Sandplay Therapy Essay

The Jungian approach of exploring the psyche through Sandplay therapy can be beneficial for children, trauma survivors and individuals who have difficulty expressing themselves in talk therapy.

Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung emphasized the importance of the psyche and the quest for wholeness. He believed in the attainment of self through individuation, involving the growth of a whole and unique human being, a deepening awareness, and the discovery who we truly are. Jung recognized the importance of symbolism, as well as concepts such as the personal and collective unconscious, complexes and archetypes, self, and individuation. He said that the beauty about the unconscious is that it truly is unconscious and it could not be accessed through direct approaches.

Depth psychotherapy can assist the individual in reestablishing a healthy relationship with the unconscious, and can reveal what is missing from one’s conscious perception. Through the use of dreamwork and expressive art therapies, such as Sandplay, unconscious elements can surface, enabling us to access the unconscious. We can then and integrate this awareness into our consciousness to address inner conflicts and confusion.

While working with children in refugee camps in Poland after World War I, Margaret
It is a technique that facilitates the psyche’s natural capacity for healing and development. Similar to how our physical wounds heal, the psyche also has a wisdom that emerges when left free to operate naturally in a protected environment. The goal of Sandplay therapy is to promote healing at the deepest level of the psyche through the use of miniatures and the sand tray to reflect the client’s inner world, bringing awareness of the analysand’s complexes, internal struggle, feelings of shame and of not being