itself will fall or be unconsciously shaped into a powerful symbol which has great impact because it has not been formed by the conscious mind but is the expression, it seems, of something deeper. Clients are invited to use any of the many hundreds of pieces to create a sandplay image. They usually work in silence, perhaps giving me as witness some indication of what their associations are with the pieces, perhaps not. There comes a moment when the process seems complete. Clients often say ‘That’s it!’ in a way which conveys the sense that this image, with pieces placed in this particular arrangement, this is it,.. this expresses my inner reality. I have a great love for this methodology, which is particularly effective for people who tend to over intellectualise, or those with language difficulties for whom an exclusively verbal method can be limited. I find it deeply enriching studying symbols in greater depth through their use in myths, fairytales and art. I have recently had a paper accepted for inclusion in the Journal of Sandplay Therapy on the symbol of the gateway, entitled ‘ The Gateway; boundary, entrance and threshold’. As I write this we are at that threshold point of the academic year, between one stage and another. Digesting the fruits of the year’s work, and perhaps recuperating from a tough and demanding journey. Not yet ready to step through the threshold into the new year, but in that liminal place between things where we can more readily hear the voice of our soul. Some of you will know that I have been studying Jungian Sandplay over the last few years and bringing this approach increasingly into my therapy practise. I thought I would give a brief overview of this approach, which is designed for both adults and children. Coming into my practise room the sandtrays and shelves of pieces are immediately obvious and I introduce new clients to the option of working with sandplay as part of their work with me. As with dreams, the first sandplay made can often hold the essence of the therapeutic tasks ahead. Because sandplay work is seen as an organic process with it’s own momentum, interpretations of the tray by the therapist or client are discouraged until towards the end of the work. Then a review of all the recorded images can take place as part of digesting and beginning to integrate the work together. Before words there is the experience. Our work as therapists, is often about enabling the other to contact their experiencing self and begin to find ways of naming or expressing their process. Unconscious issues that are pressing to become conscious may be held in the body, be projected onto people and situations in our lives, manifest in our dreams or be enabled through therapy or other creative processes to come into our awareness. Creating a sandplay is like that. The client doesn’t need a plan for what they want to represent but is encouraged at first simply to move the sand with their hands. I love this quote from Jung; ‘Often the hands will solve a mystery with which the intellect has struggled in vain’.C.G. Jung (Vol 8., para. 180). Sometimes the sand
Rebecca Miles rebecca@milesandmiles.myzen.co.uk