LaVon Bobo, MS, LMFT, CST-T

Sunnyvale, California, USA

Journal of Sandplay Therapy
Volume 6, Issue 1, 1997

Keywords

Neumann, sandplay therapy, clinical example, abuse, girl, uroboric, great mother, terrible mother, vessel, mother-child unity, ego-hero, self, treasure, objective psyche

Abstract

The natural evolutionary archetypal pattern that Erich Neumann proposes in The Origins and History of Consciousness is, in this article, used to help in the charting and understanding of a sandplay process. The stages of the process, from uroboric to hero, are discussed and demonstrated using the sandplay of children. The difficulty, or even, inability, of children who have experienced major trauma to make the journey to the hero stage is discussed with the resulting implications for the child’s sandplay process as well as the therapist’s realistic expectations.