Pacha Mama Sandplay
A free and protected space for healing and growth.
Sandplay: A Cross-Cultural, Non-Directive Psychotherapy
Sandplay therapy is a cross-cultural, psychodynamic, non-directive, and multi-sensory psychotherapy method used with both children and adults.
Developed by Dora Kalff in the 1950s, it draws from the theories of Carl Jung and Margaret Lowenfeld, as well as Eastern traditions.
The therapy involves creating scenes in a sand-filled tray using miniature figures, allowing individuals to represent their inner world nonverbally.
This method provides a "free and protected space" where personal expression, often bypassing verbalization, enables individuals to access and process deeper levels of consciousness.
The symbolic, nonverbal expression fosters profound emotional healing and self-awareness.
Sandplay and psychological growth
Jungian sandplay therapy fosters psychological growth by creating a "free and protected space," or "temenos," where children can freely express themselves without direction.
Rooted in Carl Jung’s theories, the therapy aligns with the process of individuation—the integration of conscious and unconscious elements, essential for psychological development.
Jung believed the psyche has a natural capacity to heal itself when the right conditions are provided.
Sandplay activates deep healing by externalizing unconscious processes through symbolic, three-dimensional expression, akin to a "waking dream" experience.
This process bypasses the limitations of language, allowing clients to express complex emotional experiences that words cannot capture.
The symbolic expression leads to significant emotional well-being and transformative experiences, similar to dreamwork, by bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness.
Sandplay for healing trauma
Sandplay therapy is an effective modality for children, young people, and adults experiencing emotional difficulties such as trauma, loss, or separation.
Traumatic memories are often stored in the brain's lower regions (limbic system and brain stem) as implicit memories, which verbal communication alone may not fully access.
Sandplay emphasizes unconscious and intuitive expression, allowing individuals to explore conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious material.
This process bridges emotions with language, promoting the integration of lower and upper brain regions, which is essential for trauma healing.
As Robert Aikin from the Trauma Center explains,
"Children and adolescents who experience complex trauma are often unable to give voice to what has happened to them. [Sandplay] therapy allows these clients to process traumatic material through an active, non-verbal, sensory experience that provides a safe, contained space. The use of the sand tray creates distance from the trauma, provides an 'as if' character to the processing, and gives control of the therapeutic process to the client."
Through sandplay, clients can engage with their trauma in a non-verbal, sensory way, enabling deep healing and integration of their experiences.
Evidence for sandplay therapy
Over the past 15 years, research on sandplay therapy has grown significantly, with studies showing its effectiveness in treating various mental health issues.
Roesler (2019) reviewed 16 RCTs and 17 effectiveness studies, finding improvements in social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes, especially for trauma, attachment, anxiety, and aggression.
Wiersma et al. (2022) conducted a meta-analysis of 40 studies, confirming large positive effects on emotional and behavioral issues, including ADHD. Both studies support sandplay therapy as an evidence-based treatment, particularly for trauma.
Unlike sandtray therapy, which involves more therapist interaction, sandplay therapy is non-directive, allowing unconscious material to surface for deeper healing.
The distinction between sandplay and sandtray therapy highlights the unique therapeutic stance in sandplay, which emphasizes the importance of the unconscious and the natural healing process of the psyche.
About Pacha Mama
I offer a highly specialised sandplay therapy service for children & young people who have experienced stressful or traumatic life events. I also work with adults using Sandplay.
Pacha Mama translates to “Mother Earth” and derives from the ancient Quechuan language of the Incas.
In Inca mythology, Pacha Mama was the goddess of the Earth and revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes mountains in Peru. In other cultures, Pacha Mama is referred to as Gaia. She oversees life by nourishing and protecting its inhabitants, her children.
In sandplay, the sand has the qualities of the Earth, including those of the Mother or Womb. Often children and adults will simply wish to spend time touching, sculpting or sprinkling sand - and this may be experienced as profoundly moving.
Pacha Mama also reminds us that sandplay can be a way for us to connect with what is divine within us and allow this to shine through.
“When we undertake this deep and transformational form of therapy we are also connecting in a very powerful and wonderful way with an unfathomable and profoundly spiritual part of ourselves, which is radically life changing, and which can affect and alter our relationships both to ourselves and to those around us.” - Stagg (2017, p. 269)
Unlike traditional therapy or coaching, this process does not attempt to diagnose, fix or cure.
Rather, it is a process of increasing awareness of each individual’s different aspects, discovering any lost or wounded parts, offering them the care & healing they may need, and shedding what no longer serves, so as to grow to become more and more oneself.
The intention of this work is humble yet it is profound: to come to know oneself at the deepest level, in order to be guided by our deepest truth.
“A life truly lived constantly burns away veils of illusion, burns away what is no longer relevant, gradually reveals our essence, until, at last, we are strong enough to stand in our naked truth.” ~ Marion Woodman
The therapeutic relationship
Nurturing relationships and play are fundamental to the successful development of a healthy, functioning brain, particularly in children and young people who have experienced difficult or adverse childhood experiences.
The therapeutic relationship between the child and the therapist, along with the therapeutic process itself, can play a crucial role in supporting the healthy growth of the child or young person’s developing brain.
