Nicohwilliam

Assignment: 200 words APA format, cite references

What do you think of Dr. Green's Jungian approach to working with children? What do you notice about the techniques he uses with the children he is working with?

For this assignment, you have to watch Jungian Play Therapy and Sandplay with Children: Myth, Mandala, and Meaning. I wasn’t able to share the video but was able to share the transcript of the video below.

Jungian play therapy and sandplay with children: Myth, mandala, and meaning. . (2013, Jan 01).[Video/DVD] Microtraining Associates. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/audio-video-works/jungian-play-therapy-sandplay-with-children-myth/docview/1822673731/se-2

Jungian Play Therapy and Sandplay With Children: Myth, Mandala, and Meaning

Publication info: Alexandria, VA: Microtraining Associates. Jan 1, 2013.

ProQuest document link

Abstract:

Jungian Play Therapy and Sandplay with Children delivers an overview of play therapy from the Jungian - or analytical - perspective and instructs how to incorporate sand play with children into clinical practice. The video details the need for practitioners to develop a “safe and protected space” to allow children to individuate, becoming whole psychological individuals.

Dr. Green demonstrates two primary techniques for strengthening children’s emotional connections: modeling a symbolic attitude and executing well-timed verbal interpretations. He then discusses key terms and constructs, and illustrates microcounseling concepts directly related to Jungian play therapy.

In the first case demonstration an adolescent creates mandalas and uses expressive art therapy techniques to share her emerging personality and internal feelings. In the second demonstration, an elementary school-aged child freely creates a fairy tale through sand play, illustrating the archetypal symbols and myth that correlates to her current psychological development. Dr. Green concludes with an analytical summary of how images and the associated feeling tones imprinted upon the psyche through sand play, symbols, mandalas, and fairy tales can harness archetypal energy created within the therapeutic dyad. Through non-judgmental support and a caring therapeutic relationship, a child’s psyche produces the symbols toward self-healing.

Full text:

[00:00:00][sil.]

[00:00:10] ALEXANDER STREET PRESS

Microtraining Associates, Inc.

888-505-5576

[email protected]

www.emicrotraining.com

[00:00:15] Microtraining Associates is an Imprint Of Alexander Street Press

800-889-5937

703-212-8520

[email protected]

www.alexanderstreet.com

[00:00:20] Access this video, plus hundreds of other counseling videos, through Alexander Street Press' on-line streaming collection: Counseling and Therapy in Video Go to http://ctiv.alexanderstreet.com for a free 30-day trial.

[00:00:25] Microtraining Associates Presents

[00:00:30] Jungian Play Therapy and Sandplay with Children: Myth, Mandala, and Meaning

