Therapy Toronto Psychotherapy Definitions

Sandplay

Sandplay is a therapeutic modality that employs simple tools to enable people (particularly the young) to express themselves from the deeper levels of the psyche.

As the name suggests, sandplay uses sand and a sandbox as its active resource. The sandbox is supplemented by props like dolls, blocks, and other toys, and of course the ordinary utensils one uses in a sandbox.

Many, both young and old, have found sandplay to be therapeutically powerful. Children often use play to work through emotional issues. Whether they are enacting an inner drama with dolls or figurines, creating a structure out of blocks, or designing a scene out of miniatures, they bring themselves fully into the task.

Play is serious fun; the more serious the play, the more rewarding the experience. Sadly, as adults, we may forget how to engage in meaningful play, both for ourselves or with our children.

Sandplay provides an opportunity to rediscover the deep satisfaction gained from expressing and re-discovering oneself through play. Parents and chldren benefit from the sandplay of, and with, their youngsters.

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