Using Sandtray as a Creative Supervision Tool

Group Supervision Using Sandtray: A Protocol with Counselors-in-Training

“…Sandtray therapy was first developed by Margaret Lowenfeld (1979) when she began using sand and miniatures as a therapeutic intervention to work with children. Since then, clinicians and supervisors in the counseling field have used sandtray therapy as a crosstheoretical and creative intervention that allows individuals to process their experiences through the use of miniature figures in the sand (Homeyer & Sweeny, 2023;Perryman et al, 2021). Since sandtray therapy requires great clinical competence, researchers have developed the Sand Therapy Competencies that provide best practices and centralize the importance of knowledge, skill, attitudes, and professional engagement (Hartwig et al, 2023).…”

“…Clients are asked to choose miniature figures to place in the sand to create a metaphor to represent their inner world (McCormick et al, 2021). These metaphors can help clients understand their environment, feelings, conflicts, and barriers that may be difficult to express in words (Perryman et al, 2021).…”

“…When sandtray is used in supervision, supervisees can experience catharsis and validation (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2023;Perryman et al, 2021), increased self-awareness and insight (Lev-Wiesel, 2004), and reflect on their internal struggles through verbal and nonverbal means (Chong, 2015). Stark et al (2015) examined the experiences of counseling practicum students after completing a solution-focused, brief sandtray supervision experience.…”

“…A supervisor's role is layered and multi-faceted to ensure best practices within the foci of supervision while giving supervisees the support they need to confront clinical challenges (Perryman et al, 2021). Supervision models provide supervisors with a theoretical framework to meet the goals of supervising a new counselor.…”

“…Moreover, supervisors have reported that using creative techniques in supervision has enabled the most salient supervision issues to emerge with increased clarity, even when supervisees consciously or unconsciously conceal them (Harris et al, 2023). While there are numerous approaches to incorporating creativity into the supervisory process, using sandtray in supervision has emerged as a developmentally-aligned way to promote personal and professional growth for counselors-in-training (Perryman et al, 2021). The following sections provide an overview of sandtray therapy as an expressive modality for counseling, counselor education, and counselor supervision.…”