, being in the role of the Savior of the Princess, the child not only offers a way out of the situation, but actually plays it on the sand with miniature figurines. So he "in practice" is convinced of the correctness or fallacy of the chosen path.

3. Understanding experience and situation. Playing out the situation in the sandbox, a child, teenager, adult have the opportunity to look at it from the side. This, in turn, makes it possible to correlate the game with real life, comprehend what is happening, and find ways to solve the problem.

4. Exchange. In the sand game, the client and the specialist easily exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings, which allows building partnerships.

Features of using the sandbox in working with the family

For children and parents, the process of creating sand paintings is a simple and natural way to talk about their anxieties and fears, to overcome emotional stress. Unlike an adult, a child cannot always express his inner state in words. Children's creativity on the sand and the style of interaction during the game is a projection of the child's inner world, that is, the transfer of experiences, desires, and opportunities to the outside. In working with parents, the most important thing is to learn a positive and unconditional attitude towards your own child, the opportunity to see the world through his eyes.

The main goal of the specialist's work with the family is to help parents and children in knowing themselves and the world of their child, in overcoming the uncertainty, anxieties and fears associated with various aspects of life, in successfully realizing themselves as a parent.

Sand therapy is still little known to most parents as an effective way of psychological help, they themselves do not ask for it. Therefore, it is recommended to offer sand therapy if the child:

cannot solve the problem with other types of psychotherapy;

talks a lot, rationalizes and intellectualizes the problem, avoiding its solution;

builds strong psychological defenses;

Has difficulty explaining their difficulties

limited in the manifestation of their feelings, is in a state of frustration;

Has difficulty making decisions

experienced psychological trauma (loss, violence, etc.);

acutely experiencing an age crisis.

Contraindications for sand therapy:

the client strongly resists sand therapy;

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

The client is characterized by increased excitability;

a very high level of anxiety

Collection of figurines. The collection of miniature objects can include everything that has ever been encountered, is encountered and will be manifested in the outside world: from everyday objects to fantastic images. If there are not enough figures for classes, they can be molded from plasticine, clay, dough, or cut out of paper.

This publication provides a classification of objects described by Lenore Steinhard with comments by Russian experts T. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva and T. Grabenko.

Fairy tale therapy approach to sand play

Sand therapy, Jungian sandboxing, sand play, kinesthetic sand, sand painting are just a few of the uses of sand for “working” with children that are now buzzwords and easily confusing for parents. Despite the use of the same material, they differ significantly in their goals and results. If playing with sand or drawing on the sand can be attributed more to developmental activities, then sand therapy is always a deep psychological work. And psychotherapy begins where a psychological problem arises. If the family cannot cope with the difficulties of the baby on their own and the efforts of the parents are ineffective, this may be an indication for contacting a child psychotherapist.

Child's world

As early as the beginning of the last century, psychoanalysts encountered difficulties in working with children who could not express their anxiety or describe the problem in words. A small child generally tends to express himself through the game, because the game is the most natural activity for him. Composing stories and performing various actions with play figures, the baby can express his feelings: anxiety, anger, fears. And the psychologist, watching the children's game, notes the characteristics of the child's behavior, his needs, reactions, attitude to various objects.

The history of the development of the sand therapy method dates back to the work of the English psychologist Margaret Lowenfeld, founder of the London Institute of Child Psychology: it was she who decided to place game figures in the sand. The children with whom Margaret worked built plot pictures in the sand and called it "My World." This is how the name of the new method “Technique of the World”, the progenitor of sand therapy, appeared.

In the late 50s of the 20th century, the Swiss Jungian analyst, child psychotherapist Dora Kalf, a student of Carl Gustav Jung, combined the Techniques of the World method with the Jungian analytic direction, inventing sand therapy itself. She found that the paintings created with the help of sand and small figures reflect the thoughts and inner experiences of the child. This is what Dora wrote in her book Sandplay: “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.”

Sand therapy is one of the mildest (and environmentally friendly!) methods of working with a fragile child's psyche.

Rules of the game

In order for a child to be able to effectively express his emotional state, to “transfer” it from inside to outside, some images and symbols are needed. The plots built by the kid in the sandbox are just them. Playing with sand, the child gains experience - even if symbolic - of resolving many difficult situations. After some time, he will be ready to apply it in everyday life.

