Sandplay Therapy and the Treatment of Grief

Barbara Brugler, LISW-S, BCD Certified teaching member for the Sandplay Therapists of America and the International

Society of Sandplay Therapists

About Sandplay

Sandplay therapy is a non-verbal treatment for children and adults using nninlatures and sand. There are many forms of sand therapy, some use Jungian theory, some work from a conscious perspective, others are based on a theory of the unconscious. "Sandplay" is a particular method of sandtray therapy developed by Dora Kalff.

Specifics about Sandplay

• Sandplay is known as the "quiet therapy" as the therapist sits quietly, holding and containing the energy of the unconscious while the client works. The sandpictures are not interpreted or discussed . The client is given an opportunity to share things if they wish.

• In order for the client to feel safe enough to go deep into the unconscious the therapist has to have some level of understanding of what is happening in the sandpicture.

• The goal is to have a right brain to right brain connection which is not a thinking connection.

• We do not direct but the client is free to do what they need to do in the sandroom. We create an environment in which the psyche Is Invited in to guide and direct the process from the inside.

• We do not interpret as that would change the process to left brain which is akin to talking therapy.

• By not interpreting or discussing, the sandpictures are allowed to incubate inside the client. We do talk to our clients; we do not ever tie what we say to the pictures.

• It is believed Sandplay can change the psyche of the person. Sandplay believes discussing the pictures would interfere with this process.

• Client's can go back to the beginning and come forward in a new and transformative way.

• Making an image conscious, by discussing it, stops this process.

• In Sandplay the therapist learns how to create an environment which allows the psyche to direct the process. The client is able to go right where they need to for healing to take place.

• This is part of the reason Sandplay tends to be a faster treatment than traditional talking therapy.

• This is also a great method for preverbal issues and memories stored in the body or reptilian brain.

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• Children tend to work in the sand every session. We l<now they are close to being done when they do more talking and less sand work.

• Adults tend to do some sand with a lot of talking in between.

• We do not ci/cr direct what a client will do but instead create an environment in which the client feels safe enough to let the psyche direct the process.

• Because Sandplay is working on an unconscious level it does not appear to re-traumatize clients and for most people is an "easier" way to work on painful issues than just talk therapy.

• Sandplay provides resources to people so they can talk about issues that are difficult.

• Example of the 23 year old woman whose father died when she was 14.

Over the years 1 have had many clients work in the sand who were dealing with grief. Four of the children I worked with had parents die after they began treatment. I will present some examples from these cases then present a complete case to demonstrate the efficacy of using Sandplay to treat grief. When I use a picture to demonstrate a point, please understand this is just a small part of the process the client is working on and is presented here to demonstrate a point.

Other meanings of death in the unconscious.

Death can mean many things when it is seen in dreams or expressive therapies. It usually does not necessarily have to do with literal death. Around Halloween death images have to do with the season. Something has to die before something new can be born. Death images are common in Sandpictures which often herald something new is coming.

• Death can represent something being put to rest to repress it.

• It can represent being buried in the unconscious as in "planting" it like a seed that will germinate and grow in the future.

• The "Day of the Dead" in Mexico is an opportunity to honor deceased family members. They are thought to return the evening before All Saints Day. It can connect us to our ancestors, and our heritage.

• Stewart (1998) tells us that death is a symbol of the end of a period, and is often associated with some form of sacrifice. Often the hero dies young. In some instances the king is sacrificed when his powers begin to wane, so as to keep a virile line. Sometimes the 'death' is a ritual, but bears echoes of the actual. Death is a setting free of the spirit. The 'Land of the Dead' is the realm of the unconscious." p. 126

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• When ever someone uses death images in a sandplcture It can mean one or several of these things at the same time.

• I find literal ghosts are not used as often to represent the deceased family member as much as another figure associated with the person. But it is not uncommon to see death images intruding upon sandpictures if there has been a death in the family.

• Symbols with some sort of association to death may include but are not limited to:

• Dog, shark, mirror, bull, stopped dock, vulture, winged spirit, two youths one black one white, a horseman, a skeleton, dance of death, serpent, the number 13, ships, dolphin, sea horse, poppy, anchor, cross, dove, snail, olive branch, butterfly, wrath, hour glass, weeping willow, colors black or white, goat

• Fertility symbols • Sleeping Beauty who is revived in spring; Snow White

who is also brought to life with the kiss of her prince, Persephone and other Greek/Roman gods.

De Vries, (1984) p. 131-2

• The end of an epoch as a sacrifice, from an unendurable tension in self-destruction...

• It is fortunate to die on Christmas Eve for the gates of heaven are wide open then...

• Rough wooden crosses are put in the place where an accident has happened in order to prevent the ghost from haunting the p/ace...

• Tarot: Time the master of fate...

Chevalier and Gheerbrant, (1996) Death marks the absolute conclusion of some positive thing.... Death is the impermanent and perishable aspect of living. It points to what must vanish in the inevitable evolution of material things and is akin to the symbolism of the earth. It also ushers in the unknown worlds of heaven and hell. Phase preceding new llfe...sets free the essential powers of the spirit.

Cont. • Sleep, powers of regeneration... • Death unlocks the gates of the realm of light... • The Reaper embodies an important

development, grief, the transformation of beings and things, change. Inescapable destiny, disillusionment, detachment, stoicism, loss of confidence, and pessimism

• Death has more than one meaning, it frees from trouble and care; it is not an end in itself

Cont. • In Alchemy the matter which will provide the

substance of the Philosopher's Stone is sealed within a closed receptacle....symbolizes death in the form of renewal and rebirth

• Death reminds us that we must go beyond and that it is the essential ingredient of progress and of life.

• Pp. 276-78

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Biedermann (1994)

• Concentric circles found on graves imply the ripples when an object is dropped into water and thus seem to symbolize the descent of the soul into the waters of death.

• Death is seen as the great leveler, the equalizer of fortunes

• Sickle represents the cutting off of life • Pp. 91-2

• In my experience recent illnesses or deaths tend to contaminate or intrude upon sandpictures more than deaths that happened some time ago. In other words longer-ago deaths tend to be more symbolic.

• 1 had been seeing a male child since he was 6 due to his parents separation and eventual divorce. His mother was diagnosed with cancer before the divorce was finalized.

• I will call this boy Mike. He was not ever very good at verbalizing, much like his father. He denied worrying about his mother - "She told me she was going to be fine so it is fine." Then he began creating scenes with the grim reaper and graves.

• As a result I talked with his mother and we held a joint session. She was able to talk about how angry she was etc. We were able to talk about what would happen if mom didn't survive. Parents rarely discussed wills and guardianship with children and they need to hear it. In this case the boy's anxiety was not just that his mother would die but that he didn't know what would happen to him if she did.

• I saw Charles as a teenager. His father died from cancer when he was 6 years old.

• In the sand he would create amazing temple like structures. At the time I wondered if they represented dissociation, being out of body. Now I understand he was trying to reach the land of the gods to reconnect with his father.

• He told me the most important thing to help kids who are grieving is to give them an outlet for their anger.

• As with any other type of therapy how someone dies influences what we see in sandpictures. Sudden death is different than a prolonged illness; suicide or murder are different than any other death.

• Traumatic death often shows elements that are in common with other traumas.

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