Carl jung sand therapy. About method

Psychologist, art therapist, member of the Russian Art Therapeutic Association.

sand therapy- This is a type of psychological assistance, where the main tool is a psychological sandbox of a standard size of 50x70x8 cm, often with river sand.

There are two main directions in sand therapy: the Jungian sandbox and the fairy tale therapist sandbox. What these two directions have in common is the same size and color (blue inside) of the sandbox and the variety of small toys.

jungian sandbox

As the name implies, it is based on the theoretical foundation of Carl Gustav Jung. However, it was not Jung himself who developed this method, but his student Dora Kalf. In the original, this method is called "Sandplay therapy" - a rather deep and lengthy method of work. The client can work in both dry and wet sand.

Usually a psychologist has 2 sandboxes to choose from: dry and wet, or, more precisely, wet. Small toys reflect all spheres of human life - not only real, but also fantasy. Usually the client intuitively chooses toys and places them on the sand. Outwardly, it looks like just a game and an ignorant person may not understand what is really happening.

In fact, sand therapy is similar to diving - when we look at the surface of the water, we do not see anything special, but once we put on a mask, a wetsuit, stock up on oxygen and start diving, after a while a wonderful world opens up to us. In the same way, in sand therapy, we are not in a hurry and dive to the depth gradually and carefully, and just like in diving, the amazing world of the client opens up to us, or our own, if we ourselves are the client.

At the same time, a sand therapist can be an instructor who monitors safety, draws the client's attention to especially beautiful and unusual fish, corals and algae, and when the time comes, shows that it is time to surface.

So a person gets acquainted with his inner world, his unconscious. He can find both treasure and a sunken ship there. Metaphors and symbols are of great importance here, since each figure placed in the sandbox has its own symbolism, meaning and history. And if the client is ready, then the psychologist can always tell this story. Toys do not accidentally end up in the sandbox and all stories are also related to the client's process.

Fairy tale therapist's sandbox

In the fairy tale therapist's sandbox, children are more often (but not always!) Clients. There is a classic technique for working in the sand, which is loved by child psychologists - "building the world." This technique was proposed by Margaret Lowenfeld in the middle of the 20th century, and many specialists became interested in it even then.

Today, this technique is very common and loved by psychologists. "Building the world" is used both in group work and in individual work.

The instruction is very simple: the child is invited to build his own world in the sandbox, using the available toys. This technique is very diagnostic for a psychologist and allows for corrective work. In addition, it can be repeated and modified for a specific task.

Including work with sand, they are also used for pedagogical purposes, studying the topics of the world around them with preschool children, or they are introduced to letters and numbers that can be drawn on the sand.

In the last 10 years, sand art therapy or sand painting has become popular in Russia. Initially, light sandboxes were offered more for the entertainment of children, where they could play or watch a theater on the sand. Today, more and more often such sandboxes appear in the offices of psychologists and in kindergartens. Light sandboxes can be used to develop fine motor skills, imagination, thinking, and study of given topics.

Also, art therapists can work with such a sandbox as an object where a child or an adult can express himself through drawing in the sand. And here the whole variety of classical art therapy is included.

1. About the method in general.

Sandplay therapy is one of the most interesting methods of analytical psychology, based on the ideas of M. Levenfeld, D. Kalf, K.G. Cabin boy. It is this methodological basis that the International Society for Sandplay Therapy (Jungian Sand Therapy) points out in its Rules of Procedure.

This is a fascinating journey into the depths of yourself, an opportunity not only to see, but to understand and accept your feelings and states. We all need to develop a dialogue with ourselves, to master the inner space. It is this journey that makes it possible to make sand therapy, where you yourself create, observe and live your world, and the therapist allows you to cope with emerging feelings, understand the meaning, connect with real problems and difficulties in life.

This is a creative process that helps to get in touch with one’s unconscious, with a deep and authentic “I”, returns a person to his traumatic experiences, builds a bridge between internal and external reality, which contributes to the movement towards integrity and personal development.

2. A bit of history.

In the 1920s, the English physician Margaret Lowenfeld used two zinc trays filled with water and sand and miniature figurines in her work. And, together with her little patients, she creates a "technique of the world", which becomes the subject of her fascinating research.

In the 1950s, Dora Kalff, a Jungian analyst, studied with Lowenfeld, developing ideas, combining technique with Jungian ideas and Eastern philosophy, and Sandplay was born.

Thus, "sand therapy" arose within the framework of the Jungian analytical approach and is largely based on working with the symbolic content of the unconscious as a source of internal growth and development.