Eric J Green, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S

Associate Professor, UNT Dallas

Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins University

[00:00:35] Part 1

Introduction to Jungian play Therapy

[00:00:40] Eric J. Green, Ph.D

A. Introduction

i. Dr. Eric Green's Bio

ii. Overview of Video Project

B. Overview of Jungian Play Therapy

i. Dr. Carl Jung, Theory, & Concepts

Eric J. GreenHello, and welcome to Jungian play therapy [00:00:45]and sand play with children. My name is Eric Green. [00:00:50]I am a registered play therapy supervisor, a credential conferred for the association for play therapy, [00:00:55]as well as a licensed professional counselor supervisor in Texas. [00:01:00]I work full time as an associate professor of counseling [00:01:05]at the University of North Texas at Dallas, where I teach graduate courses [00:01:10]and supervise students in clinical practice in play therapy and transformative school counseling. [00:01:15]I also maintain a part time summer teaching schedule [00:01:20]at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, [00:01:25]where I coordinate the annual Hopkins play therapy institute and teach courses in theories [00:01:30]and Jungian play therapy. Given my interest, background [00:01:35]and training in Jungian cycle analysis, child analysis, sand play and play therapy, [00:01:40]I regularly present at the association for play therapy [00:01:45]and the American Counseling Association Annual Conferences. [00:01:50]The professional role I am most wedded to is my clinical work with children and their families. [00:01:55]As the director of the University Counseling Clinic here at UNT, Dallas, [00:02:00]I see clients on a part time basis [00:02:05]and supervise students who utilize plays therapy as their treatment mortality with children. [00:02:10]My social justice work with children traumatized [00:02:15]after natural disasters has been featured in an hour long CNN cable television news special [00:02:20]"Children of the Storm." [00:02:25]In 2013, I have two books coming out, the hand book of Jungian play therapy [00:02:30]by the Johns Hopkins University press, and second is integrating expressive arts [00:02:35]with play therapy by John Wiley. [00:02:40]This video provides an overview of play therapy from a Jungian or analytical perspective [00:02:45]as well as the process practitioners can follow [00:02:50]to competently incorporate Jungian play therapy and sand play therapy [00:02:55]with children into their clinical practice. The basic assumption underlying analytical play therapy [00:03:00]is that a skilled practitioner facilitates a consulting room [00:03:05]that is a safe and protected space. So children's individuation process activates. [00:03:10]In other words, the child becomes a whole psychological individual, [00:03:15]where the psyche is contained and not split. [00:03:20]This video will demonstrate the two primary analytic techniques. The child analyst employed to activate [00:03:25]and strengthen children's emotional connections to their rich interior life, [00:03:30]number one, modeling a symbolic or analytic attitude [00:03:35]that children eventually internalize. And number two, [00:03:40]executing well timed verbal interpretations, more about that to come later. [00:03:45]Also, the video cover, central Jungian theoretical terms [00:03:50]and constructs in a straight forward non-complicated manner [00:03:55]which inform and provide the under guarding for the Jungian play therapy process. [00:04:00]The second part of the video includes clinical demonstrations [00:04:05]with clients engaged in play therapy from an analytical perspective. The first case demonstration [00:04:10]involves an adolescent named Mahdiyyah, who is engaged in play therapy, [00:04:15]and she creates Mandalas and engages in other types of expressive art interventions [00:04:20]to communicate parts of her emerging personality. [00:04:25]The second case example illustrated involves a six year old female Annabelle, [00:04:30]who is engaged in sand play. In this case, [00:04:35]the child self generates symbols or signs that point to areas within the psyche [00:04:40]that directly communicate the connection between the interior and exterior rules. [00:04:45]From both cases, the viewers will notice that psychotherapeutic healing occurs [00:04:50]when analyst and their clients traverse the psychological landscape, [00:04:55]and identify and embrace the unique personal mythology out of which the child is currently functioning. [00:05:00]Finally, the video will conclude [00:05:05]with my brief summary of how symbols, recurring signs, trans-cultural myths, fables, fairy tales, [00:05:10]fantastical legends, inner generation traditions [00:05:15]and worlds, or sand pictures are created to harness archetypal energy [00:05:20]out of which healing occurs. [00:05:25]For identifying ones own myths and choosing the path to follow ones bliss. [00:05:30]Children realize they are not alone in the psychodynamic underworld. [00:05:35]As the alchemists hundreds of years ago taught us, when the flames turned white, [00:05:40]the charred ashes of non-precious elements transmute into precious psychological gold. [00:05:45]Swiss psychologist Carl Jung's analytical theory has not traditionally been viewed in terms [00:05:50]of its application to children, but seen primarily [00:05:55]as a erudite psychology for the adult. Specifically, Jung's theory is known [00:06:00]for its focus on the second half of adult life, where he hypothesized individuation [00:06:05]or becoming a psychological individual occurs. [00:06:10]However, Jung was concerned with a child as a metaphorical image or archetype, [00:06:15]and focused on the psychology of the child or the symbol and myth inherent [00:06:20]within the universal image of the childhood. [00:06:25]The archetyper image of the child is seen throughout Jung's early writings, especially in the theory of psycho analysis [00:06:30]and psycho conflicts in a child. [00:06:35]In these writings, Jung reveals his views of childhood as being a dependant upon caretakers. [00:06:40]Through association test he demonstrated the far reaching effects [00:06:45]of identification between caretakers and children, [00:06:50]with a child's life almost completely shaved by the unconscious or inner world of his parents. [00:06:55]Most of Jung's writings on children stemmed [00:07:00]from his analysis of adult patients remembering their dreams from childhood. [00:07:05]He distilled that the much of the underlying psychological content in these dreams from childhood [00:07:10]was related to parents' psychopathology, or their sickness. [00:07:15]It was not until much later in his studies that he began the process [00:07:20]of applying his notion of archetypes to childhood. Eventually though, [00:07:25]his theory became vulnerable to duration. Specifically, critics were discontent [00:07:30]with the soundness of Jung's esoteric theory unless archetypes could be observed in childhood [00:07:35]and throughout the life spent. And not just exclusively [00:07:40]in the later part of adulthood. For Jung the child is not referred [00:07:45]to the human child but essentially refers to the universal symbol [00:07:50]or archetype of the child, the archetype that's found in myths, fairytales, dreams and fantasies. [00:07:55]Jung was not interested in the child's development necessarily [00:08:00]but more in the myth making function of the psyche during the childhood. [00:08:05]Jung found that the archetype of the child appears in various motives. [00:08:10]However, an archetype by its definition cannot be directly described. [00:08:15]If I were to describe them, we could use terms such as the eternal child, the divine child, [00:08:20]the child of chaos. Wanting to explore [00:08:25]the analytical process with children, Jung encouraged Dora Kalff to study [00:08:30]under Margaret Lowenfeld. Kalff developed a method for symbolic play in child therapy, [00:08:35]which she later termed sand play. [00:08:40]Starting in the 1930s Melanie Cline, a child psychoanalyst [00:08:45]influenced by Jung's work developed a revolutionary approach to working with children [00:08:50]including the use of play techniques. Inspired by Cline, [00:08:55]Michael Fordham wrote, "Children as Individuals," where it was argued [00:09:00]for the first time with evidence from actual child analysis [00:09:05]and not simply from analysis of adults, like Jung had previously undertaken [00:09:10]that archetypes were observable in children and were a significant component [00:09:15]in a therapeutic process. Archetypes refer to the predisposition [00:09:20]to create images to organize experience and to determine an individual's relationship [00:09:25]between their inner and outer worlds. Michael Fordham goes on to say [00:09:30]that the archetypal content in children is related to drives, [00:09:35]instincts and bodily experiences. [00:09:40]Development and psychological maturation leads the child to ward the spiritual [00:09:45]or numinous end of the archetype, for he can cultivate individuality [00:09:50]and engage in collective thinking. John Alan went on to refine [00:09:55]Jungian child psychotherapy further by the specificity of incorporating play technique [00:10:00]in child analysis to various applications as through school [00:10:05]and community work through his seminal book Inscapes of the child's world." [00:10:10]Jungian play therapy asserts that children psychologically develop [00:10:15]through introjection, or the internalizing of beliefs of others, [00:10:20]usually their parents or the second term is identification [00:10:25]which is strongly relating to the values and feelings of others, [00:10:30]again typically their parents. Feelings, thoughts and traits of primary care takers, [00:10:35]or acquired, or internalized, as well [00:10:40]as any associated dysfunction inherent within those significant primary relationships [00:10:45]Jungian play therapist offer children adequate space [00:10:50]in an emotionally secure setting, so that their personal development [00:10:55]disparate from the beliefs internalized or identified with materializes. [00:11:00]Individuation characterizes a progress from psychic fragmentation towards wholeness, [00:11:05]the acknowledgement and reconciliation of opposites within an individual. [00:11:10]Jung believed children psyches contain a transcendent function [00:11:15]or self healing archetype that surfaces through symbol production. [00:11:20]The Jungian approach to play psychotherapy [00:11:25]depends on children trusting in allowing the symbols to lead them into the healing [00:11:30]by containing the images. Symbols tell children where they are in the therapeutic journey [00:11:35]by pointing to the area of the unconscious that is most neglected. [00:11:40]The Jungian play therapist accepts that position and supports the child unconditionally [00:11:45]along the therapeutic journey. After the self healing symbol [00:11:50]in play therapy appears, the therapist explores the child's inner language [00:11:55]by reconciling the meaning of the symbol with the assistance of the child [00:12:00]from their own phenomenological perspective. [00:12:05]The principal aim of Jungian play therapy is activating the individuation process [00:12:10]through a symbolic attitude, or sometimes it's referred to [00:12:15]as the analytic attitude, where images are honored. [00:12:20]So that children maintain equilibrium of energy flow between their inner and outer worlds. [00:12:25]A symbolic attitude is cultivated when sustained attention [00:12:30]allows the value of an image to be recognized oftentimes quietly. [00:12:35]For example, when a child pretends [00:12:40]or uses the as if quality, he is said to have developed a symbolic attitude, [00:12:45]we see this in role plays. The goal of Jungian therapy with children [00:12:50]individuation is operationalzed [00:12:55]through this transformation of symbol. It is the process of the child symbols [00:13:00]that is being generated through therapy that does the healing. [00:13:05]The symbolic attitude of the therapist permits the child to move from impulse [00:13:10]or action to the symbolic life, this is where images [00:13:15]and emotions are contained. For example, children may articulate verbally [00:13:20]or through symbolic play the phrases, "I do not like" [00:13:25]or "I am angry at you," instead of antipathy [00:13:30]are physically attacking toys or the therapist. This is an example of moving the child [00:13:35]from impulse to action. Therapist enable children's healing [00:13:40]through the safety inherent within a non-judgmental therapeutic relationship, [00:13:45]and witness the emerging of the self healing archetype. [00:13:50]A self healing archetype again is that innate symbol [00:13:55]that promotes and interests psychic well adjusted balance between the ego, and the self. [00:14:00]The ego is the seat of, or the faculty of reasoning. [00:14:05]It is the "I" as we know it. The self is the central organizing archetype [00:14:10]that represents the ego linked with the personality. [00:14:15]Some perhaps call this the soul, by unifying opposites that surface within children [00:14:20]they achieve an equilibrium between the burdens of the ego [00:14:25]we see in home, school, and demands from peers, [00:14:30]with the needs of the personal and conscious which would be the inner world [00:14:35]we see in dreams, fantasies. The relationship to the symbolic life, [00:14:40]or how children relate to their inner symbols [00:14:45]is the crux of Jung's theory of growth. Jung believed that inner development occurs [00:14:50]when an individual acknowledges and creates symbols from dreams and fantasies, [00:14:55]and follows these symbols to wherever they may lead. [00:15:00]Jungian play therapist focused on the psyches role in child personality development. [00:15:05]Psyche is defined as the child center of thought that regulates conscious experiences [00:15:10]such as behaviors and feelings. Jung explained that the evolving nature of the child's psyche [00:15:15]is affected by the collective unconscious, as the images within the collective influence individuation. [00:15:20]Jung's concept of the collective unconscious [00:15:25]was less person specific as Freud's. Jung replaced Freud's theory of a personal and conscious, [00:15:30]a reservoir of individual and conscious memories in repressed emotions [00:15:35]with a collective unconscious that contained shared images [00:15:40]surpassing an individual's personal experience. [00:15:45]The collective unconscious according to Jung consist of a primordial [00:15:50]or basic image and mythological motifs often manifested in fairy tales, [00:15:55]Greek myth, and ancient legends. Michael Fordham took this a step further in 1944 [00:16:00]and stated that childhood not just the latter part of adult life [00:16:05]as Jung initially argued, is a time of individuation [00:16:10]where children tap into the archetypes within the collective unconscious. This is where they grow, [00:16:15]they assimilate to society, to culture. In children the growth process [00:16:20]revolves around the ego separating from the self and in late adulthood [00:16:25]growth occurs from the reintegration and alignment of the self with the ego. [00:16:30]Individuation in childhood is simply maturing or growing away [00:16:35]from the primary identity. [00:16:40]Primary identity is when children behave towards objects as if their fantasies about them were reality, [00:16:45]and they do not have the consciousness to perceive the as if quality. [00:16:50]Jungian therapies stay at the feeling level of the child [00:16:55]and work in the transference. Ego therapies want to rush in but Jungian child analyst [00:17:00]or patient observers. Jungian's recognize that children must be treated [00:17:05]in their own right and as individuals, [00:17:10]and not simply as a system. Before moving into the working phase [00:17:15]in clinical work, a therapist must build trust with the child [00:17:20]and accept his or her personality as it is. [00:17:25]Once trust is formulated the child's unconscious is free to enter into the symbol [00:17:30]and the symbol de-integrates or is reduced to a conscious feeling, [00:17:35]a recognizable image. For example, if an introverted child [00:17:40]presents with anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the analyst will witness [00:17:45]what image surfaces with a child's neurosis by assisting the child [00:17:50]in switching off the ego's energies, in painting the image of anxiety. [00:17:55]Jungians believe that by entering the feeling we change the affect. [00:18:00]The Jungian approach to play psychotherapy then [00:18:05]depends upon children allowing and trusting the symbols to lead them into the healing. [00:18:10]Moreover, the successful nature of Jungian play psychotherapy [00:18:15]depends upon the cultivation of the transference, [00:18:20]or as we describe it working in the transference. [00:18:25]Psychotherapy is only as good as both the analyst and the child are changed within the transferential projections, [00:18:30]out of which healing and growth occurs. [00:18:35]The predominant goal of Jungian play therapy is activating the individuation process [00:18:40]through an analytic attitude, or images can be freely produced. [00:18:45]Once images and elements within the unconscious are made conscious, [00:18:50]analysts believe children can better regulate their impulses by maintaining equilibrium of energy [00:18:55]between their inner and outer worlds. [00:19:00]Individuation is the lifelong development of personality. It is innately [00:19:05]and potentially formed at the very beginning from the inception of life. [00:19:10]The Goal therefore of Jungian play therapy with children is operationalized [00:19:15]through the transformation of the symbol which is the process of the child's [00:19:20]inner symbols being generated throughout therapy. Jungian play therapist [00:19:25]observed symbol production in children throughout the process [00:19:30]through examples such as, artwork, sand play and dreams. Children speak symbolically [00:19:35]through actions and metaphor, so we pay close attention [00:19:40]to the things not talked about or enacted during a session, [00:19:45]as what we find as the things not spoken about are often the most important. [00:19:50]Next, therapists maintain an analytical attitude. The analytical attitude [00:19:55]is a technique that provides conditions for children to freely express themselves [00:20:00]while the therapist emphasizes interpretive rather than directive methods, [00:20:05]the essential feature of the analytical attitude [00:20:10]is that it is impartial, and seeks to illuminate the child's conflicts [00:20:15]from the framework of resolving them. [00:20:20]Moreover the therapist resolves complex feelings into their simplest taught components, [00:20:25]by taking into account the transference. [00:20:30]The