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See Dr. Shaia practice Sandplay therapy on PBS series, Boomers

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To deal with the powerful urges of the deep soul, a poetic attitude rather than a rational one is more effective…In a time of emotional struggle, it might be better to listen to a special piece of music than to consult an expert, and better to draw a picture of the situation than to try to figure it out.

In the arts we contemplate our world and have the chance no longer to be strangers to the deep self that is as opaque to reason as it is transparent to the imagination.

— Thomas Moore
from Original Self

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"The hands know how to solve a riddle that the intellect wrestles with in vain." — C. G. Jung "An intellectual understanding of holiness must become transformed by a means of a highly sophisticated ritual process into a visceral, somatic (body) understanding." — Peter Gold, from Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom, The Circle of the Spirit

As a meditation practice, Sandplay stands in the lineage of Tibetan Sand Mandalas, Christian Icons, and Navajo Sandpaintings.

As a psychology, Sandplay is the name of specific method of using a sandtray and figures. This particular use was developed by Dora M. Kalff, a Swiss Jungian analyst, friend of C.G. Jung, and Tibetan-Christian practitioner. Kalff refined the psychological work of Margaret Lowenfeld, who was the first to use a sandtray and figures in a contemporary setting.

Candle lit labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral Photo: Jeff Saward from labyrinthos.net

Dora Kalff found a bridge. As a Jungian analyst and practitioner of both Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity, she opened a ‘third way.’ Integrating eastern and western perspectives, and ancient spiritual practice with Jungian Analytic psychology, Sandplay is a creative, new synthesis.

In Sandplay an individual is witnessed while creating a picture, with or without using miniatures, in a shallow, rectangular tray filled with sand. Individuals may create in any way they wish. A person simply does whatever comes, following her or his own inner prompting. Like all meditation, the fruit of this practice grows with repetition and a patient ripening. Creating a short or long series of images in Sandplay is like a personal, interior, labyrinth walk. Guided by an inner (not an ego) knowing, an individual wanders into her or his own deep center and back out. With the journey comes a growth in awareness, personal meaning and renewed vitality.

For a detailed discussion of Sandplay, its history, principles and connection with meditation, see my article in Articles/Links.

Sandplay Retreats

~ Personal Work ~ Training ~ Consultation ~

Alexander is an internationally acclaimed teacher. Not simply a Teaching Member of the International Society of Sandplay Therapy and Sandplay Therapists of America, he is an innovative, master teacher who has lead more than two hundred trainings across the United States and abroad, and witnessed the journeys of countless men and women in the sand.

With the creation of the Blue Door Retreat, a new opportunity has opened. Now Alexander is able to provide personal work (psychotherapy and spiritual direction), training and consultation in a retreat-like (residential) setting of three to five days or longer. Living in the Blue Door Guest Quarters, you have an opportunity to design a personal retreat that best fits your need and facilitates a deepening of your self and learning. What makes this opportunity unique is not simply the beauty of Santa Fe and the Blue Door, but the gracious time to create and sit with your images through the nights and days of your stay.

For the regularly scheduled sandplay trainings and consultation times see the Blue Door Schedule.