Articles and Books Recommendation

Title: Sand, Water, Silence
The Embodiment of Spirit: Explorations in Matter and Psyche

Author: Mary Jane Markell
Foreword: Lauren Cunningham

Therapists often encounter people who have suffered severe wounds or obstacles to emotional growth resulting in feelings of psychological fragmentation. Sandplay therapy, which combines the physical actions of play with observation and understanding through the use of imagination and symbolism, can be a useful treatment. When energies in the form of living symbols are touched upon in the personal and collective unconscious, healing can happen spontaneously within a person at an unconscious level. This book focuses on the theoretical aspects of sandplay therapy, presenting Dora M. Kalff¡¦s ideas and drawing out the significance of Kalffian sandplay for therapists. Building on Kalffian ideas of the integration of Eastern and Western thought in relation to healing through sandplay, the author explores theories in quantum physics and Eastern philosophies. Her theoretical insights are illustrated with clinical examples, and her book will be of great interest to sandplay therapists, arts therapists and those in related disciplines.

Mary Jane Markell was a Founding Member of Sandplay Therapists of America and a Teaching Member of the International Society for Sandplay Therapists. She studied for a number of years with Dora Kalff, both in the United States and in Switzerland.