Sometimes a child is too “full” of his experiences or, conversely, so devastated that it interferes with his development. By expressing himself on an unconsciously symbolic level with the help of playing in the sandbox, the baby frees up his inner space for himself, comes into contact with what is difficult to find words for and becomes “healthier” psychologically. Divorce of parents, neuroses, fears, psychosomatic diseases - such non-childish problems sometimes lie in wait for a child, depriving him of a sense of security and injuring his psyche. In a world limited by the walls of a sand tray, manipulating figures, building and destroying, as if recreating experiences in a three-dimensional play space, he himself controls the situation, loses conflicts, expresses his anger without fear and sometimes does what he would not dare to do in ordinary life. .

But not only negative experiences are transferred to the “sand world”! In the same way, positive feelings and emotions, the expression of which for some reason is difficult in the family (for example, tenderness or affection), can be given an outlet.

magic sand

What is the uniqueness of sand for children's self-expression? After all, a child can just as well draw his experiences or sculpt them from plasticine! The fact is that sand is a natural material that is amazing in its properties. Pleasant to the touch, free-flowing and soft, the sand changes color depending on whether it is wet or dry. Sand provides inexhaustible possibilities for creativity: it can be given various forms, moistened with water or sprinkled. In addition, it is familiar and understandable to children, because their first “big” walks begin with a sandbox. Finally, sand does not require special skills, unlike drawing, modeling and other types of creativity. Therefore, the method of sand therapy is quite universal. Even if a child has developmental disorders (including intellectual ones), he speaks little or poorly, any creative self-expression causes him anxiety and fear of failure, sand games become available and in a simple way psychological help. Jung argued that such actions release blocked energy and "activate the self-healing possibilities inherent in the human psyche."

It may seem that in order to achieve a therapeutic effect, it is not necessary to visit a special office, because a tray with sand can be placed at home. But here it is important not only what the child does, but also how. In the unique atmosphere of the "sand quarries" you need to play by special rules that only an expert knows.

Hourglass

In the psychoanalyst's office, quartz sand is mainly used: it is homogeneous, very beautiful, soft and delicate to the touch. Sand is placed in two special trays - sandboxes - of a standard size. The bottom and sides of the sandboxes are always painted blue, which imitates water and sky. By the way, real water can also be used in the work: with its help, sand is given various forms. In addition to sand trays, a specialist always has a large collection of figurines: people and animals, household items, vehicles, mythological characters and fairy-tale creatures. Toys should be different in material, texture, color!

And in such a special atmosphere, the psychotherapist invites the child to try to build his own world, to act as the creator and director of his own reality. It is believed that playing with sand cannot be interpreted aloud, and the psychoanalyst, in the process of work, rather plays the role of an attentive spectator. He keeps a protocol in which he enters the features of the child's "work" in the sandbox: the figures used (each chosen figure embodies some important character or reflects the current state of the child), the arrangement and fullness of the sandbox space, the construction of the landscape.

In the same protocol, the psychoanalyst puts a series of photographs of sandboxes, each of which reflects changes in the psychological state of the child. At the same time, he, as it were, "listens" to the child's game and creates a safe space for expressing his most diverse feelings. Creating such conditions and building special relationships with a small “patient” in this case is the professional task of a specialist.

The third is not superfluous

One of the main features of sand therapy is that it does not imply a direct impact on the problem. It is rather the harmonization of the emotional state of the child as a whole. Moreover, the process can be lengthy, difficult and uneven. When a child encounters difficult experiences for the first time, he does not always manage to immediately “make friends” with them and adequately express them. For example, a shy and obedient child may surprise parents with too much sudden protest. And the fact that for himself and the psychoanalyst can be a joyful symptom of “healing”, parents can be alarmed or cause a feeling of confusion, because the child’s habitual behavior can change significantly. Parents need to be prepared for these changes and try to support the baby. The success of psychotherapy also depends on how much the parent is ready to support and accept, change himself and build new relationships with the child.

1. From the history of "sand therapy"

2. Benefits of the Sand Therapy Approach

3. Method of "sand therapy"

4. Sand therapy.Principles and structure of classes

5.

