Mental health clinicians' perspectives: The use of sandplay with traumatized children

This study explored the current perceptions of licensed mental health clinicians on the use of sandplay with traumatized children. The participants completed an online questionnaire consisting of 20 questions related to the use of sandplay by mental health practitioners. Descriptive statistics as well as a thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the questionnaire responses. The study indicated that mental health practitioners perceive sandplay as an effective treatment modality with traumatized children. The thematic analysis yielded six themes: mental health practitioners are making modifications to traditional Jungian sandplay in order to meet the needs of their clients, clinicians utilize sandplay in conjunction with play therapy and expressive therapy, the importance of a non-directive approach in sandplay, clients do not need to express their trauma verbally to heal, sandplay is a form of a nonverbal trauma narrative, and sandplay taps into sensory memory which facilitates the healing process. The study also suggested there is a lack of training and supervision in sandplay therapy for mental health practitioners. Furthermore, suggestions were made in order to make sandplay more easily accessible to traumatized children.;Key words: sandplay, trauma, perspectives, PTSD, play therapy, child.