Customer Reviews

Sandplay in Three Voices: Images, Relationships, the Numinous

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An essential intention of sandplay therapy is to provide a free and protected space in which the client can feel invited to expand his/her consciousness, open to the unconscious and engage with disturbing and difficult elements in the psyche. As Kay Bradway says in the introduction to Sandplay in Three Voices,"Writing this book has been an experience in self-exposure, in letting down our hair. We have let ourselves ask na?ve questions akin to the child's universal question :`Is there a Santa Claus?'"I as the reader, felt invited t that the authors are creating a free and protected space for the reader to engage in a relational and interactive process. The essential interactive and relational nature of Sandplay and depth therapies is demonstrated in an embodied/experiential manner in the format and content of Sandplay in Three Voices. The authors KayBradway, Lucia Chambers and Maria Chiaia, three-seasoned sandplay therapists from three generations, have created a deep and engaging teaching journey into the world of sandplay therapy and its relationship to other depth therapies. One quickly learns that sandplay is not a technique but a way of thinking about the entire environment of therapy. As stated by Maria Chiaia,"The whole experience of doing sand is a numinous experience, and this seems to have something to do with connecting with the silence, with the therapist and with the sand images"(p.179).

There are eight topics each introduced by an engaging, exploratory and gracious trialogue among the authors. These trialogues werei nitially taped, transcribed and then edited. I felt immediately brought into theauthors' process, as they thought, felt, and talked through concepts, theories and meanings together.

I highly recommend this book

The three authors offer refined reflections in each of the chapters allowing the reader to reflect not only on sandplay, but also on the depth of the human psyche. It is easy to feel the deep respect each of these very seasoned therapists has for the journey of healing and individuation as witnessed in sandplay. This book is a welcome addition in the field of Jungian Psychology and Sandplay.

This is a wise and wonderful book by three highly experienced sandplay therapists. As readers, we are invited into a mature, clear and deep process of inquiry into the direct experience of sandplay itself. Eight of the most important topics in sandplay therapy: Therapist; Silence; Child; Mother; Self; Shadow; Chaos and Numinous, are explored as the ground of our most basic therapeutic experiences. Within these chapters, the authors' focus on the transformative power of relationship, in it's fullest sense. What is especially intriguing to us about the form of the "trialogue" in Sandplay in Three Voices is the richness and depth of understanding that is evoked in these conversations of three. This is a new and exciting book in the field of sandplay therapy. We highly recommend it.

If you've wondered what sandplay was all about from a Kalffian/Jungian perspective, these three women have a lot of wisdom to impart. Beyond "beginning sandplay" texts which provide a basic introduction to sandplay, this volume explores the essentials of sandplay while also going into depth about salient topics such as silence, the numinous, Self, and chaos. Based on conversations between these three elders of sandplay, similiarities and differences have been teased out to create a rich tapesty of the potential growth and healing inherent in sandplay. I highly recommend this book.