{"id":17752,"date":"2013-04-15T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=17752"},"modified":"2015-09-22T09:19:47","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T16:19:47","slug":"exploring-the-benefits-of-sand-tray-therapy-for-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/sand-tray-therapy-adults-benefits-0414134","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Benefits of Sand Tray Therapy for Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HandMany people associate a sandbox with children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s play. However, there is a special type of expressive therapy<\/a> in which a tray of sand is used to create and explore imaginary worlds. This modality, called sand tray therapy<\/a>, can be appropriate for people of any age. Many adult clients enjoy sand tray therapy as a way to bypass the logical and intellectual parts of themselves in order to access a deeper, creative aspect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sand tray therapy has been in use since the 1940s. It emerged in the form of Jungian<\/a> sandplay, a type of psychoanalytic expressive therapy in which clients were asked to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153create a world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the sand. In current times, sand tray therapy has evolved to be used by therapists from a variety of backgrounds, including humanistic<\/a> or transpersona<\/a>l.<\/p>\n

How It Works<\/strong>
\nThe sand tray that is used in therapy with adults and adolescents is a rectangular, wooden tray, several inches deep and painted blue on the inside. Typically, the tray is placed on a wheeled table that is about regular table height. The tray is filled about two-thirds full with clean, white sand.<\/p>\n

In the same room, there is an open shelf containing a broad variety of small toys or figurines. These usually include human figures of different types, as well as animals, plants, buildings, vehicles, and other types of things that are commonly seen in everyday experience. Any of these figurines can be placed within the sand tray to create a small, imaginary world. In addition, the sand in the tray can be shifted to make an evocative landscape. Sand can be piled up to show a hill or mountain, or it can be scraped away from the bottom of the tray to show the blue interior in order to represent water.<\/p>\n

How It Helps<\/strong>
\nSand tray therapy can be used with adults when success with verbal therapies is stifled, or when a therapeutic modality that allows more access to innate creativity is desired. An excellent use for the sand tray can be with grief<\/a> or trauma<\/a>, when words are difficult to utter or fully process. When clients touch the sand, it can be very soothing to the psyche, offering a healing beyond what we can visibly understand.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When the beginnings of self-destruction enter the heart, it seems no bigger than a grain of sand.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/i> \u00e2\u20ac\u201dJohn Cheever<\/p>\n

There are several components of sand tray therapy that make it effective for many people, including:<\/p>\n