What is Mindfulness Based Sandtray Therapy?

Mindfulness Based Sandtray Therapy is a bodymind approach that integrates Sandtray theory with mindfulness meditation principles, which nurture conscious awareness of a person's whole-life experience. The benefits of mindfulness meditation have been widely researched: an important instance is the work of Jon Kabat Zinn at the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Current research literature on how the brain functions in regard to trauma and attachment is strongly indicating the psychotherapeutic value of a practice that develops somatic awareness and affect modulation, by using techniques that access the intuitive wisdom that is informed by the body. These advances of understanding in the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology are presented in the writings of Badenoch, Ogden, Briere, Levine, McFarlane, Orloff, Schore, Shapiro, Siegel, Perry, van der Kolk, James, and others.

This body-mind approach is concerned with being fully in the present moment. (Gendlin,Stern, Tolle) It allows use of cognitive and behavioral perspectives, but takes the experience to a deeper and more holistic level of healing. In Mindfulness Based Sandtray Therapy, the therapist-client relationship, which is key to any successful psychotherapy, is grounded on respect for the conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious factors of each lived experience as it unfolds.

In the sandtray process, the client who has made a sand picture is invited to "be with" it silently, and to allow its significance to surface. The therapist may ask a question or offer a reflection, not interpreting the picture, but rather listening to the unique meaning that it has for the client. It might be described as a blend of dream work and art therapy. Clients are welcome to do sand trays as desired. Some people do a tray weekly, others bi-weekly or once a month. The sequence of the trays is important in that it provides a picture journey of the client's therapy process. Sandtray work can be beautifully combined with Focusing, a technique for very deep, transformational work that was developed by Eugene Gendlin.