Sandplay Therapy
What is Sandplay Therapy?
Sandplay therapy was developed in the late 1950s by psychologist Dora Kalff. It’s based on the idea that if a therapist provides
the client with a safe space, the client will use the sand tray to create solutions to their problems on their own. Sandplay therapy is unstructured. It provides the opportunity for clients to free themselves of deep-seated negative emotions by allowing them to express their inner thoughts and feel accepted by the therapist. It is a safe, effective way of working with preverbal and nonverbal trauma while simultaneously promoting healing. On the surface Sandplay appears deceptively simple though it is one, if not the, most powerful form of psychotherapy when practiced by a well trained and experienced clinician. However, the understanding and using it as a therapeutic tool is not as simple. A Sandplay therapist undergoes many years of training and supervision.
The trays are filled with sand that clients use, along with miniature figurines, to create a small “world” in the tray that reflects what is going on in their lives. I will observe the choice and arrangement of the miniatures without interruption, allowing the person to find answers within themselves. The client’s work in the sand tray is image based and pre-verbal. A client is freed from trying to explain inner feelings, emotions, bodily sensations and images in words. They are able to be expressed by parts of the brain that have no verbal language. Clients will frequently comment that they have no idea why they did what emerged in the sand tray. Some will say, “My hands just led me.” In addition they are witnessed by the Sandplay therapist. The client and therapist jointly see and experience the symbolic creation. This facilitates a powerful source of reinforcement and feedback between client and therapist.
After Sandplay is completed, the client and I discuss the client’s some aspects of the tray such as choices of miniatures or their arrangement pattern in the sand or the story of the tray (with children). During discussion, the client often chooses to make changes to the world they have created in sand. Together, you may find some meaning in the sand tray. But, it’s also possible that there will be little discussion at all. Instead, I may simply give you a safe space to work.
Sandplay can also be a pleasurable sensory experience. It facilitates the natural expression of emotions. It may be used as part of an individual, group, or family therapy. Research shows that Sandplay therapy reduces symptoms of many mental health issues and increases resilience. Clients using creativity to express feelings, release anti-anxiety chemicals in the brain. They create the feeling of being safe. They reduce feelings of anger and aggression. Clients thus begin to feel calm, and psychologically strong. They progressively gain a deep sense of well-being, resulting in their immune system becoming stronger. Furthermore, they progressively sense that there is meaning in life. Learning capacity too increases.
When used as part of treatment, sessions may be 45 to 60 minutes in length and they may be scheduled weekly or bi-weekly. Sandplay therapy may consist of a single session or last as long as several years.
As your therapist, I will ask to photograph your sand trays so that the changes in the scenes you create can be reviewed over time.
SANDPLAY THERAPY FOR TRAUMA, NEGLECT, OR ABUSE
Many children are unable to verbalize emotions, particularly in the face of trauma, neglect, or abuse. The non-verbal nature of Sandplay therapy and the familiar medium of sand can help children achieve feelings of comfort and security. With little instruction from the therapist, the child is free to play and develop his or her own expression of situations. Oftentimes the children will experience a sense of independent play and will begin making assumptions and behavior changes without cues from the therapist. This method of therapy serves as a valuable and powerful outlet for children and an incredibly insightful method of gaining access to traumatic experiences.
Sandplay therapy is also very useful in the treatment of children who have been sexually abused. These children will often remain silent for fear of harm or even death. They are often threatened and are in highly anxious states when they come to therapy. The relaxed and interactive setting of Sandplay therapy provides them the initial arena of safety that they need to move toward healing.
