Sandplay Therapy: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is Sandplay Therapy?

Conventionally, sand-play therapy is a non-verbal, expressive therapeutic approach where clients create scenes in a sandbox using miniature figures (e.g., people, animals, buildings) to explore their inner world. It integrates Jungian psychology, symbolism, and play therapy to facilitate healing.

Our Approach to Sandplay Therapy

In our practice, we do not use the Jungian approach to sand-play. We approach it a little differently. We use sand-play as an approach to facilitate emotional expression and healing by allowing individuals to explore their unconscious experiences through self-awareness and emotional processing. Sometimes, clients who struggle to express themselves verbally may use the figures to assist in their story telling. This is also an effective approach for those who may have experienced trauma. Also, narrative therapy may be used together in sand-play therapy.

FAQs about Sandplay

Who does it benefit? 

Children, teens, and adults, especially those with trauma, anxiety, or difficulty verbalizing emotions.

How Does Sand-play Therapy Work?

Sand-play taps into the unconscious mind, allowing clients to access their deep rooted feelings and feelings which may affect their present thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.

• Healing Mechanisms:
  • Clients process their emotions through symbols or talk therapy, depending on their comfort level.
  • Bringing up what’s in their subconscious into the conscious mind through emotional processing.
  • The therapist observes without judgment, offers reflective and evaluative questions, and help clients to join the dots.

What Does the Therapist Do?

• Creates Safety: Provides a safe, quiet, accepting space for processing.
• Tracks Patterns and Highlights Recurrent Themes in the clients’ lives.
• Avoids Interpretation: Encourages clients to develop their own insights.
• For those who are Christians, sand-play can be combined into inner healing

Is Sandplay Just Playing with Sand?

• Recreational sand-play: Unstructured and does not have any therapeutic intent.
• Therapeutic Sandplay:
  • Guided by a trained therapist with clinical goals.
  • Processes emotions, promotes self-awareness, and explores client’s inner world and subconscious experiences.

What Issues Can Sandplay Address?

• Children: ADHD, aggression, school anxiety, grief.
• Adults: PTSD, depression, identity crises, relationship struggles.
• Neurodiverse Clients: Autism spectrum (ASD), selective mutism.

How Many Sessions Are Needed?

• Short-Term: 6–12 sessions (behavioral issues).
• Long-Term: Months/years (complex trauma, deep self-exploration).
• Duration: Typically 50–60 mins/session excluding processing time.

Limitations of Sand-play Therapy

• Not Suitable For: Active psychosis, extreme sensitivity to touch or sand.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Some symbols (e.g., colors, animals) carry culture-specific meanings.

How to Measure Progress?

• Signs of Improvement:
  • Increased verbalization about sand scenes.
  • Shifts from chaotic to organized creations.
  • Real-life behavioral changes (e.g., reduced anxiety).