Sandplay Therapy with a Student Suffering from Social Phobia

Keiko Ono

Abstract

The process of sandplay therapy with a female university student with social phobia is described and discussed. For this patient the images of the outer world created in sandplay scenes changed from aggressive to peaceful. The patient’s sandplay scenes depicted images of her inner world’s development; scenes evolved from a place where small animals lived, to where elves lived, and then to a place where young women lived, who then got married. After mandala sandplay scenes were created, the signs of aggression became manageable and contained with the creation of a safe inner space that could be characterized as the internalization of the free and protected space of sandplay therapy. As the patient found mental stability, she created sandtrays that symbolized rebirth. Her outer life too improved and she graduated from university.

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