Sandplay: conflict and creativity embodied in the sand

Abstract

In this article, the author aims to reflect on the clinical practice of the analyst who works with images, focusing mainly on sandplay, “play in the sand”, a technique created by Dora Kalff in Switzerland and originally brought to Brazil by Fatima Salome Gambini. Having a chronicle by Rubem Alves (a Brazilian writer) as a starting point, the author defends the possibility and the need to broaden our horizons as therapists. She emphasizes the importance of doing the exercise of “playful eyes” by Jungian therapists – a term used by Rubem Alves in his chronicle. She highlights that one needs to make an effort to achieve a broad look, instead of remaining limited to the need for immediate symbol interpretation. For this, the analysts should invest in developing their imaginative capacity and must earn imaginative freedom in order to enable the creative contact of the patient with his/her unconscious images embodied in sand. The author argues that the Jungian therapist who works with images, through sandplay, clay, painting, or dreams, experiences a never-ending process of becoming a therapist. They are never complete, so they are in a constant training process, always learning from the images.