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Sandplay Therapists of America

The Sandplay Collection

The Sandplay Collection

Gretchen Hegeman

The words "sandplay collection" explore the meaning and the construction of the miniature collection used in sandplay therapy. They will not provide the reader with a starting gun and a road map. The point, rather, is the uncertainty, the intangibility, of the collection. There are endeavors with clearly marked starting points and for which the needed equipment can be listed. The start may be easy and the equipment makeshift or general, eventually evolving through wear and varying quality or type, to fit the individual. What is pursued in sandplay therapy, however, cannot be so clearly marked and listed. How the miniatures participate in the healing process of sandplay and the miniatures' efficacy in that process are intangible. There is no formula for creation. What is offered here is intended to be a foundation allowing the discovery of one's own miniature collection.

In the course of research, interviews were conducted with Dora Kalff, Martin Kalff, Kaspar Kiepenheuer, and Alexander Von Berghes. Additionally, the available sandplay literature was reviewed. Through the interviews and reading, it became evident that a delicate dance is created in the healing experience for the client. This involves the inner work which the therapist has done, the therapist's relationship to the collection, and the depth of understanding the therapist brings to the potentiality of the healing process.

A sandplay miniature collection is not simply a massing of important symbols. It is a reflection of the relation of the individual therapist to those symbols. A client/patient who looks upon your collection will be looking at both you and your soul. You will only confuse them if you are wearing someone else's clothes. As with the healing process and the effectiveness of the miniatures, there is no generic formula for creating the collection. When first learning sandplay, a frustrating discovery is that little information is published about what is needed to put together a miniature collection.

Even with a lively interest in Jungian psychology, learning what comprises it is difficult if one does not live where there are Jungian analysts or skilled sandplay therapists using sandplay. The little that has been written assumes access to an existing collection. This literature needs a reader well-versed in Jungian psychology. There is a description addressing basic collection content which has come from Dora Kalff, describing her playroom and miniatures:

The sandtrays are close by and on a shelf are hundreds of little figures made of lead and other materials: people - not only of various types and professions of modern times, but also figures from past centuries, Negroes, fighting Indians, etc. There are also wild and domestic animals, houses of different styles, trees, bushes, flowers, fences, traffic signals, cars, trains, old carriages, boats; in short everything which exists in the world as well as in fantasy. (1980, p 30)

What is it like to enter a sandplay room for the first time? How do we feel as we view shelves filled with figures, colors, forms, boxes and bowls filled with tiny treasures? Do certain figures stand out? ? Do we feel embraced or scared? Is there too much to look at or too little? Does the room feel cared for? Are the sandtrays empty or are figures in them? How do we experience the sand trays? Do they invite us? Do we like the feel of wet or dry sand? Do we have a sense of safety and a feeling of "recognition?" Do we unexpectedly see some piece of ourselves here?

The emotion of "recognition" is important to the sandplayer's experience and it is important that the sandplay room evoke this feeling. In looking at the figures one should experience recognition: a re-acquaintance with an old friend. The collection and the sandplay experience ideally obtain this; touching upon the still unconscious, healing potential inside. The miniatures, known or unknown, stimulate this possibility, each in its own way. Von Berghes speaks of this when he says:

The collection is a balance between the inner and outer world - connecting them. It is a connection between the patient and the therapist. It is my inner and outer world connecting to theirs. This is the transference. My world and theirs coming together. T hat is why it is important to take care of the collection. It needs to be cleaned and cared for because it communicates about the unconscious. After someone has made a sandplay I take a picture (after they've left) and then I say good-bye to the figures a nd thank them for the work they have done. I was introduced to this by Barry Williams, an American analyst who teaches the American Indian traditions." (Interview, Kusnacht, 8/89) [In Native tradition, when beginning or ending a ceremony one gives thanks to the spirits of the place, as well as all the creatures, seen and unseen who dwell in the place.]

Kaspar Kiepenheuer emphasizes that there are no rules about the collection. It needs to be a living thing. There is a danger that what is written down may become a recipe. It is vital that the collection be related to the therapist. Kiepenheuer feels this is a special concern in the United States because he believes that Americans feel a loss of their spiritual and historical roots. If we incorporate spiritual things into the collection without feeling our relatedness to them, the collection can feel, and in fact is, artificial. The collection must be a living organism which is connected to and full of the discoveries of our lives. Kiepenheuer likens th e sandplay collection to an autobiography. When he sees his figures he recalls the feelings, experiences, and travels connected with those figures. (Interview, Zurich, 8/88)

In her book, Images of the Self, Estelle Weinrib writes:

The natures of psychological healing and consciousness remain at heart mysteries. We can only conjecture about them and recognize that healing is not identical with consciousness as we tend to think of consciousness; that is, as an accretion of ego awareness. If ego consciousness were all, insight and awareness could be relied upon to change our emotional responses and behavior, but all too often they do not. (1983, p. 24).

Weinrib continues, stating that Neumann hypothesized that there are two kinds of consciousness: ego-consciousness evolving from the patriarchal level of the psyche; and a second consciousness called matriarchal, which is rooted in a much deeper, earlier, and more archaic level of the psyche. This matriarchal mode of consciousness has no willed ego-intention. It is subject to the unconscious and reflects unconscious processes, yet carries qualities of awareness, nonverbal comprehension, contemplation, conception, circumambulation, and realization. It brings forth a kind of psychological state of incubation or pregnancy. She quotes Neumann as describing it as "the regenerating power, a mysterium, out of nature." It is this level of consciousness that can be touched in sandplay.

