Sand play in therapy

I've talked a little bit about this before but with recent posts regarding play in therapy, I thought I'd share a description of the sand tray I did in t yesterday. Basically you create a little world in the sand that is a visual representation of how you are in your head at the time. Over simplified of course, but it's fascinating and I wish everyone could try it at least once with a t certified in sand play! I love it. Anyway here's what I did yesterday, my most artistic one yet:

I always use wet sand cuz it's moldable. (The sand tray/box is waterproof.) I made the base of a volcano crater in the center of the box, and put a shell in the bottom of the crater and filled the shell with water. I placed a bunch of little green plastic trees around the perimeter of the crater, like a circle-forest kind of thing. Then a big bird feather balanced over the tops of the trees, picture it waving in the breeze. Then there's a little wolf next to the water in the shell standing guard. I pictured myself floating in the water in the shell looking up at the trees and feeling and drawing strength from all the power and energy of the earth below the volcano crater. Oh yeah I also said that the feather swaying back and forth in the breeze is keeping the energy in the crater alive and moving. t was quite affected by this particular sand tray, we spent the last few minutes of my session standing there next to each other at the table eyes closed and imagining being in that world and sharing our imagined experiences there. It was very, very cool!!

When my T first suggest I do sand tray, I was petrified. I told her that I am not creative and I would not be able to DO it. She gently encouraged me to try. Finally I agreed but with much trepidation. She advised me to take figurines that 'spoke' to me without any kind of analysis. As if ! (sarcasm here) My m.o. is total analysis.

But I gave it a try. Shut down my analytical brain as much as possible and selected various figurines without any idea why or wherefore.

Then to create a scene in the tray.

It was magical. Accessing the right brain (as much as I was able) and feelings were portrayed by the images that the figurines represented. I touched into feelings that had been repressed.

So, Artemis, I do get it. It's amazing, isn't it? I've done sand tray 3x with T and although I initially always offer resistance, it invariably brings me forward into some kind of insight.

So, yes, 'very very cool".

I'm jealous, I kinda do something similar when I play dollhouse with my grand kids. Sounds awesome. Thanks for sharing, i may have to make my own sand tray.

This thread is ironic because I was just thinking about this the other day! I would love one. I'll have to work on getting one soon.

Very cool to do that in therapy and at home.

that's great skys! i remember i felt so stupid the first time i did one, just drew dumb little circles in the sand cuz i was afraid to let go & just see what happened. but it's so true what you said, how you can tap into feelings you didn't even know were there. Or, to get a better perspective on crud you know you're feeling - my t told me this quote by Jung "Often the hands know how to solve a riddle with which the intellect has wrestled in vain."

now i find myself at times practically dancing between the shelves and the sand tray like a giddy little girl. my t has said that she sometimes 'plays in the sand' as i call it between appointments. i'd love to see one of hers, i think it would be interesting, i've never seen one done by anyone but me. never heard of sand play therapy til this t.

I used to have a sandbox on my coffee table, it had trucks and bulldozers and boats and a rake and shells. It was fun to play with. So I do get it. Do you talk while you are doing it?

My T asks me what the scene is and what it might mean when I'm finished. While I'm doing it, she sits and reads a magazine so as not to spook me by me thinking she's watching me. I suspect talking while doing it would not allow deep stuff to unfold.

I like your approach - being a "giddy little girl". If I do sandtray again, I will try to apply a playful approach to it. I've been much too serious, I think.

But yeah, Jung is right. My analytical brain cannot access some parts of myself and I love that there are other means to dive deeper than intellect can go.

The sand tray thing sounds like a lot of fun to me! I wouldn't do it myself, I would probably end up throwing the whole thing at the t, hahah.. but it sounds fun the way you guys do it!

Thanks for sharing your sand tray experiences, artemis-within and skysblue!
I have wanted to do the sand tray for a long time, but haven't let myself yet. I, too, feel like I'm not creative and I also feel like I would be soooo self-concious while choosing the things to put in it, and when making it.

Yay a post on sandtray!
I've taken many expressive arts courses. In one we each did a sandtray, and then the person who did the tray explained it to the class. Since I'm blind I got permission to gently touch each person's tray. It was so cool! I also got to do several sandtrays with a T I went to back before I moved.
I'm really hoping to connect well with the person at my new day program who does the creative groups, one on the artest's way, and some others. Once we have a good relationship I'll suggest getting a sandtray for the program, or maybe several!

That sounds really interesting! I've never heard of it before, actually. I'd be interested in trying it, though I know I'd try to make it "perfect."

(repost) My sand tray tonight consisted of my T building a world in the tray, since I refused to participate, until I began adding every gate and fence she had to border and block off one corner, where I barricaded a tiny bear in the corner behind the fence, along with two cannons and a machine gun.After I did that, T moved all of her figures to the perimeter of my gates to watch me (bear), and she tried to hop a rabbit around the gates into my space. I threw the rabbit across the other side of the tray. This was my first sand tray.

My T sits next to the sand tray table and watches. She's usually quiet, but sometimes she forgets herself and makes comments. I've gotten used to it, I actually prefer that to her watching in silence!

ahem One time when she tried to get me to do one I told her I didn't think it was a very good idea because I would probably just dump the sand out on the floor. Her response? "I have some big plastic bags, we can lay those out on the floor first and then you can!" I was like um... no.

It's awesome isn't it? I'm thinking I need to put together my own sand tray and a bunch of little miniatures at home so i can do one anytime I wanna. I started writing analyses of my own sand trays last month, well I wrote one very complete one and one is only started I need to get back to. My t was impressed when I read her the complete one. It was helpful to me to write it. So I figure I can carry right on doing those even after I stop seeing t. (eek i didn't think i was capable of typing those words, let alone even thinking the thought of stopping t, i must be getting better!) Good luck I hope you're able to get a sandtray for the program.