At first, this method was used in child psychoanalysis, since it is difficult for children to describe their experiences in words, as adults can usually do. But soon it began to be used in work with adult clients, helping to express difficult experiences, the pain of loss, internal conflicts and some unbearable feelings that were impossible to talk about. Invisible pain and suffering of the soul with the help of a picture on the sand from the inner space is transferred to the outer space and becomes visible and tangible. With the help of images, symbols and metaphors, it is no longer so scary to deal with the world of trauma, talk about it and transform it into something else that will provide a resource for further growth and development.

Sand therapy addresses the child part, the inner child of each person, using its creative and healing ability.

3. What is needed for work

In sand therapy, two wooden trays are used - with dry and wet sand, painted blue, as a model of water and sky. Water and a collection of miniature figurines. They should be both natural (shells, cones, acorns, stones, twigs) and made by human hands from different materials (iron, glass, clay, plastic ...), which will reflect the entire sphere of human life and the environment (people, houses , cars, animals, trees, flowers, tools, household items, mythological images and much more). The presence of both beautiful light and kind images, as well as terrible dark and terrible images is important. The more figures, the more opportunities the client has to express himself.

Usually, the therapist does not give any instructions. The client can build their own unique world in the sand with the help of figurines, they can pour water and model different landscapes of their soul or create images from wet sand. Or you can just play with dry sand, creating waves, paths, wind, desert storm, sandy rain.

Touching the dry sand, you can feel the forgotten touches of caring motherly hands or another very close person and be filled with love and peace. Everyone will have different feelings, depending on their childhood experiences and their trauma. You can replenish these feelings and be filled with them if, for some reason, they could not be experienced before, creating the image of a caring inner mother. This can be seen from the children from orphanages, how they literally want to completely immerse themselves in this sand with bliss on their faces. And others are afraid of him, and they do not want to touch him for a long time, until there is trust in the world in the form of a therapist.

Sand therapy provides a safe space to work through unconscious material in a playful way. It reduces the client's resistance to the way they express their own affects and helps to connect them with images through symbolization.

4. Where applied:

The home of sand therapy - Jungian analysis. But, over time, interest in the method grows and promotes it along new paths of development.

Due to the ease of manipulation and the enormous possibilities, the method finds application in various fields and not only in psychotherapy. Educators and social workers use sand therapy to develop creativity and skills. Sand painting looks incredibly beautiful. Sand shows and the creation of sand sculptures have become a separate art form.

Sand therapy is used in counseling, short-term methods of psychotherapy, as a type of art therapy, in work with families. Couples. Clients of almost all ages.

And of course, the method is successfully developing in the native space of analytical psychology.

Sand paintings can be compared with a series of dreams, which, unfortunately, we often forget. Paintings are like waking dreams that can be analyzed, photographed, and then observed both for the change in the content of the paintings themselves, and for the dynamics of changes in the psyche of their creator.

In the sand paintings of children, one can often observe the projected unconscious of their parents, with which the child is filled, which does not allow him to develop calmly. With the help of images and their subsequent expression on the sand, he frees his inner space for himself in order to fill it with his helping and supporting figures (internal objects). In the sand, without fear, the old world is destroyed and a new world is created. With the characters of the sand picture, you can play conflicts, find ways to overcome them, win back emotions and see how the surrounding characters will relate to this, something that they do not dare to do in ordinary life. Here you can play many roles, and choose for yourself what suits your inner state and your true "I".

Gradually, the pain of loss, destruction and trauma becomes less, as the inner image of the hero, creator, creator of his world, his life is built into the psyche. This is facilitated by the unique idea of ​​Sand Therapy.

5. About Sand Therapists:

It is very important for the sand therapist to develop the ability to be in good contact with the childish part, to understand and speak the forgotten language of images. Knowing the mythology of folklore, literature on analytical psychology helps to be able to navigate in the symbolic field. This seemingly simple method requires constant professional and personal development. In addition to complying with the Ethical Law, remember about a special careful position in relation to the client and his work. Personal experience of working in the sandbox, awareness of one's own process of individuation makes it possible to create a free, protected space for our clients. Dora Kalff writes that it is under such conditions that the activation of the archetype of the Self is possible, which leads along the path of individuation.

6. Training.

Development in this direction implies a constant process of development.

Studying at the school of analytical psychology provides a basis for understanding the process of sand therapy:

— structures and dynamics of the psyche;
- the mechanism of psycho-correctional influence;
- theories of complexes and archetypes.

Then, of course, training programs directly on Sandbox therapy, where we can, through acquaintance with the approach of different specialists, feel and move towards our own way of using the sandbox, because we are dealing with a creative method, where copying kills the idea. It is important to get acquainted with other art methods, methods of analytical psychology of working with images, such as active imagination, amplification. For the development of symbolic thinking, it is very important to study cultural studies, mythology, and folklore.

