Cunningham, Lauren
APPROACH TO THE NUMINOUS IN SANDPLAY: A BRIDGE TO CREATIVITY
Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 18, Number 2, 2009
KEY WORDS: numinosity, child, boy, stealing, religion, spiritual attitude, Self, paternal function, symbolic attitude, children, development, clinical example, child development, symbolic life, separation, omnipotent fantasy, sandplay therapy, developmental threshold, ego functioning, differentiation, relatedness.
ABSTRACT: Many children come in to therapy when they are stuck and experiencing turbulence at a developmental threshold. This paper presents a sandplay case study of an eight year old boy that illustrates a child who connected to his deeper symbolic life as his ego functioning matured and he moved through the developmental thresholds of separation and differentiation. Magic and omnipotent fantasy were relinquished and replaced by a symbolic attitude that connected him to a sustaining spiritual source. His outer world expanded and blossomed as he became more related and engaged with others.