analytical attitude of the therapist permits the child to move from impulse or action to the symbolic life, [00:20:35]or images and emotions are contained [00:20:40]by conceptualizing in containing rage. Therapists facilitate children's transformative process [00:20:45]sublimating aggression into assertiveness, [00:20:50]which brings forth containment. Through the safety of the therapeutic dyad [00:20:55]aggression moves into assertiveness to help children articulate, "I do not like" [00:21:00]or "I am mad," instead of violently attacking toys or others. [00:21:05]Our third goal is to ground or to stabilize, or reorient the child [00:21:10]back to the external reality at the end of each session through artwork. [00:21:15]The transition of art at the end of a play session helps the child move from impulse [00:21:20]and action to metaphor and symbol. The Jungian play therapist dialogues with the child [00:21:25]on a symbolic stage, as too much external reality [00:21:30]inhibits the child's ego. Therapist should block self destructive processes, [00:21:35]but aggression must come out both symbolically and behaviorally. [00:21:40]Effective therapist Carry the child's aggression. [00:21:45]Children carry images of the Good Enough Mother and [00:21:50]or good enough father so they can nurture themselves. Through self nurturance [00:21:55]and internalization of a positive self image emerges. [00:22:00]A fourth goal of Jungian play therapy is to assist children [00:22:05]in reconciling the meaning of their symbols by A: Asking with a symbol means to the child, [00:22:10]and B: Asking the child to externalize [00:22:15]the accompanying inner dialogue associated with the symbol. This typically works well with children [00:22:20]over the age of seven or eight due to developmental and cognitive implications. [00:22:25]If a child is under the age of seven or eight perhaps the reconciliation [00:22:30]of the meaning of the symbol may be inferred through artwork analysis [00:22:35]and viewing the gestalt of the child psychology. [00:22:40]For example, if a six year old draws variations of an eagle which may represent wisdom, [00:22:45]or perceived authority, or it could just represent an eagle. [00:22:50]The therapist may ask questions related to that eagle. Second, the therapist may attempt to amplify [00:22:55]or explore the symbol by asking the child questions [00:23:00]or comments such as, "Let's talk about the eagle and what its purpose is in this drawing, [00:23:05]does the Eagle live alone, does the Eagle live with others, [00:23:10]is the eagle ever afraid, is he brave or both." [00:23:15]With a therapist to actively dialoguing with the symbols [00:23:20]within children's artwork, their ego is provided a voice to inner longings, desires, [00:23:25]and hidden or unknown qualities, [00:23:30]perhaps necessary to fully relate and ultimately acclimate [00:23:35]to the constraints of the external social world. Jungian play therapy involves three steps, [00:23:40]one, counseling a child twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes. [00:23:45]Two, conducting one filial [00:23:50]or family play session with the child caretakers about every two weeks, [00:23:55]and three. Consulting with a multi-disciplinary team of school [00:24:00]and community based professionals to provide holistic care. [00:24:05]The union treatment process than can be codified into three stages. [00:24:10]A, Orientation, [00:24:15]B, the working through phase, and C, termination. [00:24:20]During the orientation phase, the therapist bills in alliance with the child [00:24:25]by establishing the frame, the frame is the consistent time [00:24:30]and weekday in specific space. The purpose such as playing, [00:24:35]talking about worries, sharing dreams, and the conditions [00:24:40]are the limits of therapy. Orientation typically last one session [00:24:45]to many, many weeks. Building the therapeutic alliance [00:24:50]in creating an atmosphere of permissiveness and safety, so that children's egos may constellate [00:24:55]and transfer images onto the toys [00:25:00]and the therapist involves using empathy, [00:25:05]unconditional positive regard, and therapeutic limit setting. [00:25:10]In the working through phase the child's negative behavioral and personality traits appear [00:25:15]and transference occurs, in which emotional wounded, [00:25:20]interjections of negative parental and imagoes and rage materialize. [00:25:25]The third stage, reparation, involves the child reconciling opposites, [00:25:30]internalizing a good enough parental image, [00:25:35]and developing psychologically healthy mechanisms to cope with anxiety. [00:25:40]This is another way that we in Jungian terminology say a manageable frustration. [00:25:45]The union play therapy process resembles the metaphorical process [00:25:50]undertaken by the ancient alchemist, whereas the interpersonal [00:25:55]and intrapersonal aspects of therapy are honored. [00:26:00]Alchemist from the 15th to 18th centuries projected their internal processes [00:26:05]into the melding of items of little value [00:26:10]into something precious, such as turning iron into gold. This was also called [00:26:15]the Philosopher's Stone. Also, alchemists believed that [00:26:20]by converting base elements into spirit, the soul would be freed from its bodily prison. [00:26:25]The alchemists always worked in relation to someone else [00:26:30]to complete their mineral and spiritual transformations referring to this as the other, [00:26:35]or as their mystical sister. [00:26:40]This is akin to there being no play therapy without an analyst and a child. [00:26:45]The stages of the Alchemical process inform the therapeutic aspects [00:26:50]through the course in play therapy [00:26:55]in the following three major ways. One, Fermentatio, [00:27:00]is when something is brewing up as the chemical reactions of the therapy process get underway, [00:27:05]this involves changes in both the analyst and the child, [00:27:10]and is often seen at the onset of psychotherapy. [00:27:15]The second phase is Nigredo, this is a blackening [00:27:20]due to the realization of imminent danger. We sometimes see this in children [00:27:25]when they begin to display highly reactive behaviors during therapy [00:27:30]before they begin the process of stabilization. As Jung once said, [00:27:35]we must go into the wounding before we get into the healing. The third and final step is Mortificato. [00:27:40]This is something that must be extinguished and die, [00:27:45]a change or a shift in both the client and the therapist must occur [00:27:50]before true healing may begin. The play therapist role, [00:27:55]is an observer participant creating an environment of safety [00:28:00]and psychological worms. The therapist utilizes an integrative approach [00:28:05]comprised of a baseline of non directive, [00:28:10]intertwined with the ability to incorporate more directive activities. Such as, spontaneous drawings, [00:28:15]dream interpretation, coloring Mandalas, [00:28:20]or Jungian sand play therapy. The therapist may use directive techniques [00:28:25]to determine the archetypal or in other words the universal complex [00:28:30]out of which the child psyche is captivated within, [00:28:35]which often encompasses polarities. Complex's are generalized [00:28:40]internal relationship patterns that imply a reactive state [00:28:45]between one's ego and another individual. [00:28:50]For example, one may develop a mother complex where one is torn between being cared for [00:28:55]by a mother figure and one caring for oneself. [00:29:00]Jungian play therapists accept children as they are. It is part of the therapist role [00:29:05]to facilitate children's unearthing and incorporation of their shadow [00:29:10]to maintain psychic evenness and encourage spiritual well being. [00:29:15]Jung's shadow identifies any aspect of the psyche [00:29:20]that has been excluded from conscious awareness as it is too painful [00:29:25]to be integrated. For example, a five year old girl Brianne [00:29:30]was maltreated by her primary caretakers as an infant. [00:29:35]Brianne exhibited a variety of symptoms, cognitions, and feelings in the play room including irrational fears of abandonment, [00:29:40]attention seeking, maladaptive behaviors, clingingness [00:29:45]and insecurity of the world around her. She was functioning [00:29:50]out of a broken attachment complex which could be treated by the therapist [00:29:55]providing her psyche the freedom to enact these behaviors without judgment. [00:30:00]Therefore, the psychotherapy process [00:30:05]serves as containment, and a nurturing environment [00:30:10]where the maternal or mother archetype is activated through the transference [00:30:15]onto the therapist after the child's psyche has an opportunity [00:30:20]to display its broken and abandoned nature within an accepting atmosphere, [00:30:25]then the therapist introduces activities, interpretations, [00:30:30]and expresses genuine feelings of security, safety, and contentment. [00:30:35]These interpretations provide a curative or healing function [00:30:40]so that the child's psyche may begin to fully realize and ultimately eternalize [00:30:45]the healing potential within. The third and final role [00:30:50]of the therapist is to get out of children's way [00:30:55]so that they can do the work that they need to do for the healing. [00:31:00]Many of us in the middle health field comment that we aren't tha ones that do the healing, [00:31:05]we're just there to witness children heal themselves. [00:31:10]As a Jungian I step aside, I have learned to simply be with the child [00:31:15]providing social comfort and support through play. [00:31:20]But, it has taken me many years of children telling me over and over again [00:31:25]in their own special and unique way, before I was finally able to hear it [00:31:30]and then own it. What we see here [00:31:35]is a wounded child coming to a wounded healer, and through recognizing [00:31:40]in accepting our own limitations and strengths we like the Alchemists before us [00:31:45]transmute the charred rocks or the Prima materia into precious stones. [00:31:50]The aim of child analysis [00:31:55]is to provide a facilitative environment where psychological disturbances [00:32:00]which comprise the underpinnings of complex defenses may be reached. [00:32:05]However, analysis which is typically four to five times per week is not financially realistic [00:32:10]or logical, for most families today. [00:32:15]Therefore, the term therapy as in Jungian play therapy connotes less frequent, [00:32:20]usually twice per week therapeutic sessions. [00:32:25]One of the inherent difficulties in using analytical play infrequently [00:32:30]is the issue of working through resistances. Specifically if children are seen infrequently [00:32:35]such as once a week they may not sufficiently work through the effects [00:32:40]of some of the interpretations because of the expanse of time between the play sessions, [00:32:45]they build up resistances to the interpretations [00:32:50]possibly to ward off the associated anxieties. [00:32:55]Moreover, the value of the analyst interpretations may become lost between sporadic sessions, [00:33:00]thereby creating inherent difficulties when working through complexes. [00:33:05]I typically set appointments with children twice per week [00:33:10]to meet the realistic demands of modern families complicated schedules, [00:33:15]and yet still provide adequate support to the needs of the child's ego. [00:33:20]Furthermore, the analysis of children encompasses toys and symbolic play, [00:33:25]for therapeutic purposes. Yet the main component [00:33:30]of Jungian child play analysis is the therapist verbalizing [00:33:35]in interpreting the action in the play room and urging the child to do so as well. [00:33:40]The purpose of interpretation is to bring unconscious contents into awareness [00:33:45]and to help the child mediate anxiety. The technique of interpretation [00:33:50]does not relieve anxiety because the therapist tells the child something new about himself. [00:33:55]But rather, it gives the child information [00:34:00]about his therapist capacity to do four things, to see him, [00:34:05]to hear him, to understand him, and to accept him. [00:34:10]Interpretation is a key inductive technique when working with children [00:34:15]from an analytical framework as it aid provides the child the abilities to resolve interpersonal deficiencies [00:34:20]constellated in the transference. [00:34:25]And B, relies on the use of symbols and the theory of archetypes to facilitate children's understanding [00:34:30]of their fears and fantasies. So in interpretation Jungian play therapist [00:34:35]links symbolic play with personal observations in relevant experiences [00:34:40]in the child's external world, one last component of analysis [00:34:45]and interpretation specific to working with children, is the reliance on interpretation [00:34:50]based upon the analyst own counter-transference. [00:34:55]Some children may find interpretations to be persecutory, if a child displays [00:35:00]a manageable degree of persecution tendencies during interpretation, [00:35:05]this may be a sign that development is occurring. For example, [00:35:10]I had a child client on the autism spectrum that continuously covered his ears [00:35:15]when I provided verbalization of play. I gave a voice to the child's transference [00:35:20]by stating you experience me as bad some times, [00:35:25]afterward the child smiled and nodded his head there was a sense of mutual understanding [00:35:30]that had not occurred before this moment. This interpretation is not so much based inductively [00:35:35]on the observable evidence in the child but more inductively [00:35:40]upon the therapist own counter-transferencial feelings. [00:35:45]Another example, I once had a five year old client [00:35:50]who did not want to leave the play session when it ended, the child charged into the waiting room [00:35:55]and began to harshly scream at and berate his mother, telling her he hated her [00:36:00]and that he wished she would die. The mother's eyes begin to well with tears. [00:36:05]I felt distressed, and I realized that an interpretation [00:36:10]based upon observable data may not have been effective. [00:36:15]So I used his counter transferencial feelings and stated, [00:36:20]"Now I feel like crying too, [00:36:25]because you're hurting your mother's feelings." The child instantly stopped [00:36:30]his disregulated behaviors, calmed himself down, then left without any other protestations. [00:36:35]Affective processes activated in the therapist [00:36:40]through the counter-transference and sensitively verbalize to the child [00:36:45]can be highly effective in promoting change in children's behaviors. [00:36:50]Amplification or identifying a symbol [00:36:55]through a child's dreams, fantasies, fairy tales, [00:37:00]or artwork is a way that we enhance the symbol by amplifying its meaning. [00:37:05]Amplification or identifying a symbol that the child psyche produces [00:37:10]whether in Jungian sand play therapy, dreams, or artwork, [00:37:15]involves enhancing its value through a reproduction of the image. [00:37:20]Once amplification occurs, the meaning of the symbol translates into emotion [00:37:25]and creates new associations within the personal and the collective. [00:37:30]Amplification as interpretation grounds children's images found in myths, [00:37:35]fairy tales, folklore traditions, and customs. [00:37:40]Interpretation amplifies the field of an image from the obscurely personal [00:37:45]to the profoundly universal. It is numinous or spiritual, [00:37:50]in that it reveals a child's personal connections between images [00:37:55]and the archetypal. One of the basic functions of myth is to help each child [00:38:00]through their journey of life, providing a travel guide [00:38:05]to reach fulfillment. This is what Joseph Campbell called following your bliss. [00:38:10]In interpretation we verbally facilitate children's [00:38:15]psychological growth by applying larger themes of world mythology [00:38:20]and identification with archetypal imagery to support transformation. [00:38:25]For example, I worked with a child diagnosed with Asperger's, [00:38:30]he was seven years old and would spend hours engaged [00:38:35]in repetitive behaviors such as staring in front of his bathroom mirror, combing his hair [00:38:40]for hours over and over. He was brought into play therapy by his mother, [00:38:45]who was concerned about his inability to relate to and retain same age peers at his school. [00:38:50]During the course of treatment I read to him [00:38:55]the Grecian myth of narcissus, in it nurse sister spends [00:39:00]hours and hours staring into a reflective pool at an image of himself. [00:39:05]He ends up falling in love with the image not even realizing it's him. [00:39:10]The gods punished this Hubris, and so he was transfixed by the image [00:39:15]so much that he died there at the reflective pool. [00:39:20]My client spent many, many weeks creating sand pictures [00:39:25]depicting this myth of narcissus [00:39:30]but he progressively showed images over time that depicted Narcissus eventually [00:39:35]stopped staring at himself in the sand figure mirror [00:39:40]located in the sand tray. The character in the child sand pictures [00:39:45]eventually made friends with other cherubs and found that he was truly not alone [00:39:50]shortly after these scenes my clients time in front of the mirror [00:39:55]as a compulsive repetitive behavior began to extinguish. His mother reported [00:40:00]that he began slowly to reach out to one of his same sex peers, [00:40:05]they even had a play day. This was the child's first play day ever. [00:40:10]Jungian play therapist rely upon verbal interventions that bridge connections [00:40:15]between a child's unconscious or their inner landscape, [00:40:20]with ancient symbols and modern art, mental illness or struggle, [00:40:25]and the hero's journey. Thereby revealing the way myth [00:40:30]helps identify one's heroic path. One of the basic functions of myth [00:40:35]is to help each child through their journey of life [00:40:40]providing a travel guide to reach fulfillment, a map to help their fairy tales of dreams come true. [00:40:45]A mandala is any piece of artwork [00:40:50]that is created within a bound shape, customarily a circle. Mandala is a Sanskrit word [00:40:55]meaning sacred space. The circular shape of a Mandala [00:41:00]connotes wholeness and integration. Mandalas can be found in the sacred artwork [00:41:05]of many cultures throughout time, from cave drawings [00:41:10]and rock carvings to sand paintings in stain glass windows. [00:41:15]A Mandala or as Jung called it a magic circle is used as a meditative tool [00:41:20]in various religions but most frequently in Tibet in Buddhism. [00:41:25]The Mandala circle with its inner symbolic patterns [00:41:30]is thought to