| The author used heuristic research to embark on a journey of self-transformation and healing, confronting an internal resistance to play and the fear of expressing emotion in the presence of another. The question of this study is: What is the author’s experience of sandplay therapy, aging, and the transition into the second half of life, framed by the tenets of C. G. Jung’s essay “The Transcendent Function”? The process of transformation and changing one’s limited perspective is sometimes slow. By placing images in the sandtray in the presence of a psychotherapist, resistance to play was encountered along with a discovery of the autonomous presence of characters, attitudes, and strengths as they were embodied in the sandtray. The author discovered a lightening of the burden of a steel-encased ego and a process for self-healing, which can be shared with others personally and professionally. |