SAND THERAPY FOR ADULTS
Although sand tray therapy may look like child’s play, it is a highly therapeutic and multidimensional form of therapy that can provide emotional release and realization. Adults who have been traumatized may respond well to Sandplay therapy. The environment presents an atmosphere free from threat. By beginning to facilitate change on a fictitious level, a person can gain the courage and ability to recognize that these same changes can be made in his or her own life. While the Sandplay process involves creating a series of trays and might last for months or years, significant change may be experienced in just one sand tray session.
the client with a safe space, the client will use the sand tray to create solutions to their problems on their own. Sandplay therapy is unstructured. It provides the opportunity for clients to free themselves of deep-seated negative emotions by allowing them to express their inner thoughts and feel accepted by the therapist. It is a safe, effective way of working with preverbal and nonverbal trauma while simultaneously promoting healing. On the surface Sandplay appears deceptively simple though it is one, if not the, most powerful form of psychotherapy when practiced by a well trained and experienced clinician. However, the understanding and using it as a therapeutic tool is not as simple. A Sandplay therapist undergoes many years of training and supervision.
The trays are filled with sand that clients use, along with miniature figurines, to create a small “world” in the tray that reflects what is going on in their lives. I will observe the choice and arrangement of the miniatures without interruption, allowing the person to find answers within themselves. The client’s work in the sand tray is image based and pre-verbal. A client is freed from trying to explain inner feelings, emotions, bodily sensations and images in words. They are able to be expressed by parts of the brain that have no verbal language. Clients will frequently comment that they have no idea why they did what emerged in the sand tray. Some will say, “My hands just led me.” In addition they are witnessed by the Sandplay therapist. The client and therapist jointly see and experience the symbolic creation. This facilitates a powerful source of reinforcement and feedback between client and therapist.
After Sandplay is completed, the client and I discuss the client’s some aspects of the tray such as choices of miniatures or their arrangement pattern in the sand or the story of the tray (with children). During discussion, the client often chooses to make changes to the world they have created in sand. Together, you may find some meaning in the sand tray. But, it’s also possible that there will be little discussion at all. Instead, I may simply give you a safe space to work.
Sandplay can also be a pleasurable sensory experience. It facilitates the natural expression of emotions. It may be used as part of an individual, group, or family therapy. Research shows that Sandplay therapy reduces symptoms of many mental health issues and increases resilience. Clients using creativity to express feelings, release anti-anxiety chemicals in the brain. They create the feeling of being safe. They reduce feelings of anger and aggression. Clients thus begin to feel calm, and psychologically strong. They progressively gain a deep sense of well-being, resulting in their immune system becoming stronger. Furthermore, they progressively sense that there is meaning in life. Learning capacity too increases.
When used as part of treatment, sessions may be 45 to 60 minutes in length and they may be scheduled weekly or bi-weekly. Sandplay therapy may consist of a single session or last as long as several years.
As your therapist, I will ask to photograph your sand trays so that the changes in the scenes you create can be reviewed over time.
SANDPLAY THERAPY FOR TRAUMA, NEGLECT, OR ABUSE
Many children are unable to verbalize emotions, particularly in the face of trauma, neglect, or abuse. The non-verbal nature of Sandplay therapy and the familiar medium of sand can help children achieve feelings of comfort and security. With little instruction from the therapist, the child is free to play and develop his or her own expression of situations. Oftentimes the children will experience a sense of independent play and will begin making assumptions and behavior changes without cues from the therapist. This method of therapy serves as a valuable and powerful outlet for children and an incredibly insightful method of gaining access to traumatic experiences.
Sandplay therapy is also very useful in the treatment of children who have been sexually abused. These children will often remain silent for fear of harm or even death. They are often threatened and are in highly anxious states when they come to therapy. The relaxed and interactive setting of Sandplay therapy provides them the initial arena of safety that they need to move toward healing.
SAND THERAPY FOR ADULTS
Although sand tray therapy may look like child’s play, it is a highly therapeutic and multidimensional form of therapy that can provide emotional release and realization. Adults who have been traumatized may respond well to Sandplay therapy. The environment presents an atmosphere free from threat. By beginning to facilitate change on a fictitious level, a person can gain the courage and ability to recognize that these same changes can be made in his or her own life. While the Sandplay process involves creating a series of trays and might last for months or years, significant change may be experienced in just one sand tray session.
