Patty Scanlon
(1960 – 2011)

"I tried to teach my child with books,
he gave me only puzzled looks.
"I tried to teach my child with words,
they passed him by unheard.
"In despair I turned aside,
'How will I teach my child?',
I cried.
"Into my hand he put the key,
'Come' he said, 'and play with me!' "
-Author unknown

About Sandplay

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
– Marcel Proust.

What is Sandplay?

Sandplay is an experiential therapy used with all ages: children, adolescents, and adults and families. Hundreds of miniatures are available to the client to create a picture, scene or world in the sandtray. The sandtray is a 20” x 30” square box with interior sides painted blue to symbolize water and sky.
Items available for use in sandplay are representative of all elements in the natural world. Thus, there are items from nature, buildings, animals, people of all races and cultures, and many miscellaneous items that can be used to symbolize different ideas for the client. The client collects items and constructs a scene in the sand. When finished, a story is told about the scene created.

Because sandplay is a non-verbal therapy, often things represented in the sandtray are out of consciousness to the client. Sandplay uses symbols for communication, which are more powerful than words alone. New insights are made available to the client, or resolutions to problems are found through the use of sandplay over time. Clients feel more empowered through scene creation: putting a problem in a three dimensional world changes the problem and/or its perception by the client. Sandplay is powerful therapy.

   
Photos of PlayJourneys’ sandtray and toy shelves for sandplay. (Sandtray is not a client image.)