Personal therapy and supervision allow you to live and understand history in the sandbox space on your own experience, to understand the work of your soul.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the use of the Sand Therapy method invites us on a journey where sometimes it will not be easy, but always interesting. The process unfolds like a fairy tale, to an inner deep meaning, a dream, lost parts of yourself and relationships. I am constantly amazed and inspired by the figures that come to life in the paintings, how they connect the past and the future, provide an opportunity to get to know oneself and lead along the path of individuation.

Sandplay. Jungian sand therapy. Psychotherapeutic method of sandplay therapy (Jungian sand therapy): theory, practice, training, psychologists - sand therapists

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Moderator - Victoria Ivanovna Andreeva, analytical psychologist, Jungian analyst, IAAP member

Sand therapy (Sandplay)- one of the most interesting methods that arose within the framework of analytical psychology. Sand therapy is a unique way to communicate with the world and with yourself; a way to relieve internal stress, embody it on an unconsciously symbolic level, which increases self-confidence and opens up new ways of development. Sand therapy makes it possible to touch the deep, true Self, restore your mental integrity, collect your unique image, picture of the world. The theoretical basis of sand therapy is created by the ideas of C. G. Jung and the principles of analytical psychology he formulated.

Tutorial
"Sand Therapy (Sandplay)"

Practice-oriented course for specialists with higher psychological, medical, pedagogical education, students of psychological faculties, practicing psychologists, psychotherapists.

The program is dedicated to the history, theory and practice of the Jungian approach to sand therapy.

The program provides:

• familiarization with the features of sand therapy, organization and work process

• mastering diagnostic tools, acquiring personal experience of immersion in the proposed techniques

• familiarization with the features of using the method when working with children and adults

• study of theoretical and clinical aspects of sand therapy. Features of the classical Jungian approach and modern modifications in various directions. Acquaintance with the most important concepts and concepts of the development and structure of the psyche, as well as with various theoretical schools, their connection with sand therapy.

1. Archetypal roots of sand therapy. Ideas of M. Lowenfeld, D. Kalf, K. G. Jung in the development of the method. Jungian sand therapy and method modification. Distinctive features. Organization of the workspace. Theoretical basis of the method. Active imagination, free association method.

1. Developmental psychology and sand therapy. Structure and development of the psyche. Complexes. Stages of personality development, reflection of processes in the sandbox. Concepts and methods of work by M. Klein., A. Freud, D. Winnicott, E. Neumann

1. Formation and development of the symbol-forming function of the psyche. transcendent function. Interaction between the conscious and the unconscious. Ideas K.G. Jung, E. Edinger, Ego-Self axis.

1. Sand therapy process. Interaction levels. The role of the therapist. Transference-countertransference in sand therapy. Combination with art therapy.

1. Sand painting analysis. Archetypes and symbolic processes in sand therapy. Archetype of Mother, Father, Child, Self, Self.

1. Topography of space. Landscape.

1. Symbolic field, culture of appeal. Levels of character analysis.

1. The symbolic language of fairy tales and dreams. Fairy tales, myths and other archetypal stories in sand therapy. Methods of psychological interpretation. Dreams in the sandbox.

1. Peculiarities of sand therapy with children. Diagnostic methods. Correction and psychotherapy of children and adolescents in the sandbox. Basic psychoanalytic concepts of psychopathology. Play therapy. Working with parents.

1. Sand therapy with adults and couples. Stages of work.

1. Group work in the sandbox with clients of different ages. Features, differences and opportunities for group work. Techniques and means.

1. Final lesson. Completion of work in the sandbox. Supervision in the sandbox.

Course duration- 60 academic hours.

Upon completion of the program, a member certificate.

Class mode: full course 15 lessons: 2 groups (morning, evening), once a week (18.00 - 21.00), (10 00 - 13 00).

Contact Information: Tel. +7 915 077 58 80. E-mail.

Currently, various methods and techniques are used in psychological work with children, most of which are associated with creative self-expression (drawing, modeling, playing, staging, writing fairy tales, and much more). The problems and difficulties of children (as well as adults, by the way) find their symbolic expression in the products of creativity. Generated images and metaphors are at the same time both symptoms of a person's internal state and means of its harmonization.

One of the methods that activate fantasy and allow the unconscious to become visible is the method of sand therapy. J. Atherton considers sand compositions as spontaneous three-dimensional conscious answers to the questions of the inner unconscious voice. She writes that the images created in the sandbox are therapeutic because they do not need to be interpreted or brought into consciousness. They also do not need interpretation in order to change the order and balance in the soul. Images are healing, whether we realize it or not. They carry their own meanings related to our real life.

For a child, playing with sand is a natural way of self-expression. Kip's child psychotherapist J. Linii compared the attraction of sand to children with a magnet: "Before they have time to realize what they are doing, their hands themselves begin to sift the sand, build tunnels, mountains and riverbeds."