Infant / Toddler Mental Health
What is Infant/Toddler Mental Health?
When one hears the phrase ‘infant mental health’, there may be concern that is it connected with mental illness and be puzzled as to how the term mental health could be associated with the stage of infancy. Others may not realize that infants can experience very strong emotions long before they have words to express what they are feeling. In these early years, children cannot manage their feelings on their own – they need their caregivers to help them soothe, settle and manage these feelings.
Definition:
The developing capacity of the child from birth to five years of age to: form close and secure adult and peer relationships, experience, manage and express a full range of emotions, and explore the environment and learn - all in the context of family, community and culture.
Why is infant and early childhood mental health important?
The first years of life provide the foundation for children’s mental health and social-emotional development.
· Social development includes the ability to form healthy relationships with others, and the knowledge of social rules and standards.
· Emotional development includes the experience of feelings about self and others, with a range of positive and negative emotions, as well as the ability to control and regulate feelings in culturally appropriate ways. The development of self-worth, self-confidence and self-regulation are important features of social-emotional development.
Very young children need lots of help from their caregivers to learn how to express and manage their emotions in healthy ways. For this reason, caregivers’ relationships with their children play an important role in the mental health of infants and young children.
Irrefutable evidence shows that brain growth in the first years of life happens at the fastest rate than at any other time in life. Early experience shapes the brain, affecting lifelong health, behaviours and learning. No other stage of life depends more on the environment for growth and development. Very young children, whose brains are still extremely impressionable to environmental stress, also respond differently to external stress than older children.
Caregivers help to support the mental health and development of their babies by doing small things, such as talking to their baby, responding to their baby’s smiles or cries and comforting their baby when the baby is upset or scared. All of these actions that caregivers do, often without thinking, help babies to build trusting relationships with their closest caregivers. We now know that when infants and babies feel secure in their relationships with their closest caregivers, this can help support their overall mental health as well.
Significant mental health problems can and do occur in young children:
Children can show clear characteristics of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, at a very early age. Young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events in ways that are very different from adults and older children.
Risk factors/Indicators of infant/toddler mental health challenges:
Remember, these are only warning signs; these behaviors may be related to other health factors. If you suspect a child or family may be in need of assistance, talk with the child’s pediatrician or a licensed mental health professional in your community who has experience in early childhood.
Child:
Infant (birth-12 months):
• Unusually difficult to soothe or console
• Limited interest in things or people
• Consistent strong reactions to touch, sounds, or movement
• Always fearful or “on guard”
• Reacts strongly for no reason
Toddler
• Displays very little emotion
• Unable to comfort or calm self
• Limited interest in things or people
• Does not turn to familiar adults for comfort and help
• Has inconsistent sleep patterns
Preschool Child
• Consistently prefers to not play with others or with toys
• Goes with strangers easily
• Is hurtful to self, others or animals
• Limited use of words to express feelings
Depression can be observed in the first 2-3 months of life, as can attachment disorders, problems with regulation of behavior and emotions, and other developmental difficulties.
Caregivers:
· were abused as children
· have a mental health challenge or illness
· postpartum depression
· have drug or alcohol problems
· have relationship problems
· are violent or abusive or in conflict
· lack support
· are teenagers
· had a difficult or scary birth experience/traumatic birth
· have unresolved grief including perinatal loss
· have unresolved trauma
*** Caregivers can't control some of the things that cause mental health challenges or illnesses. But they can provide things that promote good mental health, like a safe home, healthy relationships, good support and attachment.***
Can’t caregivers just be treated? What is unique about Infant Mental Health as opposed to Family Therapy and other adult services?
Infants, toddlers and preschoolers certainly need their caregivers more than anyone else. However, every baby and very young child is unique, and specialized knowledge is frequently lacking in services that are primarily adult-centered. Dyadic treatment (caregiver & child), with a focus on the unique, specially tailored services to a given child requires specialized training along with an understanding of parenting and adult functioning.