promote psychological healing, integration, and a peaceful state of mind [00:41:35]when it is created or colored by an individual. [00:41:40]Carl Jung suggested that the act of drawing Mandalas had a calming and healing effect on its creator, [00:41:45]while at the same time facilitating psychic integration [00:41:50]and personal meaning in life. The man dollar functions as a symbolic representation [00:41:55]of emotionally laden and conflicting material. [00:42:00]Yet at the same time provides a sense of order through concentration and integration to this material, [00:42:05]the power of such imaginative psychic concentration is well used [00:42:10]in modern psychotherapy and its positive content is a potent tool [00:42:15]even in cognitive and behavioristic forms of psychotherapy. [00:42:20]In situations of stress and fear the concentrated visualization [00:42:25]of a personal healing Mandala can have very protective effects [00:42:30]even helping to build up new patterns of feeling and coping with the world. [00:42:35]Carl Jung explore the psychological meaning of Mandalas [00:42:40]seen them as symbolic of the inner process, from which individuals grow [00:42:45]toward fulfilling their potential for wholeness. He surmised that the Mandala [00:42:50]was a manifestation of the individual psyche self regulating system [00:42:55]which helps to maintain orderly functioning, [00:43:00]and can when needed restore psychic stability. [00:43:05]Jung saw in the nonverbal creation of Mandalas of his clients, a natural process [00:43:10]of generating and resolving inner conflicts that would bring about greater complexity, [00:43:15]harmony, and stability in the personality. [00:43:20]The following are some of the primary benefits from using Mandalas with children. [00:43:25]Mandalas, children draw in color help them establish their identity. [00:43:30]This is attributed to the archetype of the self. [00:43:35]Mandalas contain and organize energies of the symbols or archetypes from a child's and unconsciousness [00:43:40]that can be assimilated by consciousness. We help children [00:43:45]enter the sacred space of healing by listening to the language of the unconscious. [00:43:50]Children invite the self and cultivate the rich deep relationship with their totality of personality [00:43:55]through the creation of Mandalas. [00:44:00]When children color Mendalas they are making a personal symbol [00:44:05]that reveals who they are at that moment. Conflicts appear in Mendalas as well, [00:44:10]which serve to release tensions of opposites. [00:44:15]Children drawing magic circles is akin to them drawing a protective line around their physical [00:44:20]and psychological space so that they identify [00:44:25]as themselves being contained and safe. [00:44:30]The next slide involves the specific steps clinicians may take [00:44:35]in incorporating the coloring and or creating of Mendalas with children. [00:44:40]First, the therapist asks the client to sit quietly, [00:44:45]possibly closing their eyes and taking deep breaths. [00:44:50]Another possible step to help the child [00:44:55]reduce potential ego anxieties is to engage in progressive muscle relaxation, [00:45:00]some of the things that I do include, clenching of the fists, tight, tight, tight, [00:45:05]and releasing with an exhale of a breath. [00:45:10]After the child has been through a couple of minutes of progressive relaxation, the therapist then [00:45:15]asks the child to pick any Mandala out of a workbook [00:45:20]or a series of Mandalas before him or her. Once the child [00:45:25]picks Mandala that he or she would like to color, the therapist then gives the following directions. [00:45:30]There is no right or wrong way [00:45:35]to color this Mandala, it is your creation from your imagination. [00:45:40]I'm going to sit here quietly as you color Mandala [00:45:45]and whenever you're finished I'm going to ask if you can tell the story of Mandala [00:45:50]by writing it on the back of the paper. [00:45:55]After these instructions are given, the therapist typically will ask the child, "do you have any questions?" [00:46:00]after any questions are potentially answered, [00:46:05]then the child begins to engage in the actual coloring of the Mandala. [00:46:10]As this process occurs the therapist remains quiet so as not to interrupt [00:46:15]the projection of the unconscious. Once the child is finished [00:46:20]and notates to the therapist usually by saying, "hey, I am finished." [00:46:25]Then the therapist reminds the child to turn over the paper and to write the story of Mandala on the back. [00:46:30]Once the child has finished [00:46:35]the therapist then processes or resolves this technique by asking one simple question. [00:46:40]"Is there anything you would like to share about your Mandala?" [00:46:45]Typically a child will want to read the story of the Mandala on the back [00:46:50]or maybe tell a story about the image of the Mandala. [00:46:55]If this happens I have created a couple of specific questions that you can use [00:47:00]which are also adapted from some of John Alan's work "From Inscapes Of The Child's World." [00:47:05]Some of these questions could include, "if you could give this Mandala a title, [00:47:10]what would it be? If you were inside this Mandala, [00:47:15]how might you be feeling?" Once those questions are answered, [00:47:20]and ask, and then answered, the exercise is over. [00:47:25]I then ask the child if I may take a picture of the Mandala or if I may leave it in their file. [00:47:30]Now we're going to talk about the specific steps [00:47:35]in incorporating Mandalas into clinical work. First of all, [00:47:40]we amplify the symbol, amplification of a symbol or image involves the therapist [00:47:45]asking what image or theme stood out for the child in the drawing. [00:47:50]What focus based upon the current Mandala will. [00:47:55]The next Mandala have in order to delve deeper into the complex, [00:48:00]or what image can the child focus on to peel another layer off. [00:48:05]If the child is unsure, the therapist then recommends an area to amplify. [00:48:10]If the amplification is accurate the child's personal growth will be deepened, enhanced, and energized. [00:48:15]If the amplification is inaccurate, the child will say no or avert their eyes. [00:48:20]Amplification therefore, is a collaborative process, [00:48:25]it involves the incorporation of drawings, in creating sand pictures and world, [00:48:30]using symbols related to healing. [00:48:35]Jungian sand play originated in the 1950s. When Carl Jung asked Swiss psychotherapist Dora Kalff [00:48:40]to study under Margaret Lowenfeld in London. [00:48:45]In his mud in sand play, at age 41, [00:48:50]Jung spontaneously created images that helped clarify his disorganized thoughts, [00:48:55]stemming from his dramatic professional break with Sigmund Freud. [00:49:00]Hence he coined the term "Active Imagination" a procedure for engaging the world [00:49:05]of the objective psyche through spontaneous imagery. [00:49:10]In the 1920s Lowenfeld developed a therapeutic method for children [00:49:15]to communicate their feelings and thoughts symbolically by playing in sand. [00:49:20]Through the use of sand trays, sand, and sand miniatures, [00:49:25]Lowenfeld discovered that children communicated conscious and unconscious thoughts in less threatening ways [00:49:30]than by directly verbalizing them to an adult. Lowenfeld created the world technique [00:49:35]a therapeutic intervention in which children used sand figurines [00:49:40]in a sand tray to construct a sand world. [00:49:45]In 1962 Dora Kalff built upon Lowenfeld's work, [00:49:50]and termed the intervention, "Sandplay," while at a conference of Jungian analysts in California. [00:49:55]Kalff's Sandplay was rooted in the premise of Jung's belief [00:50:00]that the psyche can be activated to move toward wholeness and healing, [00:50:05]and that individuation occurred in the sand process [00:50:10]through the Taminus(ph). The Taminus(ph) is the free and protected space. [00:50:15]The counselor provides the free and protected space [00:50:20]in which a creation in the sand may symbolize the inner drama and the healing potential [00:50:25]of the child psyche. The protected space refers to the way that the therapist listen, [00:50:30]observes, and serves non-judgmentally as a psychological container [00:50:35]for the emotional content that becomes activated [00:50:40]by the sand therapy process. The therapeutic rationale for Sandplay [00:50:45]is that children reproduce symbolic scenes of their immediate experience [00:50:50]and link opposites from their inner and outer worlds. [00:50:55]Through the concretization of unconscious experiences children's psyches [00:51:00]are able to make meaningful links and develop mastery over difficult feelings. [00:51:05]Moreover, it is what children experience for themselves [00:51:10]that is therapeutic in Sandplay, not the therapist analysis of the symbols [00:51:15]contained within the scene, As Dora Kalff once said, [00:51:20]the healing is in the doing. The emerging worlds in the tray illustrate [00:51:25]the conscious conflicts of the child as Sandplay provides an opportunity for both symbolic [00:51:30]and realistic grounding to occur. Moreover, Sandplay [00:51:35]A permits children to express their archetypal and intra personal worlds. [00:51:40]B, connects children to everyday reality, and C creates a communication [00:51:45]between the conscious and unconscious mind where psychogenic healing occurs. [00:51:50]From a Jungian perspective, [00:51:55]Sandplay is the physical embodiment of active imagination. [00:52:00]It frees creativity, perceptions, inner feelings, memories, [00:52:05]all of these things that the child transports unconscious thoughts and feelings [00:52:10]from their interior to their exterior, and it is directly done in the sand tray. [00:52:15]Second, many children view Sandplay [00:52:20]as a natural form of expression where they are readily attracted to it, while some children [00:52:25]are reticent to engage in certain play activities. [00:52:30]For example, some children are resistant to art activities because they don't believe that they are good artist. [00:52:35]However, they do tend to often respond positively to Sandplay [00:52:40]because they feel free to create with less self criticism [00:52:45]and constraint. Third, SandPlay is a technique, [00:52:50]or an intervention that facilitates a sense of mastery of difficult feelings [00:52:55]and conflicted thoughts furthermore, because Sandplay involves non-verbal expression, [00:53:00]it engenders a necessary therapeutic distance from distressing [00:53:05]or traumatic events for children including the engagement in disordered [00:53:10]or disruptive behaviors. From a Jungian perspective [00:53:15]the primary therapeutic benefit of sand play involves the autonomous [00:53:20]and regenerative healing power of the child psyche that activates [00:53:25]and produces symbols, being witnessed without judgment by a caring therapist. [00:53:30]Dora Kalff emphasized, that the transformative experience [00:53:35]of creating a world in the sand contains the healing. [00:53:40]Sandplay therefore facilitates healing and transformation in young children [00:53:45]by releasing conflicts from the unconscious in a symbolic form, [00:53:50]and by supporting a healthy reordering of psychological contents. [00:53:55]Finally, Sandplay therapists believe [00:54:00]that the child's creative expressions in the sand exemplify the child's cathartic release of current distress, [00:54:05]pathology, grief, and our hope. And by the word pathology [00:54:10]we typically refer to the internalization of their parents pathology. [00:54:15]Moreover, Sandplay shows the mechanism [00:54:20]in which children are coping with emotional pain and wounding. [00:54:25]By expressing psychogenic pain children participate in an emotional catharsis, [00:54:30]which may release repressed hostilities and rage [00:54:35]associated with unconscious conflicts at the root of many disruptive behaviors. [00:54:40]Catharsis then is facilitated simply by witnessing [00:54:45]the child sand pictures from a caring, [00:54:50]non-evaluative, trusted adult. There are themes or symbols [00:54:55]that emerge out of children Sandplay. These themes are typically fluid serving as guides [00:55:00]for further exploration, when assisting a child within the therapeutic context. [00:55:05]The following meanings to symbols in Sandplay are guidepost [00:55:10]or generalities for the therapist, which are not meant to be static definitions [00:55:15]as symbols need to be interpreted by the child from their own perspective. [00:55:20]Symbols and their meanings differ among individuals [00:55:25]and all symbols and Sandplay play should be carefully viewed in the context of the individual child [00:55:30]in the meaning they ascribe to them. [00:55:35]One current Sandplay researcher by the name of Steinhardt, [00:55:40]describes the following symbols that may appear in Sandplay. Keep in mind again, [00:55:45]these are fluid and not ever static. [00:55:50]A, a whole scooped out of the sand could symbolize a cave, a womb, a volcano, an entrance into the collective unconscious. [00:55:55]B, a mound in the sand or a mountain may symbolize [00:56:00]the body of the Earth Mother, the container of warmth. [00:56:05]C, drawing lines in the same could be seen as a life path, a demarcation, [00:56:10]a new path to follow. D, a tunnel or bridge could symbolize communication [00:56:15]between where one is, and where one wants to go or has been. [00:56:20]E, passages downward could symbolize burying something hideous to the unconscious, [00:56:25]the shadow. And finally F, [00:56:30]the resurrection of buried objects may symbolize repressed emotions being released or exposed, [00:56:35]or it could just be the child resurrecting varied objects. [00:56:40]One of the most common sand activities children engage in [00:56:45]is the burying of objects. Children enjoy burying objects in the sand tray [00:56:50]just as they would bury objects in the sand while playing along the coastal beach. [00:56:55]Sometimes children will ask their play therapist to find the hidden object in the sand tray. [00:57:00]Jungian oriented counsellors could view this request in many ways. [00:57:05]First, children's underground search into the sands depths [00:57:10]could symbolize the belief that their inner world could be unearthed by the help of the play therapist. [00:57:15]Second, children's request for their therapist to locate hidden objects in the sand tray [00:57:20]may be viewed as the child's revealing something [00:57:25]that had been unclear or scary and can now be revealed and tolerated without judgment. [00:57:30]Third, the burial of an object could symbolize children's longing [00:57:35]for self acceptance, a parental approval, [00:57:40]some buried deep within their unconscious longings and tacit desires. [00:57:45]In conclusion, through guiding children [00:57:50]along their psychological pathways and cultivating symbols [00:57:55]towards self healing, we as union play therapist [00:58:00]facilitate the expression of the child's unconscious, their self towards individuation, [00:58:05]or another way of saying that is becoming a psychological individual. [00:58:10]Therefore, Jungian play therapy finally is about, [00:58:15]A, finding meaning and comfort through disquieting pain [00:58:20]and rage, B, nurturing deep liberating acceptance [00:58:25]in our empathic relationships between analyst and child. [00:58:30]And C, acknowledging the magnanimous symbolism [00:58:35]of our often times harsh but ultimately hopeful reality. [00:58:40]Jungian analytical play therapy renders important implications [00:58:45]for mental health practitioners of any discipline to consider. [00:58:50]When counseling young children first is the necessity for therapist or counsellors [00:58:55]to have received or be receiving adequate, extensive analysis themselves, [00:59:00]because there is such a commingling of personalities [00:59:05]between analyst and child especially with the analyst therapeutically carrying, [00:59:10]or holding the child's maladjustment. There is a real and probable risk [00:59:15]the child's projections may contaminate the analyst psyche. [00:59:20]Play therapist take over the suffering of children, [00:59:25]in doing so they may have their own psychological sickness activated [00:59:30]outside the play room, or unconsciously transferred [00:59:35]onto the child inside the playroom. Clinical supervision is of utmost important [00:59:40]for analyst, counselors, therapists, so that they may contain [00:59:45]the counter-transference at critical moments [00:59:50]during the clinical play therapy process. Carl Jung stated, [00:59:55]"If he (the therapist) feels that the patient is hitting him [01:00:00]even scoring off of him, it is his own hurt [01:00:05]that gives the measure of this power to heal." [01:00:10]From a Jungian standpoint, therapist or counsellors may make right in their clients [01:00:15]only would they have made right within themselves. [01:00:20]The counselor must change as much as the child does for therapy to be effective. [01:00:25]The second implication is that children are viewed as sensitive human beings [01:00:30]that need someone to simply be with them for a short time [01:00:35]and not viewed as dysfunctional objects in need of a standardized cold clinical cure. [01:00:40]Counsellors must show clients [01:00:45]rather than tell them their therapeutic understanding and acceptance, [01:00:50]this implies the salience of in center piece to Jungian child psychotherapy, [01:00:55]the nonjudgmental alliance. [01:01:00]For Jungians it is the most crucial variable when facilitating change in children. [01:01:05]Children will not remember all of the elegant interpretations [01:01:10]we make, the sophisticated techniques we use, [01:01:15]or the accurate empathic responses, necessarily. When they think back [01:01:20]on their special time with us, their play therapist, [01:01:25]children remember the kindness we show them. They need to know [01:01:30]from the very beginning of therapy that they set the pace, direction, and tone of counseling. [01:01:35]More importantly they can place their trust in us, caring adults [01:01:40]who will be with them, not against them. [01:01:45]A fundamental importance to Jungians is that they make a therapeutic connection to children in need [01:01:50]by accepting them for who they are without trying to change what they are. [01:01:55]Throughout psychotherapy we absorb and we contain [01:02:00]children's inner longings and desires, pain, and sadness, murderous fantasies, [01:02:05]and destructive impulses, jealousy, tumultuous rage, [01:02:10]and also their inner strength and resiliency. In the end children valuable [01:02:15]with all of the monsters and demons about [01:02:20]go forth to face and often times scary life, with hope, and eternal wonder.