The essence of the sand therapy process is that in a sandbox (a tray of a certain size and color) with wet or dry sand, the client creates a landscape and places miniature objects. In the process of creating a sand composition, playing a story, according to C. G. Jung, the blocked energy is released and the possibility of self-healing inherent in the human psyche is activated.

Currently, there are several directions of sand therapy. Having initially received a methodological justification in line with Jungian analysis, sand therapy in the process of its development acquired various modifications in other areas (Gestalt therapy, symbol drama, psychosynthesis, fairy tale therapy, etc.). Due to the methodological differences that have arisen in the conduct of sand therapy, the following classification was adopted at an international conference in San Francisco in 1995: Sandplay(capitalized) means the classic form of Jungian sand therapy, a sand play(with a small letter) are various modifications of the method.

The history of the method and the theoretical provisions of Jungian sand therapy

Playing with sand as a psychotherapeutic method of working with children was first described by M. Lowenfeld in 1929. While observing children, she drew attention to the fact that they were often attracted to playing with sand and water.

In a zinc tray with sand specially installed on the floor, the children created a certain landscape with the help of water (or without it). Then they put miniature objects and toys there, stored in a separate box. This is how the "Mir" technique appeared (World Technique) the main task of which, according to the definition of M. Lowenfeld, was to help children express the "inexpressible".

In the 1950s Jung suggested that his student D. Kalf study the technique of working with sand from M. Lowenfeld. After training, Kalf formulated the theoretical principles of Jungian analysis for working with sand. She also changed some conditions for working with sand (the size of the sandbox, moved the sandbox from the floor to the table, added a jug of water) and called this technique Sandplay(sand therapy).

According to Kalf, immersing a child in sand play provides him with an opportunity to get rid of psychological tension through the exteriorization of fantasy and the formation of a sense of connection and control over his inner urges. The symbolic expression of unconscious urges greatly facilitates the healthy functioning of the psyche. One of the main tasks of the psychotherapist in the process of sand therapy is to create a free and protected space in which the client feels that he is accepted. The psychotherapist becomes a "confidant" for the child, tries to understand him and convey to him his desire to help him. The therapist does not interfere in the process of creating a sand composition, does not direct it, his task is to follow the process.

Working with children, D. Kalf paid attention to the development of the child's ego and attached great importance to this development. Based on the work of E. Neumann, Kalf believed that the Ego begins to develop from birth through the unity of mother and child and reaches its peak in the second or third year of life.

First, the mother satisfies the needs of the child, bodily responding to his needs, feelings of hunger, cold, etc. The child, being in the conditions of mother's love, experiences absolute security. The mother experiences and integrates negative events both for herself and for the child. Thanks to this, the “I” turns into an “integrated I”, capable of experiencing negative experiences without harm to oneself.

After the first year of life, a sense of security develops into a relationship of trust. As a result of the successful passage of the early stages of development, the child should have a sense of wholeness at the end of the second year of life. Violation of the relationship with the mother leads to traumatization of the child and interferes with the normal functioning of the child's ego. The experience of conducting sand therapy with children and adults allowed D. Kalf to argue that in the process of building sand compositions, the stages of a person’s mental development identified in psychoanalysis are reflected.

In the process of sand therapy, the psychotherapist is faced with the task of creating special conditions that contribute to the emergence of a sense of unity in both participants, similar in nature to the harmonious relationship between mother and child. In this case, the client gets the opportunity to re-live the emotional relationship in the transference and achieve psychic integration.

One of the important qualities of a therapist that affects the effectiveness of assistance is a deep knowledge of the language of symbols, which are reflected in fairy tales, myths, religions and art. To successfully work with the sand therapy method, it is necessary to know the principles of symbol interpretation developed by Jung. Thanks to the work of D. Kalf, sand therapy became a possible component of the analytical process, a specific form of Jung's "active imagination" method.

Jungian sand therapy involves the use of two sandbox trays painted blue or blue on the inside. The size of the trays is 42.5 cm wide and 72.5 cm long, the depth of the trays is 8 cm (it is believed that such dimensions correspond to the field of perception). One tray is half filled with dry sand, the other with wet sand. Sandboxes are placed on tables.

A large set of miniature objects and characters is placed nearby on shelves and (or) in boxes, the size of which should not exceed 10 cm. A set of miniatures should include many figures, including symbolic, religious and ethnic objects characteristic of different cultures - this makes it possible to convey the contents of the collective unconscious. In addition to miniatures, various natural materials are used: stones, shells, cones, feathers, fabrics, paper, clay, etc.

During the session, the client is first asked to choose the figures that attract his attention and use them to build a composition in the sand. After that, he is asked to name his composition and tell a story about it. When working with a Jungian sandbox, the therapist rarely uses interpretation. This is due to the fact that psychological problems are resolved and comprehended at the unconscious-symbolic level.