A Case Study of Sandplay Therapy for a Boy in an Elementary School with Social and Emotional Difficulties

Abstract

This study explored the internal world through sandplay therapy for an elementary school boy who had social and emotional difficulties of poor peer relations, anxiety and withdrawal. This study examined the changing processes of sandboxes, how a boy expressed his internal world by the content themes in sandplay according to Turner (2009) based on analytical psychology and sandplay theories. There were 72 sessions. The initial phase was 1-6 (The beginning of war) expressing confusing wars as the start of a long internal journey. The intermediate phase was 7-55 (Struggle), dividing by phase I 7-18 (Hero’s fight I), phase II 19-36 (Hero’s fight II), phase III 37-48 (Seeking for a male identity), and phase IV 49-55 (Centering). The client identified himself as a teenaged hero and expressed the conflict between good and bad, between death and rebirth and struggled for seeking treasures in the fight of heroes. He found identity as a male by finding a sense of existence, establishing order in the middle of confusion, and expressing strong and rational masculinity. The final phase was 56-72 (The winner of the struggle). In the fights repeating, he expressed an adventurous and positive male energy such as racing, speed contests and a union in the opposites of hero and heroine as well as the birth of a new conscious. This study provides a basic knowledge of educational guidance in school and counseling fields by expanding the understanding of a boy’s unconsciousness.