Sandplay and Addictions: Patterns of Archetypal Initiation

Lydia S. Lennihan

Abstract

This article investigates the possibility of using sandplay with addicts and alcoholics, who often suffer from complex post-traumatic stress disorder as well as ruptures in early childhood attachment. New and ongoing research on emotional development and trauma indicates that there are neurobiological components of addiction that involve the ability to self-regulate. Early childhood trauma may impair the developmental growth of structures in the brain, especially those involving self-regulation. This paper explores the possibility of using sandplay as a tool to help heal the trauma in the brain, both developmentally and emotionally.

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