Sand Tray Therapy

Sand tray therapy is a healing process which helps children, adolescents and adults alike, work through any painful conscious or unconscious memories by representing it in sand, and manipulating miniatures that represent daily activities, people, buildings, movement, nature and more. 

In play therapy, we believe that the toys are the child's words and play is the language. Sand tray therapy is similar, allowing the client to communicate through the use of miniatures and the completed creation in the sand.

As a whole brain activity clients learn to explore their internal feelings, emotions, bodily sensations, and images expressed in ‘sand worlds’ by parts of the brain that have no verbal language. The process is facilitated by a trained sand tray therapist and the process can be led by the client or therapist.

How sand tray therapy works

Sand tray therapy is a highly therapeutic and multidimensional modality that is able to work with the WHOLE brain, allowing for the right and the left sides to talk to each other. Because it uses images, it activates that right part of the brain where so much of what runs therapy lies – trauma, negative thoughts and feelings. When we are able to bring up those experiences into the external world through images and miniatures, then our left brain can come in and put words to what we are feeling.  However, there is never any pressure to talk about a sandtray world afterwards; for many people the active process itself can often be enough to feel lighter.  Importantly, there is no right or wrong ways of being or working with the sand - some people benefit from simply moving and playing with the sand to explore emotions and regulate. 

Sand tray therapy can provide emotional release and abreaction because the use of sand and miniatures offers clients a symbolic way of expressing our feelings and viewing our lives. Throughout the session, your trained therapist provides the safe, therapeutic relationship and support necessary for such exploration.  Sand tray therapy provides a safe therapeutic distance when re-enacting and processing traumatic experiences and memories.  As materials contained in the unconscious emerge visually and symbolically in the sand tray, this is integrated into a person’s sense of self and can be activated to elicit behavioural change.  Clients are free from trying to explain inner feelings, emotions, bodily sensations and images in words.  As a result, sand tray therapy is invaluable when working with children and adults alike. 

Sand tray therapy is also a tactile approach to therapy, where the experience of touching and manipulating the sand is therapeutic in and of itself and reduces anxiety and helps self-regulation.

Therapy may last from one session to sessions that happen over several years. Studies have shown it can help people talk about their previous trauma and ongoing challenges.