Sandplay

A meta-analysis of sandplay therapy treatment outcomes.

“…With “generous attunement” from the therapist (Freedle, 2017 p. 195), sandplay activates multiple brain systems that regulate sensory input and the stress response system and provides the conditions necessary for healing at a preverbal, body-based level (Badenoch, 2008; Freedle, 2017, 2019a; Kalff, 2021). Sandplay allows traumatized people to safely access and reprocess traumatic memories while preventing retraumatization (Freedle, 2017; Freedle et al, 2020; Gil, 2010; Ramos & da Matta, 2018; Roesler, 2019). Emerging neuroimaging studies have found that sandplay therapy improved synchrony in frontotemporal networks of the brain, potentially facilitating the retrieval and reprocessing of memories with an optimal amount of cognitive control (Akimoto et al, 2018).…”

The effectiveness of sandplay therapy in treating generalized anxiety disorder patients with childhood trauma using magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine choline level in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and centrum semiovale.

“…In addition to these methods, Jungian Sandplay Therapy (SPT), a psychodynamic method, has also been found to be effective in treating a range of mental health problems in children and adults, including anxiety disorders (Chen et al, 2006; Foo et al, 2017, 2020; Freedle et al, 2020; Roesler, 2019; Song et al, 2016). Researches showed SPT is not only effective in dealing with anxiety but also trauma for both children and adults (Freedle, 2017; Freedle et al, 2020; Ramos & da Matta, 2018; Yeh et al, 2015).…”

“…The play aspect of SPT promotes free exploration, imagination, and neuroplasticity (Hudspeth & Matthews, 2016; Stewart et al, 2016). The multisensory and relational aspects of SPT help individuals to override the conditioned fear response, thereby providing individuals with trauma a means to safely access and reprocess their trauma (Freedle, 2017, 2019; Ramos & da Matta, 2018). In studies of SPT with patients experiencing brain dysfunction, SPT has been found to bypass cognitive limitations and activate aspects of the brain and psyche that could not be accessed by verbal therapies alone (Akimoto,1995; Freedle, 2007).…”