[01:02:25][sil.]

[01:02:30] Mandala Play Session with Mahdiyyah

[01:02:35] Eric J. GreenHi, Mahdiyyah.

MahdiyyahHi!

Eric J. GreenThank you for being here today.

MahdiyyahYou're welcome.

[01:02:40] Eric J. GreenUmm… one of the activities that we sometimes do [01:02:45]with umm… teenagers and even adults is an activity called the Mandala. [01:02:50]Have you ever heard of that word?

MahdiyyahNo.

Eric J. GreenNo? A Mandal is kind of like [01:02:55]a magic circle and what we say is that [01:03:00]sometimes if umm… teenagers or young, you know, young girls like you [01:03:05]or maybe sometimes it's hard to say words or dispersed, how you feel, [01:03:10]do you ever feel that way? Maybe it's hard to say the exact word you're feeling. [01:03:15]Sometimes it's, sometimes it happens. Sometimes art work is like a way to express that [01:03:20]umm… in an easier less threatening way. [01:03:25]Umm… and so, today I, I was hoping that we could do a couple of Mandalas. [01:03:30]Umm… it's umm… it actually is from a Buddhist concept, [01:03:35]the Buddhist monks, and they said that it was a way to meditate to find peace. [01:03:40]And so it may be a peaceful activity for you. [01:03:45]Basically, what I'm going to have you do if, if you like is to trace that [01:03:50]umm… circular shape onto your white paper with a black marker [01:03:55]so that you can make a circle, okay? Do you want to go ahead and do that now [01:04:00]and I'll wait for you, all right.

[01:04:05][sil.]

[01:04:10] Eric J. GreenOkay, so it looks like you got your circle complete, how do you feel about it?

MahdiyyahIt's okay.

[01:04:15] Eric J. GreenIt's okay, yeah, it looks like you put a lot of effort into it thank you.

MahdiyyahYou are welcome.

[01:04:20] Eric J. GreenSo, umm… basically I'll go through what it's like and then we'll do a couple minutes of relaxation. [01:04:25]Have you ever done guided imagery or maybe at school [01:04:30]like relaxation where you close your eyes and maybe meditate, or pray, [01:04:35]or okay, well, it will be something new for us to try to day. [01:04:40]So umm… After we, after we spend a couple minutes relaxing, [01:04:45]then I'm going to ask you to draw anything that you want inside that circle, [01:04:50]or you see those magazines? You can take images and cut them [01:04:55]with the scissors and glue them inside the circle to make a collage. [01:05:00]It's completely up to you Mahdiyyah, there's no right or wrong way, this is just really an activity [01:05:05]for you to express yourself and then afterwards [01:05:10]I'm going to ask you to write the story of your creation on the back, what is your story say, [01:05:15]what is it trying to express. That sound okay to you. [01:05:20]Okay, so let's spend a couple minutes, let's close our eyes, if you feel comfortable, [01:05:25]and we're going to take, let's take five deep breaths if you want to count with me [01:05:30]we will do one, in through the nose, [01:05:35]out through the mouth. You wanna do two? [01:05:40]And say two.

[01:05:45] MahdiyyahTwo.

[01:05:50] Eric J. GreenOkay, I'll do three, three. [01:05:55]You wanna do four?

MahdiyyahFour.

[01:06:00] Eric J. GreenAnd then the last one will be five, we'll take a deep breath in through the nose [01:06:05]and exhale out through the mouth. Okay, now I want us to clench your fists [01:06:10]tight, tight, tight. We'll get, will get some stress relief because at school we just, [01:06:15]you had, what you had school all week or were you of?

MahdiyyahExcept Friday.

Eric J. GreenExcept Friday, you were off for Good Friday, [01:06:20]okay, so we're going to squeeze our fists tight, tight, tight, and then watch we're going to just release it, [01:06:25]and breathe out when we release, okay. [01:06:30]Now we're going to put our shoulders up by our ears like this, there you go, fill all the tension in your shoulders [01:06:35]tight, tight, tight, tight, and then relax and exhale. [01:06:40]And then we'll do one more, we'll put our legs together and squeeze our knees [01:06:45]so we can fill tension in our legs from walking and running and tight, tight, tight. [01:06:50]And then we'll let them go and exhale. [01:06:55]Okay, and then we'll do one last deep breath [01:07:00]and then I'll let you start your Mandala, okay. So, let's take one final calming deep breath, [01:07:05]we know we're in a safe place.

[01:07:10][sil.]

[01:07:15] Eric J. GreenWell, I feel more relaxed. How do you feel?

MahdiyyahI feel really good.

[01:07:20] Eric J. GreenOkay, good. Now remember there is no right or wrong way, while you're creating your Mandala [01:07:25]I gonna, just gonna take this play dough and I'm just going to kind of manipulate it and play with it because it helps me relax as well, okay? [01:07:30]All right, you can start go ahead, thank you.

[01:07:35][sil.]

[01:08:00] MahdiyyahOkay, I am done.

Eric J. GreenOkay, you're done? [01:08:05]Okay, well, thank you for putting so much effort into that. Would you mind if I looked at your image for a second [01:08:10]just so I can kind of get a sense that we can honor it together.

[01:08:15][sil.]

[01:08:20] Eric J. GreenOkay. So, Mahdiyyah tell me [01:08:25]uh… a little bit about your Mandala.

[01:08:30] MahdiyyahWell, Mandala is like, picture of vampire queen, [01:08:35]I like the dress is really cute umm… and this part I think is called a scepter.

[01:08:40] Eric J. GreenA scepter, that's okay, yeah, I think you had it right the first time, [01:08:45]I think that is a scepter and you knew it that was, okay. [01:08:50]Okay, umm… would you like to read me the story of, of your Mandala.

MahdiyyahUmm… sure.

[01:08:55] Eric J. GreenOkay, thank you.

[01:09:00] MahdiyyahOne day there was a vampire queen, nobody liked her when her mother [01:09:05]let her take over the throne because she was different. She was surely a vampire but she did not really have, [01:09:10]she did not have fangs and at the end of her hair were not skinned but feathers. [01:09:15]The truth was, the God has sent the test to see, whether she would be mistreated [01:09:20]because of the feathers on her skin. As a child, people spit on her and blame that she, [01:09:25]on her whole on stuff that she didn't do. Even her parents hated her except her mom, [01:09:30]who love regardless, who loved her regardless feathers or skin. [01:09:35]That's it.

[01:09:40] Eric J. GreenUmm… if you could give your Mandela a title [01:09:45]what would it be? Kind of like movies have titles and, [01:09:50]so if you could give it any title, what would it be, could you write it on the front, [01:09:55]like if you could umm… okay. [01:10:00]There's no right or wrong title, [01:10:05]it's totally up to you. [01:10:10]And so you called it…

MahdiyyahThe Test.

[01:10:15] Eric J. Green…The Test. Okay. Mahdiyyah I have one last question for you [01:10:20]and we will be done okay. Umm… If you were inside that Mandala, [01:10:25]what would you be feeling like?

