Brugler, Barbara
FROZEN IN TIME: ICE AND SNOW IN SANDPLAY THERAPY

Barbara Brugler, Columbus, Ohio

Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 20 Number 2, 2011

KEY WORDS: ice, snow, trauma, hyperarousal, sandplay therapy, “freeze,” grief, death, symbol, Sandplay therapay, clinical example, child, girl, female, sister.

ABSTRACT: In sandplay therapy symbols have many uses in the sand, which can change their symbolic interpretation. In this paper ice and snow are explored differentiating the various ways they can appear in a sandplay process. The different meanings are discussed with examples for each. Interpretations include traumatic hyperarousal, coming to consciousness, balance, etc. A clinical case demonstrates how these appear in the process of a thirteen-year-old girl dealing with the death of her sister. A sandplay therapist must be able to distinguish which way a client is using a symbolic image in order to have an accurate understanding of a sandplay scene and process