6. Bibliography

“Often the hands know how to unravel what
over which the mind struggles in vain"
K.G. Jung

Sand is a mysterious material. It has the ability to fascinate a person - its suppleness, the ability to take any form: to be dry, light and elusive or wet, dense and plastic. Playing in the sand captures both adults and children. Children and adults, once on the beach, spontaneously and with pleasure create sand paintings. The malleability of sand provokes the desire to create a miniature of the real world out of it. A person acts as a creator, not tied to the results of his work. He creates a sand castle, admires it for a while, and then the wave or he himself destroys the creation. One life story ends, giving way to the next. And so endlessly. This is the unique mystery of being: everything comes and goes, and there is nothing that is irreparably destroyed - just the old makes way for the new. By repeatedly living this Secret, a person reaches a state of balance, while in his inner space the proportion of fuss and anxiety is significantly reduced.

Sand therapy (Sandplay) - one of the most interesting methods that arose within the framework of analytical psychology in the twentieth century. Today it finds the widest distribution in our country, it is used in work with children and adults.

From the history of the method of "sand therapy"

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

The beginning of the use of a tray of sand in psychological practice is considered to be the end of the 1920s.

When working with children, toys and miniatures were used by Anna Freud, Erik Erickson and other psychotherapists.

At the beginning of the twentieth century Charlotte Buhler designed "peace test", which is still used in Sweden as a diagnostic tool in child psychiatry.

The idea of ​​using sand to play with sick and psychologically disadvantaged children was realized by Margaret Lowenfeld in the 1930s. M. Lowenfeld called her methodology - world building technique. The "peace building" technique was taken from the "peace test".

In the 1950s, the Jungian psychoanalyst Dora Kalff, having studied the method of "building the world" began to develop Jungian Sand Therapy which later became an independent direction in psychotherapy. D. Kalff first used sand therapy with children, and then with adults.

D.Kalff based her approach to sand therapy on the theory of K.G. Cabin boy.She established that a series of sand paintings created by children or adults actually represent an ongoing conflict with the unconscious and is comparable to a series of dreams encountered during the analytic process. Working on the tray of sand initiates the mental process of moving toward wholeness, and can lead to healing and personal development. In 1980, Dora M. Calf published the monograph "Sandplay".

The author of the Sand Therapy method, the Swiss Jungian analyst Dora Kalff, believed that “A picture in the sand can be understood as a three-dimensional representation of some aspect of the state of mind. An unconscious problem is played out in a sandbox, like a drama, the conflict is transferred from the inner world to the outer one and made visible.

The "Sand Therapy" method is based on a combination of non-verbal (the process of building a composition) and verbal expression of clients (a story about a finished composition, writing a story or a fairy tale that reveals the meaning of the composition). Sand therapy is used both when working with children and when working with adults.

Benefits of the Sand Therapy Approach

sand therapy - this is a unique opportunity to explore your inner world with the help of many miniature figures, a tray of sand, a certain amount of water - and the feeling of freedom and security of self-expression that arises in communication with a psychologist, this is an opportunity to express something for which it is difficult to find words, to get in touch with what what is difficult to address directly, to see in oneself that which usually eludes conscious perception.

The possibility of self-expression in sand therapy is not limited to words. Just as one symbol or image can express more than a hundred words, a figure or scene that you construct can convey feelings, emotions, conflicts that cannot be expressed in words. This can be especially helpful for those who, for some reason, find it difficult to put their experiences into words - for example, those whose experiences are so sharp and painful that it is difficult to come into direct contact with them, children who do not yet feel at ease in the world of words.

sand therapy - a unique way to communicate with the world and yourself; a way to relieve internal stress, embody it on an unconsciously symbolic level, which increases self-confidence and opens up new ways of development. Sand therapy gives you the opportunity to touch the deep, true Self, restore your mental integrity, collect your unique image, picture of the world.

sand therapy It is focused on the inner potential of health and strength inherent in each person. Her emphasis is on the natural manifestation of thoughts, feelings and moods in creativity, the acceptance of a person as he is, along with his own methods of self-healing and harmonization. This satisfies the need of a modern person for the most natural, complex methods of treatment and harmonization, in which mind and feelings, body and spirit, male and female qualities, the ability to introspection and active action play an equal role.

