About World Building Therapy
What is World Building Therapy?
World Building therapy is an expressive arts therapy with a basis in depth psychology. What does that mean!!!? Well… expressive arts therapies combine psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. While depth psychology explores the relationship between unconscious processes and our conscious experience. My approach and training are in the lineage of Sandplay which is heavily influenced by Buddhist principles such as being with one's inner world (thoughts, feelings, sensations) and allowing the experiences to arise and pass, and Jungian psychology with its emphasis on the integration of various aspects of one’s personhood, some that we may be less aware of (think thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, instincts, memories, etc.…)
World building, also known as the World Technique, developed by Lowenfeld or Kalff’s Sandplay therapy, is a self-directed, non-verbal, and experiential method that helps the participant tap into what is happening for them in the moment and get in touch with what matters. This technique was originally designed for children who could “play” their way out of being stuck and has been adapted for adults enabling adults to get in touch with other parts of themselves and feel more alive.
Visit Sandplay.org for more information.
Or Expressive arts therapies https://www.ieata.org/what-we-do
Does World Building Therapy help? And if so, how?
Many people have benefitted from this approach, often commenting on how it reached a part of themselves they weren’t able to access in other ways. Research shows that Sandplay has been shown to promote health, healing and emotional well-being. This is an evidence-based therapy. For research findings visit:
https://www.sandplay.org/journal/research-articles-journal-of-sandplay-therapy-jst/
With mental health therapies it is difficult to distill down what the one or many factors are that make the therapy successful. The thinking from a Jungian perspective about why World Building helps is that the psyche given the right conditions can heal itself. Much like when our skin is cut our skin can heal itself. As one works in the sand they are pulled towards certain symbols or figurations that mean something to the participant. During the process there are no intrusions from others. It is self-directed. The pace is set by the individual which enhances safety and enables greater freedom to explore. Lastly, the psyche can use its creative capacities to find resolutions. The experience of finding the answer oneself is often enormously fulfilling for the client giving them agency and confidence moving forward.
What do I do as a client?
As a client you are invited to touch the sand and see how it feels, you may want to manipulate the sand and move it different ways. Some clients stay here for a while, feeling the sand in their fingers and really getting in touch with their physical senses. When the client is done with that, I invite them to move around the room and see what objects catch their attention. Usually clients, at this point, find some objects and begin placing them in the sand, often in particular ways. What results is a 3-D picture or a world, hence the term World Building.
When the making is done, I invite the client to say a few words about what they made or the process of making it. Some clients like to engage and talk more and even alternate between talk therapy sessions and working in the sand while others prefer less words and like to work just in the sand. I find that checking in periodically about talking versus making a very therapeutical and important dialogue between you and I.
At the end of the session the figures are left in the sand as the client leaves the room. This is done to symbolize an ongoing connection between one's conscious self and one's subconscious, a connection that can continue to be developed and integrated for the betterment of one's life. The picture may be complete for the day, but the connection is open.