Reece, Sachiko Taki. THE MOUND AS HEALING IMAGE IN SANDPLAY

Reece, Sachiko Taki
THE MOUND AS HEALING IMAGE IN SANDPLAY

Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 4, Number 2, 1995

KEY WORDS: mound, symbol, sandplay therapy, clinical example, negative animus, co-transference, schizophrenia, hara, psychotic process, oni, Japan, woman, negative mother complex.

ABSTRACT: This article explores the symbolic expressions of mounds in the sand. The author illustrates how creative moments develop after a mound or mounds appeared in a tray. The symbol of the mound is amplified in personal and archetypal dimension in three clinical cases. The first is that of infertility and chronic depression. The second and third cases are of young schizophrenic males who create sand pictures of “mud pies” and “Shogun’s mound”. All three clients improve after dramatic expression of the mound. The author also discusses cotransference in the hara (belly) level.