This relationship not only fosters the development of a strong sense of self but also promotes the formation of healthy attachment patterns and long-term resilience.
By providing a safe, supportive environment, therapy can help to mitigate the impact of early adverse experiences and contribute to the child's overall psychological and emotional well-being.
“Most children, and the children inside the adults who are suffering, need this simplicity of being in the presence of another human who sees, hears, and mirrors back to them the uniqueness of who they are and who allows their soul’s desires, their essential nature and being to be present. Our soul’s connection to spirit and to each other is fragile and can be easily crushed. In our work we must attend to the tiny tendrils that attach to us and to the formation of new buds that need our care and nurturance, allowing love to develop out of a shared silent connection.” – Maria Ellen Chiaia (2020)
I believe that being fully present with a child or young person is essential for helping them navigate difficult emotions and release limiting beliefs, allowing them to embrace their unique worth.
As a mindful therapist, I focus on creating a safe, supportive space for them to explore their inner world through person-centered, relational counselling.
My approach emphasizes unconditional positive regard, empathy, authenticity, and non-judgmental acceptance.
Informed by trauma-specialist models and humanistic theories, I incorporate Dan Hughes' PACE, Bruce Perry's neurosequential model, Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing, Dan Siegel's work, and John Gottman’s Emotion Coaching.
I also apply SAMHSA’s six trauma-informed principles—Safety, Trust, Empowerment, Collaboration, Peer Support, and Cultural Sensitivity—ensuring my practice is responsive and healing for each child’s unique background and experiences.
About my Sandplay training
As a Registered Sandplay Therapist (STR) with the Association for Sandplay Therapy (AST), I practice Jungian sandplay in the tradition of Dora Kalff, focusing on psychodynamic methods to help children and adults explore unconscious material.
I believe that working therapeutically with children and young people is my calling in life - it is such an honour to become a steward and keeper of the stories I see and hear in the sacred space of the sandplay room, and it is my privilege to support clients to find a greater sense of wholeness through the process of sandplay.
Practicing sandplay is a sacred responsibility, which demands reverence and humility. I respect the guiding principles of the Association for Sandplay Therapy, which are to work with loving kindness, clarity of mind, heart and action, and humility in the practice of sandplay therapy.
I am now honoured to represent the AST’s Council of Mentors as a council member. The AST is an international professional organisation dedicated to the highest quality training and registration of mental health clinicians as sandplay therapists.
There is an Inuit word that embraces the idea of holding a sacred space. The word is Isumataq. One of the translations of this word is, “The keeper of the sacred space in which wisdom is revealed.” I believe that practicing Sandplay therapy is a sacred responsibility, which demands reverence and humility.
Before training to be a sandplay therapist I completed two Master’s degrees in Psychology, which included learning the skills and techniques involved in different counselling approaches.
If you are a parent or carer and would like to find out more about sandplay therapy, please click on the sandplay therapy button above.
A Sandplay Room
The healing power of Sandplay with adults
My work aims to guide individuals to align with their deepest inner self, to trust their own path, and to find healing within themselves.
Whereas in talking therapy a person can be distracted away from themselves, in Sandplay, the person is repeatedly “thrown back upon him or herself” (Kalff, 2003: viii) as if a walker on a pilgrimage in search of their own meaning and purpose – their divinity.
The process of Sandplay can support individuals in various transformative ways:
Reveal trauma wounds (the "shadow") for compassionate healing.
Explore life myths, uncovering recurring themes and patterns.
Soften the critical egoic mind, shedding self-limiting beliefs.
Shift away from people-pleasing and emotional caretaking patterns.
Encourage slowing down to tune into one’s true nature and rhythm.
Align with the inner self and soul, connecting with inner beauty and magic.
Restore a sense of ease by "returning home" to one’s authentic self.
Deepen spirituality, tapping into the Divine Feminine and the healing power of nature.
Honor the psyche's guidance and life’s deep mysteries.
Embrace vulnerability and uncertainty with less fear, surrendering to greater wisdom.
Accept life’s challenges as part of a soul journey toward wholeness.
Release burdens that no longer serve, creating space for healing.
Transcend internal struggles, connecting with both healthy feminine and masculine energies.
Cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships.
Foster self-trust and self-compassion, forgiving past flaws and mistakes.
Find meaning and purpose without striving or feeling incomplete.
Discover how to serve the world by embracing unique gifts.
Facilitate alchemical transformation, finding the "gold" already present within.
Although I draw from a wide range of psychological perspectives in my work, I work predominantly from a Jungian (or Depth) perspective, along with Transpersonal & Compassion Based approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
ACT is a ‘third-wave’ cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approach, that focuses on helping people accept difficult thoughts and feelings, whilst guiding them to commit to values-based actions. I have found these approaches to be especially helpful for anyone with a background of trauma.
Much of my interest in these approaches comes from living through my own profound and humbling adverse experiences and finding meaning in a more soulful and spiritual path.
This has led me to step away from a ‘diagnosing/ labelling/ treating’ ‘clinical therapy’ paradigm, so as to honour the profound mystery of our own capacity for healing from within.