Method of "sand therapy"

The application allows the psychologist to solve the following tasks:

· Diagnostic:

· Corrective;

· Therapeutic;

· Creative development.

Indications for sand therapy

· - various forms of behavioral disorders,

· - Difficulties in relationships with adults (parents, teachers) and peers,

· - psychosomatic illnesses,

· - increased anxiety, fears,

· - difficulties associated with changes in the family (divorce, the appearance of a younger child, etc.) and in social situations (adaptation to a technical school).

Sand therapy allows you to:

· express feelings that are difficult to put into words;

· opens internal reserves to resolve difficulties;

· gives you the opportunity to try new ways of building relationships and resolving conflicts .

· Changes in attitude towards oneself, towards one's past, present and future, towards significant others, in general towards one's destiny.

· Responding to negative emotional experiences in the process of creative self-expression

Contraindications to the use of sand therapy

Sand therapy cannot be performed in the following cases:

· Epilepsy or schizophrenia.

· A client with a very high level of anxiety.

· Allergy to dust and small particles.

· Pulmonary diseases.

· Skin diseases and cuts on the hands.

Equipment for "sand therapy":

1. Tray with sand. Rectangular wooden tray measuring 49.5x5x7 cm. These dimensions are extremely important because they allow the client to keep the entire composition in view, and not individual fragments. 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 fine, and preferably light enough. It is important that it is pleasant to the touch.

Both dry and wet sand are used in the work. To do this, you need to have a container with water. The choice with what sand to work always remains with the client.

2. Collection of miniature figurines and objects:
a) people of different sex and age, representatives of different historical eras, various professions; doll families
b) fantastic creatures, characters of fairy tales, legends, myths, gods and goddesses of different nations, sorcerers, witches, etc.;
c) animals (terrestrial, flying, aquatic inhabitants), both wild and domestic, as well as extinct and prehistoric fauna, fantastic animals (unicorns, griffins);
e) houses, other dwellings, furniture, bridges, stairs, fences, houses, buildings with a special purpose (Stations, hospitals, schools, etc., temples of various religions, etc.);
e) household utensils;
g) trees and other plants;
h) vehicles (land, water, air);
i) toy swords, pistols and other weapons
Z. Natural natural objects.
Crystals and minerals, bones, fossils, pieces of metal and wood, dried flowers, leaves. dry branches, seeds, shells, feathers, etc.

The collection should have iconic miniatures, attractive and unattractive; beautiful and terrible; symbols of good and evil, harmony and absurdity.

The collection should be represented by objects of various sizes, colors, textures and materials. They should be:

Big and tiny;

Colorless and bright colors;

Transparent and opaque;

Made from different materials: metal, glass, clay, wood and plastic.

SAND THERAPY. PRINCIPLES AND STRUCTURE OF CLASSES

The identity of a foreign specialist practicing sand therapy is protected by belonging to a particular school. He knows exactly what and when to offer the client, what and when to ask the question, how to respond. The school gives him knowledge of the algorithm, technology.

The situation is different with Russian specialists using the sandbox. We have only recently begun to take shape the concept of belonging to a particular school. “Symbol-dramatists”, “psychoanalysts”, “Jungians”, “Gestaltists”, “art therapists” appear. If a specialist has completed a full cycle of training at a particular school, he knows how to use the sandbox as part of his approach. But most of our specialists do not have such training.

And before us, as in a fairy tale, there are three roads, three choices:

Ø either stick to a certain school and build sandbox work into a common set of methods and techniques;

Ø either work as “taught” by an authoritative specialist;

Ø or, by “joining” the client, follow him, trusting his own personal and professional intuition.

1. Joining a client. As already noted, the sand picture contains a wealth of information about the inner world and the current state of a person. To understand the client's request, to feel the rhythm of his sand painting, to see its problematic and resource incarnations, to feel the unique figurative structure of the painting - all this is included in the concept accessions. Based on the accession, the specialist “follows the client”, helping him to realize his own resource and vulnerabilities.

