Archetypal Emotions in Sandplay
Emotional states expressed in sandplay therapy often constellate healing and transformation. How do we make sense of the client’s emotional experience and our own responses as the witness holding them? Sometimes emotions are felt at the time of the session, other times, feelings seem vague or blocked. How do we explore the mysterious presence of unconscious, archetypal emotions therapeutically? This toolkit introduces the concept of an archetypal affect system proposed by Louis H. Stewart and developed further by Joan Chodorow. They describe Darwin’s innate affects of joy, sadness, anger, interest, fear, surprise, and grief, observed in archetypal forms and expressions multiculturally in dreams, movement, and art. We will observe a variety of emotional states and symbols in sandplay therapy to learn how the life affirming affects function in transforming the crisis affects and support individuation. The seven archetypal affects are Illustrated by case examples and a chart. Through interactive exercises, participants will gain a developmental perspective for observing emotions expressed during a session and within the images of the sand scenes.
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