Sugatt, Sally
THE STORY OF TIM
Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 12, Number 2, 2003
KEY WORDS: sandplay, clinical example, boy, child, adoption, orphan, hero.
ABSTRACT: Tim is the name chosen by a twelve-year-old, adopted boy struggling to find his place. His heroic journey, documented through his sand pictures traces his return to the break with his biological family soon after his birth. Tim’s psyche provided several manifestations of the hero archetype and with these allies Tim was able to battle monstrous forces deep within his psyche in search of an experience of the mother-child unity. He was then able to grieve and come to a place of belonging in his adopted family. This place of belonging and his experience of Self provided Tim a solid base from which to enter puberty, his next developmental challenge.