All of these elements: the therapist (as container), the sand, the collection, the healing atmosphere in the room, and the client, work together in calling forth the possibility of healing within the client. Together, they create the "synchronistic moment." The final element is spontaneity. Dora Kalff spoke of this:

It is a mistake to think of sandplay as being the figures. It is important to touch the sand first and see what comes to you. (Lecture, Zollikon, 8/84)

A difficult aspect of these elements working together is that it is not possible to concretely express the relationship between the therapist and the collection. Kiepenheuer spoke of the relationship in this way:

The sandplay collection is a part of my life. When a child uses the miniatures it is like they are playing my violin. (interview, Zollikon, 7/89) He was speaking of relatedness: the recalling of the mother/child unity and a recognition of the security of that deep and early time. This relatedness is a vital aspect of the sandplay collection and the space in which it lives.

In the lectures I have attended there has been a sense of reserve in talking about the miniature collections. This comes from a fear that collections might become mechanized and identical rather than personal; that a view might develop that collections must have certain items. Dora Kalff expressed personal dismay that many people would include Japanese figures in their collections because they had seen she had them. (Lecture, Zollikon, '88) n Kalff continuously stressed that we know what the figures in our collection mean and that we have a personal relationship to these figures.

Once these issues are recognized, guidelines for starting a collection can be used. The individual therapist cannot be told what should be in his or her collection. Instead, the individual therapist explores, from a decided foundation, what will go into the collection. Each Sandplay collection is a unique, personal collection, communicating the psyche/unconscious of the therapist to the sandplayer. But th e therapist might profit from the experience of other therapists. Martin Kalff, for example, thinks that some collections show gaps when they don't have trees, religious symbols, no bridges, figures from the daily life or culture where the therapist lives . e (Conversation, Zollikon, 1988)

To provide a guideline for collecting miniatures, I would like to suggest the following areas or categories that a Sandplay therapist might explore in putting together a collection. The examples under each category are not exhaustive nor essential, but merely suggestive. This list can be further helpful as the therapist's relationship to sandplay deepens.

Sandplay Miniature Collection:

Nature

Earth: rocks, stones, volcanoes, mountains, semi-precious stones and crystals.

Ocean: coral, shells, seaglass, kelp, driftwood.

Plants: Trees of various types, including some of natural materials as well as plastic. Shrubs, sticks and branches, moss, lichen. Flowers and vegetables.

Animals: With both wild and domestic animals, it is helpful to have families (mother, father and babies) and to have animals in different poses.

Wild: African, Asian, Australian, American, world-wide birds, snakes, water mammals, fish and insects.

Domestic: Horses, cows, bulls, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats.

Prehistoric: Meat eaters and vegetarians.

Fantasy: Dragons, unicorns, monsters.

Human Beings:

Ordinary People: Workings, walking, sitting, playing.

* Families of similar proportions and children of different ages.

* Occupations: Farmers, doctors, nurses, firemen, clergy, athletes, policemen-- both men and women.

People through the ages and of different races and levels of society: Entertainers, royalty, soldiers, religious (one's own as well as others with which one is familiar).

Fantasy:

Wizards and witches, smurfs and dwarfs.

Different cultures with which the therapist is familiar including a sufficient number of figures to make a total scene.

Archetypes:

Figures, objects representing

Shadow:

Scary and ugly objects. Everything has a shadow. We can see shadow in how objects are placed and used.

Transportation:

Land, sea and air. Vehicles, military and work equipment. Historical forms of transportation.

Buildings:

Churches, schools, stores, institutions, different kinds of houses. Lighthouse, waterwheel, windmill. Old and new buildings. Castles. Structures and dwellings for foreign cultures in your collection.

Other Structures:

Bridges, fences, wells, towers.

Equipment:

Work, farm, household, musical instruments.

Furniture

Miscellaneous:

Mirrors, flags, umbrellas, feathers, candles with matches, bonfires. String, sculptey, pipecleaners and other building and construction materials.

Miniatures can be found everywhere. Becoming a sandplay therapist allows one the chance to visit all sorts of places like junk stores, the Goodwill, yard sales, rock shops, toy stores, airport shops and other places that you now have a reason to explore. Besides buying miniatures it is enriching to make special figures for our collections. Since most of us do not consider ourselves artistically gifted, we shy away from this. I suggest that you try simple things with Fimo or clay. Natural objects like feathers, stones, shells that you bring back from a walk are special, too.

A collection grows and changes as you do. Through your self- exploration you will discover your collection. It is less a question of what is in a collection than it is a question of what has gone into the building of the collection. What you seek to put on your shelves are pieces of the whole; of the physical universe and of the self.

References

Kalff, Dora (1980). Sandplay. A Psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche. Santa Monica: Sigo Press.

Weinrib, Estelle L. (1983). Images of the Self. Boston: Sigo Press

Gretchen Hegeman, MASW, has a private practice in Mercer Island and Seattle, WA

© 2001Sandplay Therapists of America/International Society for Sandplay Therapy. All rights reserved.

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