Sand Tray Therapy for Self-Discovery: Jungian Sandplay and Healing Through Creative Expression
Sand Tray Therapy and the Journey of Self-Discovery
Sometimes words aren’t enough. Emotions, memories, or inner conflicts feel too big or too hidden to vocalize. You’re not ready to talk about the whole thing, but you still need help for your mental health. As a neuro-affirming and trauma-informed therapist, I offer another option: the sand tray can become your tool for healing in session. Sand tray therapy, also known as sandplay therapy or sandplay counseling, invites clients to create miniature worlds using figures, symbols, and a tray of sand.
This simple yet profound process often helps people uncover parts of themselves they didn’t know were there. There are no bad parts of you, but there are exiled parts who deserve to be loved. Sand tray therapy interventions can foster self-acceptance and trauma integration.
The Jungian Roots of Sandplay
Sandplay therapy draws from the work of Carl Jung, who believed that symbols and images in the unconscious mind play a key role in personal growth. By building a scene in the sand tray, clients bring these inner symbols to the surface. In Jungian sandplay therapy, the tray becomes a safe, contained space where the unconscious can communicate without judgment or pressure.
The miniature worlds that take shape in the sand often reflect inner struggles fears that clients may not even be able to end. More importantly, sand tray creations reveal untapped strengths, internal resources, and deep insight. Symbolic scenes can shift over time, which signals me as the therapist that there may be progress, trauma integration, increased coping, a shift in focus, or new challenges.
How Sand Tray Therapy Works
During a sand tray therapy session, clients select figures and objects to place in the sand however they feel drawn. The therapist may provide a prompt but does not direct the process. It’s up to the client how they interpret the prompt and make their creation, while the therapist holds space with curiosity and care.
Sandplay therapy allows you to process at their own pace. Sand tray counseling is especially helpful for:
Processing trauma or difficult life experiences without having to “re-live” them in words.
Exploring spiritual wounds, religious trauma, or deep questions of identity.
Supporting children, teens, and adults with ADHD, OCD, or anxiety who may struggle to verbalize emotions.
Connecting with the unconscious to foster creativity, resilience, and healing.
Sandplay Therapy and Self-Discovery
What sets sandplay therapy apart is its ability to move past the critical, analytical mind and tap into deeper layers of the self. After exploring sand tray counseling prompts, clients are often surprised by the symbolic stories that emerge in the sand. Their stories that uncover both hidden pain and untapped strengths. From a Jungian sandplay perspective, this process of symbolic creation becomes a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind. Sand tray therapy provides a powerful way of bringing the unseen into awareness, allowing healing and self-discovery to take root.
Through sand tray therapy, people often discover:
New insights into old patterns.
Deeper clarity about personal values.
A sense of wholeness and connection to their authentic self.
A new outlook on chronic mental health concerns like treatment-resistant anxiety.
Is Sand Tray Therapy Right for You?
If you’ve ever felt stuck in talk therapy, or if you’re seeking a more creative approach to healing, sand tray therapy may offer a path forward. Whether it’s called sandplay therapy, sand tray counseling, or expressive sandplay, this method provides a gentle but powerful way to explore your inner child!
My Services
✨ At Deconstruction Counseling, I integrate sand tray therapy into work with clients navigating anxiety, trauma, faith transitions, and identity exploration. If you’re curious about how Jungian sandplay can support your own journey of self-discovery, I’d be honored to walk alongside you. Now accepting new clients! Book a 15 minute intro call here.
*Note from Morgan Piercy, LPC, NCC, ACT-PT. I am not currently certified as a Certified Sandplay Therapist. If this is important for you, please contact me directly and I can provide a referral!
References
Ren, Y., Jia, S., Liu, C., Li, S., & Long, Y. (2024). A systematic review of the effect of sandplay therapy on social communication deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 12, 1454710. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2024.1454710 Frontiers
Lee, S.-A., Kwak, K.-H., Ahn, J.-H., Kim, D.-H., & Lim, M.-H. (2023). Effect of group sand play therapy on psychopathologies of adolescents with delinquent behaviors: A randomized controlled trial. Medicine, 102(42), e35445. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000035445 PMC
Liu, G., Chen, Y., Ou, P., Huang, L., Qian, Q., Wang, Y., He, H.-G., & Hu, R. (2023). Effects of parent–child sandplay therapy for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder and their mothers: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 71, 6–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2023.02.006 PubMed
Chung, J.-K., Du, Y., Kim, D.-H., & Lim, M.-H. (2025). Intervention effects of group sandplay therapy on children at risk of smartphone addiction: A randomized controlled trial. Children, 12(9), 978. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12090978
Guo, J., & Li, D. (2021). Effects of image-sandplay therapy on the mental health and subjective well-being of children with autism. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 50(10), 2046–2054. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i10.7505