Kaplan, Jill
CHALLENGES TO CONTAINMENT IN SANDPLAY THERAPY WITH CHILDREN
Jill Kaplan, Menlo Park, California
Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 20 Number 1, 2011
KEY WORDS: integration and de-integration ,ego development, holding environment, free and protected space anxiety, ADHD, child therapy, attachment, Sandplay therapy, play, Boulder, Colorado, STA, 2010.
ABSTRACT: The author considers the tension between play that is free and play that is safe, and provides an exploration of issues of containment in sandplay therapy with children. Winnicott’s and Fordham’s theories of development are used to understand sandplay process through case examples. The process of a seven year-old boy with issues of self-regulation, diagnosed as ADHD, is presented. The sand provided him with a place to work through issues of control, attention, and underlying issues of relatedness and attachment. This paper was presented at Sandplay Therapy: Spanning the Great Divide, STA 2010 National Conference, Boulder, Colorado.