[01:10:30] MahdiyyahUmm… kind of like a mix between [01:10:35]like happy [01:10:40]and kind of sad too.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm. It's a kind of mixed feelings [01:10:45]between being happy and sad is that?

MahdiyyahMm-hm.

[01:10:50][sil.]

[01:10:55] Eric J. GreenOkay, is there anything else that you wanted to share about it before we move on to something else, [01:11:00]if you're ready to move on.

MahdiyyahYeah, I designed that dress and it's awesome.

[01:11:05] Eric J. GreenYou want me to know that you really like that dress, yeah, you put a lot of effort into that, I really appreciate that. [01:11:10]And so you designed it, it's your creation and yeah, you can own that, that's for you. [01:11:15]The last thing is if you could just put your name and your age on the back, [01:11:20]umm… and then, you can either take your Mandala with you later, [01:11:25]or if you don't mind I can take a picture of it and put it in your file so that I could have a copy of it, it's up to you.

[01:11:30] MahdiyyahYou can take a picture of it.

Eric J. GreenOh! thank you, okay.

[01:11:35][sil.]

[01:11:40] Eric J. GreenOkay, thank you so much. How was it, [01:11:45]now that we're finished this activity umm… I noticed that when you were coloring [01:11:50]you seemed very focused but also relaxed. Do you find that coloring [01:11:55]helps you feel relaxed or focused?

MahdiyyahYes.

Eric J. GreenAre there any other adjectives you can think of [01:12:00]that you felt while you were doing this and I was sitting here with you.

[01:12:05] MahdiyyahCalm.

Eric J. GreenYou felt calm, okay, all right. I did too, I felt a sense of peace [01:12:10]as I was watching you and I appreciate you creating that dress. [01:12:15]Do you have any dresses like that?

MahdiyyahNo.

Eric J. GreenNo?

MahdiyyahI have a sewing machine though, I can make some.

[01:12:20] Eric J. GreenOh! wow, so you've got some sewing skills too, okay, that's terrific. [01:12:25]All right, well, thank you mahdiyyah. Umm… we are going to go ahead and if you want to we can either do [01:12:30]another Mandala that's pre-drawn or we can do sand play, it's up to you.

[01:12:35] MahdiyyahSandplay.

Eric J. GreenYou'd like to do sand play, so that's what we'll do. Okay, thank you. [01:12:40]Here we see mahdiyyah, created a Mandala. In this Mandala [01:12:45]right at the center which we oftentimes say looking at art is the pivotal [01:12:50]or most important part of the artwork. [01:12:55]Mahdiyyah drew an image that she said, was a Vampire Princess. [01:13:00]In fact she commented on the dress, she showed self efficacy, [01:13:05]by saying "I designed this dress, I created this dress." [01:13:10]If we look at the symbol of the Mandala, [01:13:15]we see that there are a lot of dark hues as colors within the Mandala [01:13:20]and also in the middle we see a figure [01:13:25]that she described as a scepter, [01:13:30]additional there are two forms of some type of light happening in this Mandala. [01:13:35]We see an image of it looks like some type of [01:13:40]umm… lights or spotlight. [01:13:45]We also see that she drew a, about a quarter of the sun. [01:13:50]In the Jungian interpretation we could look at this Mandala [01:13:55]and see that she has identified a part of herself [01:14:00]through her own self healing archetype located by light. [01:14:05]I know this because when she read the story [01:14:10]on the back of the Mandala she talked about a Vampire Princess [01:14:15]not being accepted by people around her, [01:14:20]but by being accepted by her mother. This is an example [01:14:25]which I spoke about earlier of the internalization of the Good Enough Mother. [01:14:30]Also, due to the color schemes here, [01:14:35]uh… from a Jungian perspective, we see contrast, [01:14:40]so there are contrasts between the red and the black, between the orange and the yellow [01:14:45]contained within the sun [01:14:50]and between the bigger concepts of the black dress with the yellow light. [01:14:55]So here we see shadows of yellow, of black, [01:15:00]we see light, we see polarity surfacing. [01:15:05]In her description she commented [01:15:10]that this figure in the Mandala was seeking acceptance [01:15:15]but never quite felt as though she fit in. In fact the exact words she used was, [01:15:20]she felt unique and different. This could possibly symbolize [01:15:25]the projection of her own adolescent insecurity [01:15:30]moving through a developmentally appropriate phase of trying to find her own place in the world. [01:15:35]I know this because she mentioned it, [01:15:40]we talked about the figure and then we moved from the story [01:15:45]and transitioned back into the external reality. [01:15:50]In conclusion, this Mandala, which is contained within the circle [01:15:55]represents an attempt for Mahdiyyah [01:16:00]to communicate from her psyche, her soul's longing to belong. [01:16:05]John O'Donohue talks about this. We see this as evidenced [01:16:10]by the story being connected with the archetypal imagery of the Princess, [01:16:15]but yet there is no prince, there is no white horse, [01:16:20]there is no castle, she's all alone, she's under a spotlight. [01:16:25]And finally if we were continuing [01:16:30]with this uh… Mandala imagery and had more time, [01:16:35]we would have amplified even further within the Mandala. [01:16:40]However, we went on to a Sandplay scene next by her commitment [01:16:45]that is what she wanted to do. So next I'm going to provide an analysis of the Sandplay scene.

[01:16:50] Sandplay Session with Mahdiyyah

[01:16:55] Eric J. GreenMahdiyyah we just finished a Mandala, okay. [01:17:00]And you said you wanted to do Sandplay so let's do, uh… let's just do, [01:17:05]let's say one minute of deep breathing okay. That helps clear our minds, [01:17:10]and it helps to get us ready, so well, if you want to smooth the sand while we're deep breathing [01:17:15]sometimes teenagers like to put their hands in the sand. You're welcome, yup, there you can make it as smooth [01:17:20]and even as possible so we'll do, let's just say will do five deep breaths while you're smoothing okay? [01:17:25]In through the nose out through the mouth, [01:17:30]there you go, in through the nose, [01:17:35]out through the mouth. There you go, [01:17:40]where relaxing as you're doing your sand. In through the nose, [01:17:45]out through the mouth. [01:17:50]And through the nose one last time, [01:17:55]out through the mouth and then this is our fifth breath as you're slowly calmly [01:18:00]smoothing the sand in through the nose, [01:18:05]and then relax out through the mouth. [01:18:10]So we're in a safe place here [01:18:15]and, you smooth the sand as long as you need to and then let me know when you're ready.

[01:18:20][sil.]

[01:18:35] MahdiyyahOkay, I am ready.

[01:18:40] Eric J. GreenYou're, you're ready. So when we did the Mandala I want to let you choose there's a, [01:18:45]there's a big fancy word that some of us use [01:18:50]we as you know what I do I help kids sometimes you have worries, it's called amplification. [01:18:55]It's kind of like have you ever seen cheerleaders that have megaphones. They amplify, [01:19:00]they have to use their voice and it kind of amplifies out that's how they make their, their cheers go louder. [01:19:05]Well, in Jungian this is called Sandplay as you know. [01:19:10]Umm… we do something called amplifying a symbol and so I want you to think about [01:19:15]the Mandala we just did. We did a story about the Mandala, [01:19:20]umm… I asked you if you were inside it what might you be feeling like, you said good and bad. [01:19:25]Is there any part of that that you would like to carry on [01:19:30]and do another scene related to it in the sand it can be anything you want it to be, [01:19:35]okay? All right, so I'm going to let you take your time [01:19:40]and create a sand picture, you can use any of these miniatures [01:19:45]Mahdiyyah that you want. And then after you're done [01:19:50]we'll honor the image and I'll see if there's anything you want to share but you don't have to it's completely up to you. [01:19:55]There's no right or wrong way to do a sand picture, okay. And whenever you're ready, [01:20:00]do you have, oh, do you have any questions?

MahdiyyahNo.

Eric J. GreenOkay, all right, [01:20:05]I'm going to sit here quietly while you create and your, you can begin whenever you want.

[01:20:10][sil.]

[01:22:40] MahdiyyahYeah, I think I'm done now.

[01:22:45] Eric J. GreenOkay, you're done. All right, so let's walk around it or as much as we can, [01:22:50]so we can look at all the images and honor them together, okay? [01:22:55]Oh, you found something that you wanted to put back, okay, [01:23:00]so let's just kind of look at the images from all of the kind of the three different angles from the screen.

[01:23:05][sil.]

[01:23:10] Eric J. GreenOkay, Mahdiyyah is there anything about your sand picture that you'd like to share, [01:23:15]if you don't have to share anything, if you don't want to it's completely up to you.

[01:23:20] MahdiyyahLike, I read some magazine, it was the National Geographic's magazine.

[01:23:25] Eric J. GreenUh-huh.

MahdiyyahAnd I have, I did a Sandpicture of Yosemite National Park [01:23:30]even though it doesn't really look like it, something that could most of these animals were supposed to be in Sahara, [01:23:35]Sahara in Africa something like that. [01:23:40]But like, I read in the magazine that [01:23:45]Yosemite National Park is like literally on top of an active volcano, so that's why I put the volcano right there, [01:23:50]and I buried it under the sand so they wouldn't see it when I put this on top of it. Like this is the main building, [01:23:55]this is like the building, you sign up and go camp out somewhere.

Eric J. GreenOkay.

[01:24:00] MahdiyyahYeah so, it's like ambulance should just stand by, [01:24:05]all the harmless animals are just like wandering everywhere. [01:24:10]Almost… well, no animal is completely harmless, but you go… means…

Eric J. GreenI sure do, yeah.

[01:24:15] MahdiyyahUmm… yeah, but once that trying to eating people are the some [01:24:20]are in cages. Except those, I put the babies in there.

[01:24:25] Eric J. Greenyou put the babies there, okay.

MahdiyyahYeah.

Eric J. GreenWhat was this experience, [01:24:30]like creating this world for you, now that we're finished and our special time's up for today, [01:24:35]umm… what was it what did it feel like to be able to create your own sand picture?

[01:24:40] MahdiyyahIt was fun.

Eric J. GreenIt was fun, okay, all right, [01:24:45]and that to be judged after, to be critiqued, or to be told something was wrong or right, [01:24:50]you're just able to kind of do your own creations and be who you want to be. [01:24:55]Kind of like going back to the Mandala that umm… that vampire, [01:25:00]the girl in the, in the circle, she wanted to be who she wanted to be, and sounds like her mother [01:25:05]loved her regardless.

MahdiyyahMm-hm.

Eric J. GreenAnd so some of these umm… activities that we do [01:25:10]sometimes they help us feel, sometimes you know the word validated [01:25:15]or honored or recognized maybe, in that way, okay. [01:25:20]All right, well, thank you for your sand picture. Umm… and I'm going to take a picture of it and put it in your file.

[01:25:25] MahdiyyahCan I add one more thing?

Eric J. GreenYou want to add one more thing, that's, that's completely up to you, sure.

[01:25:30] MahdiyyahHe's a construction worker.

Eric J. GreenOh! Okay.

MahdiyyahMay be he as a bunch of stuff, [01:25:35]like fix things. Yeah, okay. [01:25:40]That's good. [01:25:45]Okay, there you go.

Eric J. GreenNow you feel that it's what you wanted it to look like, okay. [01:25:50]I'm going to look at it one more time and then we'll [01:25:55]umm… will head out and I'll go bring it to your mom.

MahdiyyahOkay.

[01:26:00] Eric J. GreenThank you Mahdiyyah, I appreciate you being with me today.

MahdiyyahYou're welcome.

