Remember playing in a sandbox as a kid? You’d run to the park and dive into your sand world. You’d construct elaborate sandcastles, moats, and bridges. Your toys, dolls, and action figures were the heroes and villains of your sand stories.
Much like a sandbox, sand tray therapy involves using a sand tray and small figures to create a story in the sand. A client’s sand tray experience gives therapists a window into how clients think, feel, and relate to the world around them. Using a sand tray and talking about the experience can help clients express emotions and work through problems.
Sand tray therapy is often used in conjunction with solution-focused, Adlerian, Jungian, Gestalt, play, and family therapies. This type of therapy is often used with kids and teens, but is great for clients of all ages.
This guide will teach you the basics of how to use sand tray therapy in person, plus how to use Sandcraft, our virtual sand tray.
For a deeper dive into sand tray therapy, check out this manual:
Preparing to use the sand tray
Sand tray work often begins after you’ve gotten to know the client and built rapport. Topics such as the client’s significant life events, strengths, achievements, and relationships may guide your work.
Sand tray therapy can be particularly useful for clients with the following characteristics:
- limited verbal abilities
- difficulty accessing and expressing emotions
- a history of trauma
- a need for control
Set-up
To begin, you’ll need a sand tray or table, sand, and miniatures. It’s good to have a variety of objects. You can get started with a kit like this:
Allow your client to see the available objects and select the ones they would like to use. They can always collect more objects during the construction of their world. Remind them that there are no right or wrong ways to create their scene!
Using the sand tray
Instructions
Now it’s time for your client to begin their creation. Instructions can be open-ended or directive, depending on your client’s needs and what you want them to achieve in the session.
Instructions may look like the following:
| Open-ended | Directive |
|---|---|
|
|
Clients may choose to create a single scene or multiple scenes, play out a story, recreate a memory, work through a problem, and more.
Observations
As your client creates their world, you can offer reflections or ask questions. Allow your client to tell you when they are done.
Pay attention to your client's affect and behavior as they engage with the sand tray, such as how they interact with objects, where and how they place them, how they represent themselves, and anything else that provides insight, such as:
- facial expressions (smiling, frowning)
- laughing or crying
- interactions with objects and sand (gentle, careful, aggressive, destructive)
- resistance to using sand tray or certain objects
- communication (talkative, quiet)
Reviewing your client’s experience
Throughout the client’s sand tray work, consider what additional questions you would like to discuss and what you would like the client to reflect on. When the work is complete, invite your client to tell you the story of their sand tray. Help them draw connections between their sand world and their lives, including their emotions, relationships, and problems.
Offer reflections
Reflections are your observations of the client’s world. They prompt the client to explain things in their own words or modify observations with which they disagree.
- I notice that…
- At first you seemed _____________, but now you seem ____________.
- You added lots of…
- I saw that you…
Give compliments
Compliments validate the client’s work and self-expression.
- I’m impressed by…
- I like how you…
- You did a wonderful job with…
- I’m proud of you for…
- It’s interesting how…
- Great work!
Ask questions
Questions help you and your client explore their relationships, emotions, behaviors, thoughts, fears, and more:
- If your scene had a title, what would it be?
- How did it feel to create this scene?
- How do you feel when you look at your world?
- How would you make this world better?
- Are you in this scene? Where are you and what are you doing?
- What is [object] thinking or feeling?
- Is there a story you want to tell me about this?
- What is the relationship between [object] and [object]?
Build insight
After exploring the sand scene, help your client talk about their thoughts, feelings, and their sand creation. For example, if your client used a monster figure to represent a teacher, discuss how they feel about the teacher and how they are treated by them. If your client placed their family far away from them, discuss what this means and how your client feels about it.
Ending the session
To close your session, consider taking a photo of the sand tray or asking your client to draw the scene so they can take it home.
You may want to give your client a homework assignment to write about their sand tray experience. It may be beneficial to repeat the sand tray after a few weeks or months to discuss how the client’s world has changed over time.
