Sunday, October 29, 2017

Learn More About Sand Tray Therapy

By William Kennedy


There are many techniques that therapists use to get through to their clients and this technique is increasingly becoming popular as time goes by. Instead of verbally communicating during counseling, the clients are allowed to express themselves using sand and miniatures in an environment that they find less threatening or intimidating. This can be empowering to them as they choose to manipulate the ministries as they would like. This fosters a gradual healing process. Thus, sand tray therapy is effective in removing barriers that offer resistivity to opening up.

Sometimes words are never enough to express how someone truly feels after the outcome of a traumatic event or any related factors. The clients are provided with a sand tray that is uniquely proportioned and usually with a blue interior. The miniatures given could be human figures, animals, buildings, natural objects and vehicles among other things. And with these, they are able to enhance their creativity as they imaginatively create their own world.

Creativity is however not the main purpose of this exercise. Sometimes a patient may voice out their inability to be creative but it has been said that there is no standard of creation that is required. The main objective is the story behind the world that has been made by the client. Once completed, the therapist helps relate it to the experiences of the client.

Not many clients are comfortable with expressing themselves verbally and may leave out vital information while trying to verbalize the images in their head. This tool allows the client to convey their feelings, perceptions, thoughts, psychological and emotional conflicts through the displaying of their own created world as they play with the soil type and miniature.

This tool aids in creating awareness of emotional conflicts that was previously not known. As these emotional conflicts are brought to light, the therapist is able to share with the client suitable ways in which they can be resolved. The use of this exercise promotes self-awareness and improves their expressive styles including verbal communication.

It is often utilized with kids who may not yet be in their stages of being able to appropriately articulate words or even those who may not be mature enough to articulate their feelings through spoken word. It becomes effective because kids are usually enlightened with the ideas of playing using toys and sand provided in some safe space.

Although this technique has been considered to be juvenile and applicable only to children, it has been proven to be effective in teenagers and adults as well. This is especially for the ones who are unable to complete their verbal expression as a result of lacking the words of the general fear of opening up. With this tool, the therapists can create a deeper bond quicker than when only words are being relied upon.

This technique can be applied to couples and groups as well. It enabled the therapist to empower the clients by giving them total control of a world that can allow them to explore past traumatic events while still feeling safe. The therapist is able to bring up discussions that had been previously blocked and this enables the client to uncover the cause if the emotional conflict and subsequently heal slowly.




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