[01:26:05] Eric J. GreenSo here in the process of amplification, [01:26:10]I instructed Mahdiyyah to think about the themes [01:26:15]we had discussed in the Mandala creation and I instructed her [01:26:20]in the amplification process to embellish upon [01:26:25]or to accentuate any aspect of that that she wanted. [01:26:30]This is what she came up with this sand picture. In the Sand picture [01:26:35]we see many, many different symbols, many different actions. [01:26:40]One of the things I want to caution you about is in Jungian analysis [01:26:45]especially in Jungian Sandplay therapy we don't ever look [01:26:50]at just one image of a sand picture, [01:26:55]we look at pictures over time, over a series in a sequence [01:27:00]to pick up on themes, to make analysis. So the analysis that I'm providing you [01:27:05]will be to give you a glimpse about how I go about [01:27:10]conceptualizing the contents [01:27:15]that the ego is projecting from the unconscious into the sand scene, [01:27:20]with that being said let's first start with the most obvious which was right in the middle, [01:27:25]we see a Mandala. She placed a volcano [01:27:30]umm… right into the middle which she buried, [01:27:35]I noticed that she buried the volcano and then unearthed it and dumped the sand, [01:27:40]I believe that she did this two or three times [01:27:45]before she finally felt comfortable enough for it to remain buried. [01:27:50]The burying and the re-scooping up of objects as I said previously, [01:27:55]could symbolize some unearthing [01:28:00]or catharsis of some sort. It could also symbolize [01:28:05]the mother archetype which correlates with the warmth [01:28:10]of her putting the sand and concealing it. This again ties in [01:28:15]with her Mandala where we saw a light and warmth of energy as being healing. [01:28:20]The Mandala's shape in the sand scene [01:28:25]is that she placed American flags around the container in the middle. [01:28:30]This is entirely significant from an analytical perspective, [01:28:35]because while the mother or the Earth Mother [01:28:40]container was buried, that is the symbol of nurturing, [01:28:45]she put American flags which symbolize independence all around it. [01:28:50]This could be reflective [01:28:55]of her adolescent journey or the right of passage from her moving [01:29:00]from the dichotomy of feeling nurtured and cared for to wanting to be more independent. [01:29:05]There's more evidence of this theme if we look at this analytically, [01:29:10]there are a couple of umm… areas within the sand scene, [01:29:15]where she has very specific demarcations and boundaries, [01:29:20]within those boundaries she commented that they were from animals [01:29:25]because she just saw a National Geographic documentary. [01:29:30]The animals that she chose to put in there are very significant, [01:29:35]one of them being a turtle, the turtle is faced away [01:29:40]from the center, from the Mandala, sometimes turtles [01:29:45]represent wisdom, sometimes they just represent turtles, [01:29:50]but sometimes when we see children using turtles they represent new life, [01:29:55]new beginnings. The other evidence of new beginnings in this scene [01:30:00]were the baby animals that she placed. If you notice, [01:30:05]if you look at the scene as a whole while it may appear somewhat chaotic [01:30:10]and congested, there is actually distinct order to her methodology. [01:30:15]This suggests to me that this child's ego [01:30:20]was constellating orderly contents within the Sandworld [01:30:25]that she was trying to make sense of some type of archetypal struggles [01:30:30]that she was enacting. [01:30:35]Finally, I noticed the inclusion of people. And they were surrounded [01:30:40]by miniature little umm… yellow cars [01:30:45]and trucks of construction and so we see a movement around familial archetypes. [01:30:50]The final piece to this [01:30:55]is the ambulance that was placed next to the container [01:31:00]that was put on top of the mother. In the child's Manadala she create, [01:31:05]she made the statement rather that it was her mother alone that cared for her, [01:31:10]that accepted her. It's very interesting [01:31:15]that she placed the symbol of the ambulance which represents a rescue [01:31:20]right on top of where the mother's symbol is. [01:31:25]Again this is the child possibly representing, conveying, [01:31:30]communicating different images potentially adolescent rights of passage [01:31:35]umm… a relationship with her mother that embodies, [01:31:40]what we call the Good Enough Mother archetype and also a tension of opposites [01:31:45]between freedom and wanting to be cared for and comforted.

[01:31:50] Sandplay Session with Annabelle

[01:31:55] Eric J. GreenAnnabelle today we're going to do Sandplay [01:32:00]and anything else you'd like to do you mention maybe let's do some role-playing. [01:32:05]So, before we start let's take two deep breaths okay, well look [01:32:10]and you know what while we're taking deep breaths you can take the Sand tray, [01:32:15]you see that sand tool over there, that yellow one if you want and you can smooth the sand.

[01:32:20] AnnabelleYeah!

Eric J. GreenIf it makes you feel comfortable, okay, so we're going to take three deep breaths. [01:32:25]One, two, [01:32:30]and do the third one, three. [01:32:35]Good job Annabelle, three, okay. So, do you know what that is?

[01:32:40] AnnabelleA Sand tray.

Eric J. GreenYou knew what it was, it's a sand tray correct, [01:32:45]and today we're going to do sand play. Sandplay is basically when I'm going to sit here [01:32:50]and be quiet and you can create a picture in the sand [01:32:55]and that can be anything you wanted to be and whenever you're done you can use any of these miniatures [01:33:00]you can create a whole picture in there. And whenever you're done we can talk about it [01:33:05]if you want to. How does that sound? Okay. Umm… and then look, here's my Play dough, [01:33:10]sometimes I play with the play dough, while kids are doing sand tray, is that okay with you?

[01:33:15] AnnabelleMm-hm.

Eric J. GreenSo whenever you're ready you can begin, create your stand picture.

[01:33:20] AnnabelleI'm trying to do like a fairy tale thing.

[01:33:25] Eric J. GreenI see.

AnnabelleIt's not really in real life.

Eric J. GreenAh… okay.

[01:33:30][sil.]

[01:33:40] AnnabelleIt's funny that it has a beard.

Eric J. GreenIt is funny.

[01:33:45] AnnabelleDid you watch my little pony before.

[01:33:50] Eric J. GreenYou know, I do sometimes, yeah, especially when I was your age, a long time ago I used to, yeah. [01:33:55]Is there's something about it that reminds you of My Little Pony.

[01:34:00] AnnabelleMm-mm, yeah, 'cause there's this, [01:34:05]there is this unicorn called Twilight [01:34:10]and also her full sitter was cadence and she now has a big sister [01:34:15]'cause shining armor, which is her big brother, [01:34:20]shining armor and Princess cadence marry each other.

[01:34:25] Eric J. GreenWow, okay.

AnnabelleI don't want to spoil too much.

[01:34:30] Eric J. GreenOkay, you don't want, okay, that, well, thank you. Because then I can watch it now and it'll be good for me as well.

[01:34:35][sil.]

[01:34:40] AnnabelleIt's kind of like she's the big sister and she is the little sister.

Eric J. GreenUh-huh.

[01:34:45] AnnabelleAnd they're like walk, they're like taking a walk. [01:34:50]I have something like this.

[01:34:55][sil.]

[01:35:00] AnnabelleOkay, it would be hard for, [01:35:05]to make her stand, so let's just do that.

Eric J. GreenI see.

AnnabelleThat would be that. [01:35:10]She's in a tank right now of water.

Eric J. GreenI see.

[01:35:15] AnnabelleSo that's why it looks like she is on land and she is just in a tank.

[01:35:20] Eric J. GreenI see.

[01:35:25] AnnabelleOkay, I think that would be enough, although a little hard. [01:35:30]And let's just leave it like that [01:35:35]because the ground is not always blue it's like Sandy on the ground.

[01:35:40] Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

AnnabelleAh… not on the fish's face.

[01:35:45][sil.]

[01:36:00] AnnabelleWell not everything's going to be fairytale.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:36:05] AnnabelleLittle house. [01:36:10]And then here's the human world.

[01:36:15] Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

AnnabelleOkay, let me move that a little aside. [01:36:20]This part is the fairy tale world, that part is the human world. [01:36:25]Now, a shell will come in handy now.

[01:36:30] Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:36:35][sil.]

[01:36:40] AnnabelleTrying to bury that up.

[01:36:45][sil.]

[01:36:50] AnnabelleI am covering her [01:36:55]because that's going to be her blanket, although, it's hard to make a perfect blanket.

[01:37:00] Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:37:05] AnnabelleOkay, if anything comes this is going to protect it.

[01:37:10] Eric J. GreenOkay, that's going to protect her. [01:37:15]They are kind of like her guardians.

[01:37:20] Eric J. GreenAh… I see.

[01:37:25] AnnabelleI know, this is too small for them. Just pretend it's not.

[01:37:30] Eric J. GreenI see.

[01:37:35][sil.]

[01:37:40] AnnabelleI've added enough unicorns for now now.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:37:45] AnnabelleMaybe a church, over, [01:37:50]okay, I'm running out of space almost. [01:37:55]Maybe if I just take away the well.

[01:38:00][sil.]

[01:38:05] AnnabelleI think I'm adding this thing.

Eric J. GreenI see.

[01:38:10] AnnabelleWhich has almost no space, so I'll just put it there.

[01:38:15] Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

[01:38:20] AnnabelleThis would go to that. [01:38:25]I'm going to take one of them away.

Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

[01:38:30] AnnabelleSo I can get more space. [01:38:35]Duncan wait, [01:38:40]I can't decide if this one is the mom or this one is the mom.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:38:45] AnnabelleOkay, this one. May, that one's the mom.

Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

[01:38:50][sil.]

[01:38:55] AnnabelleIt's kind of like they're having a meeting.

Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

[01:39:00][sil.]

[01:39:05] AnnabelleOkay, house moved. [01:39:10]She's just lying down [01:39:15]playing with her ball. [01:39:20]Okay, I am now done.

Eric J. GreenWow! You want me to know you're done. Okay, so come see [01:39:25]let's look at these images together, there is so, you put so much effort into this [01:39:30]so I just want to honor it for fifteen seconds, so I'm gonna count to fifteen in my head.

[01:39:35][sil.]

[01:39:40] Eric J. GreenOkay, is there anything you want me to tell me about your stand picture.

[01:39:45] AnnabelleWell, basically, [01:39:50]this half is a human world.

Eric J. GreenI see.

AnnabelleAnd this half is a fairy tale world.

[01:39:55] Eric J. GreenUh-huh.

[01:40:00] AnnabelleThey were split apart as they had to be. [01:40:05]And then there's more Fairy tale stuff.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:40:10] AnnabelleThan human stuff because it was just created that way.

[01:40:15] Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:40:20] AnnabelleAnd then everyone did not believe in them but when one of them crossed over, [01:40:25]they believed in them. Then they told their family about it [01:40:30]and they spread it around the human world.

Eric J. GreenI see.

[01:40:35] AnnabelleAnd then, everyone was going to come, but before they could come in [01:40:40]Glenda the good cast a force field around here, [01:40:45]so the humans wouldn't come back in again.

Eric J. GreenOh, okay.

[01:40:50] AnnabelleBecause the human world is the… Fairy tale world has to be secret [01:40:55]and the human world between the fairy tale world.

Eric J. GreenMm-hm.

[01:41:00] AnnabelleAnd if they emptied out this bucket.

[01:41:05][sil.]

[01:41:10] AnnabelleThe whole fairy tale world would be gone.

Eric J. GreenMm-mm.

[01:41:15] AnnabelleBut still, the only people [01:41:20]who would survive would be these two fairies [01:41:25]and the two queens.

Eric J. GreenMm-mm. Mm-hm.

[01:41:30] AnnabelleAnd that's all I can say.

Eric J. GreenAnnabelle, if you could give this [01:41:35]sand picture a title, could you give it a title if you had to before we play something else.

[01:41:40] AnnabelleFairy tale versus humans.

