Playing in the Sand: The Powerful Tool of Sandtray Therapy
There’s something magical about being near the ocean.
Between the calming waves splashing against one another to the soft sand beneath my toes, the ocean has always provided me a calming and healing experience. However, it’s more than a cliche as sand has been proven to calm your nervous system and relax your body, which is exactly why sand makes for a great healing modality.
So What is Sandtray therapy?
Sandtray therapy is an expressive and projective approach in which it allows its “creator” to build their inner world in a tray of sand using a variety of miniature figurines. Through its nonverbal medium of communication, sandtray therapy provides a safe and protected space, both physically and emotionally, to express one’s conscious and unconscious experiences.
How Does It Work?
Sandtray therapy uses a brain-body approach in which therapists are trained in helping clients shift from their left hemisphere (linear/logical thinking) to their right hemisphere (experimental/creative thinking) of the brain to gain a “felt sense” of their experiences. In sandtray therapy, the client uses the miniatures to represent whatever they need them to represent, whether that is memories, fragments in time, emotions, etc. For one client, a miniature may be a symbol of connection and love and for another, it may symbolize a fearful presence.
The therapist may use a variety of prompts or simply follow the client’s lead. The client then places their miniatures in the tray and is supported by the therapist to process their tray further. The client has the opportunity to take away, change, or add anything they may need. This symbolic action can provide a powerful experience that is not always possible outside of the tray. Through the building of the sandtray many emotions, beliefs, and memories are uncovered providing awareness that may not have been possible through words alone.
Who is it for?
While at Ensemble Therapy we primarily use sandtray for children and adolescents, sandtray has been shown to be an effective modality across the lifespan.
What makes Sandtray so powerful?
In order to truly understand the power of sandtray therapy one must first experience it themselves, so I’ll tell you about one of my first experiences doing a sandtray.
While obtaining my certification in sandtray therapy we were asked to do several personal sandtrays and reflect on our experience. For one of my trays, I was given the simple prompt of creating my world. I remember thinking long and hard about what was going on in my world and how I was going to be able to depict that onto a tray. During that time in my life, I had a lot going on—I was finishing grad school, I had just experienced a death in my family, and was anticipating losing one of the closest people to me after their long battle with cancer, all of which I had not had the time to even stop and digest.
As I began to feel overwhelmed, I simply ran my hands through the sand as that same feeling of peace came over me like my times spent near the ocean. I gathered the miniatures I needed and began to place them in the tray, choosing where each one needed to be and what I needed to represent.
As I finished my tray, I sat quietly looking over it and the powerfulness of how I had depicted it. The miniatures gave me the tool to acknowledge and process the deep grief I was experiencing and ultimately provided me with an incredible sense of healing.
Now as a therapist, I have had the chance to not only do my own sandtrays but I have seen its healing power for so many others too. The design of sandtray facilitates awareness of one’s inner world through symbolism and metaphor, providing safe emotional distancing while also an understanding of the connection between the creation in the sand and their own world. From giving children the words to express a traumatic event to allow a teen to express their individuality, sandtray has allowed both children and adults alike to process something that words couldn’t provide.
Would sandtray be right for my family?
At Ensemble Therapy, we have several therapists who are trained in sandtray therapy and may incorporate it into your child’s treatment. If you would like to hear more or think sandtray therapy may be a good fit for someone in your family, reach out to learn more.
Interested in booking a session with us?
WRITTEN BY DAKOTA BECKER, LPC, RPT™, NCC, IPT-CST (SHE/HER/HERS)
Dakota is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT™), National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Institute of Play Therapy Certified Sandtray Therapist (IPT-CST). She received her Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of North Texas through their nationally known play therapy program as well as has her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development.
