Sand tray therapy is a Jungian therapeutic technique. It was first developed by Dr. Margaret Lowenfield, a child psychiatrist in London who had studied under C.G. Jung, famed depth psychological analyst. The process makes it a safe place for children to feel as though they are playing, and yet while using this simple process, healing occurs. A trained therapist can interpret deeper meanings to the sand tray scenes that assist in the healing process. It was so successful with children, that it soon became used with adults with similar positive results.

The process of sand tray therapy uses hundreds of miniature figurines of every type. They may depict animals, places, flowers, fantasy characters, people from all cultures, jewels, shells and any type of interesting miniature that a therapist finds of interest to add to his/her collection. A client will be given a tray of sand and some water to use in the sand if he chooses. The first thing is for the person to put their hands in the sand to ground themselves. Then the client approaches the collection of miniatures and selects all the ones that appeal to him in that moment. Actually, it may seem that the little miniatures choose the client! With these miniatures, the client then designs a scene in the sand. Sometimes clients only want to use the sand without miniatures.

The scene creation accesses information from the deep psyche as the client creates spontaneously. The scene may disclose hints about a trauma or it may reveal messages that the unconscious is trying to relay to the client for guidance or healing. Often, a therapist will say very little during the first 4 or 5 sessions and just allow the creation of the scenes, photograph them and use them for discussions later in the therapy. After placing a series of pictures together, patterns are often detected. The scenes begin to tell a story that the client’s emotions have created spontaneous for self healing. It is said that just by creating a sand tray scene, self healing begins.

The self healing apparently begins as soon as the hands touch the sand. Most often people delight in the feel of the sand and a mysterious inner connection to the unconscious begins. As children, we all used play, toys and nature to resolve our inner conflicts. As adults, we revert to verbal resolution to problems that often fails. Sand tray work is an alternative method to resolve inner issues in a simple, creative and satisfying manner.

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