2. sincere interest events and stories, unfolding in the sandbox. Considering the picture of the client, the specialist, as it were, combines two hypostases. On the one hand, this is an inquisitive open child who is extremely interested in what is happening in the world that the client has created. On the other hand, this is a sage who seeks to find the truth. Sincere interest in the inner world of the client, displayed in the sandbox, joining the client - all this allows the specialist to build a positive internal dynamics of the person who asked for help.

3. Strict adherence to professional and universal ethics. Of course, the "sand therapist" cannot, in the presence of a client, without asking, remove figures from the sandbox, rebuild the picture, or present some value judgment. The inner world of a person is quite fragile, and only a code of ethics and professionalism of a specialist can protect a client from injury.

Depending on their own understanding of the goals of psychological work, a specialist can focus either on “responding”, or on self-knowledge, or on conscious modeling of certain states in the sandbox.

In doing so, I am guided by the following principles sand therapy:

1. Real "living", playing all kinds of situations together with the student - based on this principle sand therapy there is a mutual transition of the Imaginary into the Real and vice versa.

2. Understanding the experience and the situation - by playing the situation in the sandbox, the student has the opportunity to look at it from the outside. This principle sand therapy allows you to correlate game with real life, comprehend what is happening, find ways to solve the problem.

3. The exchange principle sand games the student and the psychologist easily exchange ideas, thoughts, feelings. In this way sand therapy allows you to build partnerships.

4. The principle of animating abstract symbols - sand therapy allows you to create a sense of the reality of what is happening.

5. But most importantly: sand therapy- this is sand games, where "THE RULES DO NOT EXIST!"

Possibilities of "sand therapy"

Creativity in the sandbox for teenagers and adults represents the process of interaction of creating a country that is a projection of the inner world.

The landscape in the sand space symbolizes the client's map. It can be mountains, plains, rivers, seas and oceans, roads, forests, etc. At the moment of building the world, a person can plunge into a light trance state, focusing on his problem and getting out of the problem situation. The landscape shows which path a person has chosen for himself, how he will pass it.

In sand therapy, when working with a client, you can use fairy tales, legends, myths, parables, which are selected depending on the client's problem. The plot should be clear to the client. In the course of work, parables can be combined into one single metaphor. One metaphor can flow smoothly into another.

Most used in my work with students « sand paintings": "Magic country", "Me and the world that surrounds me", "City of Friendship", "My life in ... years", "The World of Good and Evil", "He and She. History of Relationships”, “Fairytale City”, “Feat of the Hero”.

Playing out a variety of stories in the sand, a person gains experience in the symbolic solution of many life situations. This experience in the form of "material" passes into the unconscious and after a while changes occur in a person's behavior. In real life, he begins to apply his sand experience.

Thus, sand therapy, on the one hand, is an excellent developing environment, and on the other hand, the process of transfer, projection of the inner world. When there is a character on the sand who is targeted by aggression. This is a very high level of aggression.

3) Conflict with loved ones .

At such moments, there may be a confrontation or confrontation between the heroes, who at the moment are a reflection of people from the real environment.

The location of the figurines in the sand also has a symbolic meaning and can provide a lot of information. When the figure is placed in the center, it usually symbolizes the author of the picture. The figure that appeared second is a symbol of some important moment. If the creator of the picture buries the hero, he tries to repress what is still unconscious in the unconscious.

The peculiarity of filling the sandbox and all its sectors can provide a lot of interesting information. If the action takes place in the upper part, we have a dreamy person in front of us. The lower parts of the sandbox are filled with down-to-earth people. Moving to the right or left side indicates that this person owns the future or the past.

When conducting an analysis, it is important to take into account the uniqueness of clients, primarily their personal perception of the world.

ü Any psychoprophylaxis is carried out in order to prevent problem situations. In the sandbox, you can play any life situations, rethink them and find the right solution.

ü The sandbox is a great tool that allows you to review many life events: psychological trauma, relationship problems, personal growth.

ü Sand therapy, unlike other techniques, allows a person to create their own world, which will open the way to the most intimate thoughts, dreams and feelings. This world can be felt, changed, considered, and even photographed.

ü Sand therapy is able to activate the resources of self-healing and the promotion of a person to psychological health. Created images in the sand are a reflection of the inner world and the unconscious state, allow you to understand yourself.