What is Sand Tray Therapy?
Often, we do not have words for understanding the source or the solution for difficulties, pain or conflict. The method of using miniature objects arranged in a tray of sand can allow these vague feelings to manifest into form, serving as a powerful communication tool for you to move forward out the murkiness of suffering into the light of understanding.
As in art therapy, this tool allows you to bypass your own defenses and gives you access to the amazing world of archetypal images in your unconscious mind. This method has the advantage of picking a ready-made collection of images right off the shelf to create a scene of your inner experience in the tray of sand.
The sand I use is pure, white sand from the gulf beaches along the panhandle coast of Florida. As you prepare to create a tray, you
may sense the grounding feeling as you dig your fingers into the sand, squeeze it and arrange it. It is a wonderful balance to working with the fluid qualities of the emotions.
The use of active imagination and symbolic play (yes! adults benefit greatly from play) allows you to feel more like the creator of your experiences than the victim of them. You can also see the aspects of an entire issue you are dealing with that can be easily touched and changed.