Sandplay therapy is a type of play and art therapy first developed by a Swiss psychologist, Dora Kalff in her therapeutic work with children in the 1950s.

Children often express themselves, relationships with others, and their world through their play rather than through words. Therefore to help children to deal with their psychological issues, research has shown play therapy to be highly effective for children 3-12 years old over a wide range of problems, including social, emotional, behavioral, and learning (Bratton et al., 2005).

It is because instead of talking, children can play out their issues and developing solutions in the play process.

The Sandplay therapy process

A client is introduced to the sandplay therapy room with two sandtrays and a collection of toys and figurines.

The client can play sand and any figurine within the limit of the sandtray. At the end of a 30-45min session, the client can finish the session by creating a sand picture in the sandtray with or without toys.

The therapist would record the process and photos of the final sand picture are recorded. The symbols and psychological processes underlying the creation of the sand picture and implications for daily life would be reviewed with the client/parents from time to time.

How can Sandplay Therapy help children & adults?

The sand in a sandtray is the medium where client can freely express themselves, in a three-dimensional way, through the sense of touch and sight, facilitating mind-body integration, as the sand can be shaped and molded by the hands.

The therapeutic effect takes place as, and the child produce the sand picture under the witness of a supportive therapist  ideally administered by trained therapist across a number of sessions (from 1 to 50 sessions) over 0.5 ?3 years.

Sandplay therapy is considered effective for alleviating emotional disturbances, especially for subtle but long-lasting depression across different ages (Kalff, 2003/1980), from children (Turner, 2005) to elderly population (Akimoto, 1995; Griffith, 2005).

The hands can use this venue to follow bodily feelings and express subtle emotions that has difficulty to find expression with words or by the rational mind.

Research evidence on efficacy of Sandplay therapy for children’s emotional -behavioural issues

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