Sandtray Worldplay can be a way to process memories, dreams, experiences and goals in session with your therapist without (or in addition to) engaging in traditional talk therapy. It can be used with individuals of all ages and backgrounds, though tends to resonate most with clients who are open to connecting with their more child-like self, who are willing to let go of addressing issues purely on a cognitive level, and who are ready to follow their instincts and senses without needing to justify or intellectualize them.

When you come into the session your therapist may get to know you in a more traditional talk-therapy way before shifting into using the sandtray. You may be asked questions about your history, your experiences and your hopes for therapy. If you and your therapist agree sandtray may be a useful modality, from there you can jump right into the tray.

The first thing that will happen once you start with sandtray therapy is that you will be introduced to the tray. Your therapist may have different sizes and shapes of trays available, and may even have different colours of sand. Your therapist may suggest certain options (for example, for couples or dyads a bigger tray may be better, for someone who wants to center in on one topic a circular tray may help facilitate this) or may give you free reign to decide what you want to use.

Once you are set up with your sand and your tray, it is time to touch and feel the sand. Maybe you will want to add some water to explore how the texture changes, maybe you will want to make some piles to see how the sand falls and folds into itself. Using the sand for some can take them back to memories of playing on the playground, of being a child just allowed to experience and notice and feel as they go.

Next you will be invited to peruse and select figures from the collection in the office. Therapists tend to have carefully cultivated collections of figures to be used in the sandtray - you may find fantasy creatures, buildings and structures, images representative of various religions or holidays or experiences, you may find found items like rocks or buttons, you may find trees, animals, people, signs and more. Your therapist may have sky hooks (metal stands that can be used to lift figures off the ground as though they are floating or hovering) or smaller containers to section off your tray.

Once you have your figures, it’s time to position them in the world in your tray. Your therapist may have given you a prompt (“Can you make me a world that shows me what is on your mind?”) or may give you an open invitation to create whatever calls to you. Take your time, move things as you need, let your self experience the process as you go.

When your world feels complete there will be space to experience it with your therapist. You may discuss the world you created, the memories attached, the meaning you see. You may explore problems that are playing out or develop solutions, you may even zoom in on one aspect of the tray by building a second tray just focused on that area.

“You may find sandtray is exactly what you’ve been looking for, and that it lets you access a different part of your memories and experience new shifts in therapy that you have never been aware of before. ”

From there it’s time to discuss how to take the experience in the tray into your broader life. Has it brought your attention to things you weren’t aware of? Did it allow you to experience memories or thoughts in a different way? What kind of emotions did it evoke for you? What did you learn from this experience? What would you call this world?

Deconstructing the tray can be emotional for some clients, and so after you have reflected on your tray your therapist may offer to deconstruct it for you after you have left the room, or ask if you want to deconstruct it together. It’s also not uncommon to take a picture of the world before deconstruction to put in your client file, and if you’d like you can ask for a copy of the picture to keep and reflect on as well.

And with that, your sandtray session is done. You may take some time to debrief with your therapist after and decide if this is the intervention for you. If it feels like a good fit, you may continue a recreation of that same tray or begin with a new tray and new prompt in your next session. You may find sandtray isn’t for you, and that’s fine as well. But if you haven’t tried it before, you may find sandtray is exactly what you’ve been looking for, and that it lets you access a different part of your memories and experience new shifts in therapy that you have never been aware of before.

If you or someone you know would like to explore the ways that Growth & Wellness Therapy Center can help you on your journey, please contact our intake and administration team to set up a free consultation with one or more of our clinicians, a number of whom can practice sandtray with you.

What Does a Sandtray Worldplay Therapy Appointment Look Like?