When one hears the phrase ‘infant mental health’, there may be concern that is it connected with mental illness and be puzzled as to how the term mental health could be associated with the stage of infancy. Others may not realize that infants can experience very strong emotions long before they have words to express what they are feeling. In these early years, children cannot manage their feelings on their own – they need their caregivers to help them soothe, settle and manage these feelings.
Definition:
The developing capacity of the child from birth to five years of age to: form close and secure adult and peer relationships, experience, manage and express a full range of emotions, and explore the environment and learn - all in the context of family, community and culture.
Why is infant and early childhood mental health important?
The first years of life provide the foundation for children’s mental health and social-emotional development.
· Social development includes the ability to form healthy relationships with others, and the knowledge of social rules and standards.
· Emotional development includes the experience of feelings about self and others, with a range of positive and negative emotions, as well as the ability to control and regulate feelings in culturally appropriate ways. The development of self-worth, self-confidence and self-regulation are important features of social-emotional development.
Very young children need lots of help from their caregivers to learn how to express and manage their emotions in healthy ways. For this reason, caregivers’ relationships with their children play an important role in the mental health of infants and young children.
Irrefutable evidence shows that brain growth in the first years of life happens at the fastest rate than at any other time in life. Early experience shapes the brain, affecting lifelong health, behaviours and learning. No other stage of life depends more on the environment for growth and development. Very young children, whose brains are still extremely impressionable to environmental stress, also respond differently to external stress than older children.
Caregivers help to support the mental health and development of their babies by doing small things, such as talking to their baby, responding to their baby’s smiles or cries and comforting their baby when the baby is upset or scared. All of these actions that caregivers do, often without thinking, help babies to build trusting relationships with their closest caregivers. We now know that when infants and babies feel secure in their relationships with their closest caregivers, this can help support their overall mental health as well.
Significant mental health problems can and do occur in young children:
Children can show clear characteristics of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, at a very early age. Young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events in ways that are very different from adults and older children.
Risk factors/Indicators of infant/toddler mental health challenges:
Remember, these are only warning signs; these behaviors may be related to other health factors. If you suspect a child or family may be in need of assistance, talk with the child’s pediatrician or a licensed mental health professional in your community who has experience in early childhood.
Child:
Infant (birth-12 months):
• Unusually difficult to soothe or console
• Limited interest in things or people
• Consistent strong reactions to touch, sounds, or movement
• Always fearful or “on guard”
• Reacts strongly for no reason
Toddler
• Displays very little emotion
• Unable to comfort or calm self
• Limited interest in things or people
• Does not turn to familiar adults for comfort and help
• Has inconsistent sleep patterns
Preschool Child
• Consistently prefers to not play with others or with toys
• Goes with strangers easily
• Is hurtful to self, others or animals
• Limited use of words to express feelings
Depression can be observed in the first 2-3 months of life, as can attachment disorders, problems with regulation of behavior and emotions, and other developmental difficulties.
Caregivers:
· were abused as children
· have a mental health challenge or illness
· postpartum depression
· have drug or alcohol problems
· have relationship problems
· are violent or abusive or in conflict
· lack support
· are teenagers
· had a difficult or scary birth experience/traumatic birth
· have unresolved grief including perinatal loss
· have unresolved trauma
*** Caregivers can't control some of the things that cause mental health challenges or illnesses. But they can provide things that promote good mental health, like a safe home, healthy relationships, good support and attachment.***
Can’t caregivers just be treated? What is unique about Infant Mental Health as opposed to Family Therapy and other adult services?
Infants, toddlers and preschoolers certainly need their caregivers more than anyone else. However, every baby and very young child is unique, and specialized knowledge is frequently lacking in services that are primarily adult-centered. Dyadic treatment (caregiver & child), with a focus on the unique, specially tailored services to a given child requires specialized training along with an understanding of parenting and adult functioning.