[01:41:45] Eric J. GreenThank you so much. Okay… [01:41:50]Sandplay as it's defined by Dora Kalff does not typically involve [01:41:55]any verbal interaction from the therapist with the client [01:42:00]while the projections are going on. If you notice throughout the scene [01:42:05]Annabelle umm… was looking at me, talking to me, [01:42:10]wanting to get my reaction, I tried to keep my comments as brief [01:42:15]umm… oftentimes what we do in Jungian play therapy as we say things [01:42:20]like Mm-hm, uh-huh. This is to encourage the continuous production [01:42:25]of the symbols without us interfering [01:42:30]with our heady sometimes adult sounding language. [01:42:35]Annabelle created this Sandplay scene after she was done, [01:42:40]the typical process in Sandplay is we simply honor the image. [01:42:45]So we honor the image and then what we say is, [01:42:50]is there anything you'd like to share about your sand picture, [01:42:55]there's really nothing you have to do, unless you want to. So there is no expectation, [01:43:00]nor invitation for the child to have to explain [01:43:05]what they've created, it is simply their choice. [01:43:10]Annabel being a very young and very articulate child umm… plus the fact [01:43:15]that we did have a relationship wanted to share with me her sand play. [01:43:20]The sand scene here is extremely interesting [01:43:25]as it further amplifies what we saw in Annabelle's mandala. [01:43:30]If you remember from my analysis of her Mandala, [01:43:35]we saw a very healthy connection to the mother daughter relationship, [01:43:40]that axis, I called it the connection to the Good Enough Mother, [01:43:45]we also call it the mother Imago [01:43:50]which is another word for image. In the scene Annabel refers to [01:43:55]a dividing line, a demarcation [01:44:00]between a fantastic world and a very practical external world. [01:44:05]There are multiple ways from a Jungian perspective. We can look at this. [01:44:10]First of all, what I try to do is look at the cultural motifs [01:44:15]and themes that she is functioning from within [01:44:20]in this western society that she's being raised in, but also in the themes [01:44:25]and the mythological continent out of which she is produced. [01:44:30]Looking at the mythology we see she placed several fairies, [01:44:35]a unicorn which she described, we don't ever name objects [01:44:40]we await for the child to name them. And then even most of the times in Sandplay [01:44:45]we don't even encourage that type of detailed analysis. However, Annabel was very talkative. [01:44:50]She said that Glenda, the princess [01:44:55]or the fairy rather with wings had a protective coat over the fantasy world, [01:45:00]and that that was because the people on the left side of the sand tray [01:45:05]which is where the practical or external world existed [01:45:10]didn't quite believe in the fairies. This could be the child's way [01:45:15]of showing us the as if symbolic attitude, [01:45:20]the very individual attitude we described earlier that leads to [01:45:25]the psychic process of transformation. If you recall, [01:45:30]this transformation is called individuation in childhood. Where is the evidence of this? [01:45:35]How do we know this symbolically? It is because [01:45:40]there is a polarity that is balanced between the left side of the sand tray [01:45:45]and the right side, so we see the mythological and the practical. [01:45:50]Not one is better than the other, she described both, [01:45:55]she even has a house, she has a family. In the middle of the Sandplay [01:46:00]she placed a plane, [01:46:05]oftentimes that's a symbol of the egos soaring which was right in the middle. [01:46:10]This is truly representative of her developmental epic [01:46:15]of moving away in some ways, [01:46:20]from the collective container of the home, the familial, [01:46:25]and integrating herself into the school paradigm [01:46:30]which she's been having some struggles with. What we see here is her ego [01:46:35]constellating individuation, that individuation is shown [01:46:40]because in her mind she is presenting a projection [01:46:45]that there is an equanimity or an equal balance [01:46:50]between her inner emotional landscape and her outer world where assaults [01:46:55]to the ego occur. When we look at this analytically [01:47:00]we see a healthy functioning child who even encapsulates religious mythology [01:47:05]as well as family heritage.

[01:47:10] Mandala Session with Annabelle

[01:47:15] Eric J. GreenSo Annabel, [01:47:20]we did a sand play session earlier when you created a sand picture, [01:47:25]and in that sand picture there was which you described a fairy tale world, [01:47:30]that was fantastical with different types of magic creatures [01:47:35]and things that it was, I think you said Glenda [01:47:40]created a force field around it to protect them. And then there, [01:47:45]the other half of the sand world was the human world, okay. [01:47:50]And so, before kids leave [01:47:55]the play session oftentimes we do something called grounding, [01:48:00]and kind of like whenever you're grounded, not like being punished grounded, [01:48:05]but like, it's like kind of when you're close to the ground, maybe sometimes we're in sleeping blankets, [01:48:10]have you ever been in a sleeping blanket? Okay, or a tense or something [01:48:15]and so we feel safe, and so one of the ways that we help ground, [01:48:20]that's like a big word to say help children transition or to move from the playroom [01:48:25]out back to school is we do coloring. And do you ever do coloring at school, [01:48:30]and so coloring maybe, probably makes you feel relaxed [01:48:35]or may be happy. [01:48:40]Okay, so right now I want you to choose any of those Mandala's in that workbook [01:48:45]and I'm going to sit here quietly as you create your Mandala, [01:48:50]and then we'll go and we'll finish our session, it will be done, okay. So you can choose any image [01:48:55]in that Mandala workbook that you'd like, why don't you see if there's one that you want to do [01:49:00]and then I'll sit here quietly as you color, okay, all right.

AnnabelleOkay.

[01:49:05][sil.]

[01:49:10] AnnabelleOkay, I think I changed my mind to this one.

[01:49:15] Eric J. GreenYou decided you want that one, okay, and there's your colors [01:49:20]and I'm going to be pretty much quiet like I was in Sandplay and then whenever you're done [01:49:25]let me know, okay. Color what you like and then umm… we'll have our goodbye [01:49:30]before the end of the session.

AnnabelleOkay.

Eric J. GreenOkay.

[01:49:35][sil.]

[01:49:40] AnnabeklleDone.

[01:49:45] Eric J. GreenYou're done, okay. This is what we call a Mandakla, [01:49:50]it's just a circular shape with, with things inside it. [01:49:55]It's umm… it means a magic circle, you see how they have all the circles. Umm… tell me what those things are going around the circle.

[01:50:00] AnnabelleFish.

Eric J. GreenThose are fish, okay. Um… where are those fish going, [01:50:05]what, what, tell me if there's any store you could tell about this, what would the story be?

[01:50:10] AnnabelleThat they are like circle, they're so happy [01:50:15]so they're circling around the starlet, made everyone happy because once, [01:50:20]star vanished and then every one was sad but now it reappeared.

[01:50:25] Eric J. GreenI see, tell me one thing about the star that makes the fish happy, [01:50:30]what's, what is it about that star that does that.

AnnabelleThe star is magical and the star [01:50:35]it's a star of happiness and then without it [01:50:40]the whole ocean would be sad.

[01:50:45] Eric J. GreenI see, so it sounds like this star brings a lot of happiness to all those fish [01:50:50]and without it the fish would be sort of lost. [01:50:55]Annabelle what brings you happiness in your life?

AnnabelleMy mom.

Eric J. GreenYour mom, okay, [01:51:00]All right. If you could give this Mandala a title, [01:51:05]would you call it anything?

[01:51:10] AnnabelleThe fishy's pretty star fish.

Eric J. GreenThe… say it again.

AnnabelleThe fishy's pretty star fish.

[01:51:15] Eric J. GreenThe fishy's pretty star fish, oh, okay. [01:51:20]If you were inside this Mandala, where might you be? If you could be inside it, [01:51:25]in your imagination where would you be?

AnnabelleThe ocean, and I was scuba diving.

[01:51:30] Eric J. GreenYou would be in the ocean, I see, scuba diving. [01:51:35]Okay, all right. Is there anything else you'd like to share about it.

[01:51:40] AnnabelleNo.

Eric J. GreenOkay, well, you know, we're done for today. [01:51:45]Umm… I usually ask kids, the last question I ask them is, how do you feel now that we've had time to play [01:51:50]and color and do Sandplay.

AnnabelleHappy.

Eric J. GreenYou feel happy? [01:51:55]What does happy feel like, tell me what that's like?

AnnabelleI smile and I am happy.

[01:52:00] Eric J. GreenYeah, okay, me too. Thank you for coming today and I'll see you soon. [01:52:05]Next we have my Jungian analysis [01:52:10]of Annabelle's analytic work with me in the symbols that were produced [01:52:15]throughout the play therapy sessions that we conducted. [01:52:20]First, she chose to do a Mandala. As you can see, [01:52:25]the Mandala is filled with blue. When I asked, [01:52:30]when she was talking about it rather, she said it was the sea [01:52:35]and that she could go scuba diving in the sea. That is the obvious [01:52:40]or the concretization of the psyche producing an image [01:52:45]that the child can relate to from a subjective or Jungian perspective, [01:52:50]blue oftentimes represents the unknown, the unconscious. [01:52:55]The developmental stage this child is in is representative [01:53:00]of her emerging from that of being a young toddler [01:53:05]to going into her early to middle childhood, [01:53:10]where there are a lot of unknowns. One of those unknowns [01:53:15]she mentions later which we play out related to her going to school by herself [01:53:20]without her parents being there. In this Mandala [01:53:25]she talks about the little fishies swimming around. [01:53:30]I asked her, I said, "Tell me a little bit about these fishies, what's happening?" [01:53:35]her response was, "they're all happy, because the starfish in the middle." [01:53:40]At this point I recognized [01:53:45]that the starfish could be the embodiment of Annabel's self healing archetype. [01:53:50]We are not so arrogant as to ever assume as therapist [01:53:55]or counsellors anything about what anyone does. [01:54:00]So, I ask her, "Tell me about the star fish, [01:54:05]what is it about the starfish that makes it, so that the other fish are happy. [01:54:10]She said, "Because it makes them feel good, [01:54:15]because it's nice, it brings about positive energy that was a summation. [01:54:20]In doing Jungian analysis, [01:54:25]we in our minds formulate clinical suppositions or hypothesis. [01:54:30]We don't verbalize those to the child as it would be inappropriate [01:54:35]and we just keep them as suppositions, we confirm or reject them [01:54:40]based only upon the child's feedback, [01:54:45]so this truly as I said earlier is a phenomenal logical perspective [01:54:50]of the symbols leading the child to the healing, not us leading them to the healing. [01:54:55]We don't actually do any healing in Jungian play therapy, [01:55:00]we are just humble patient observers facilitating an environment for the child [01:55:05]to heal him or herself. Last, as we were amplifying [01:55:10]the self healing archetype, I said to her, "Annabelle, [01:55:15]what kinds of things make you happy and feel good." Well first I said, "How do you know if you're happy" and she said, [01:55:20]"I smile" and then I smiled and then I said, "Is there anyone [01:55:25]like the starfish to those fish that make you happy? And she identified her mother. [01:55:30]Again this is extremely salient as it represents [01:55:35]the close tie and the healthy bond she has with what we call the enema [01:55:40]or the female archetype that's in her life.

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Subject: Childhood development; Individuality; Imprinting; Modeling behavior; Symbols; Expressive psychotherapy; Art therapy; Play therapy; Child development

Identifier / keyword: Counseling & Therapy; Psychology & Counseling; Health Sciences; Theoretical Approaches to Counseling; Youth; Theory; Analytical Psychology

Clip length: 01:56:15

Creative role: Green, Eric J; (Therapist)

Publication year: 2013

Publisher: Microtraining Associates

Location: Alexandria, VA

Source type: Audio or Video Work

Language of publication: English

Document type: Transcript, Audio/Video Clip, Lecture/presentation

ProQuest document ID: 1822673731

Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/audio-video-works/jungian-play-therapy-sandplay-with-children-myth/docview/1822673731/se-2?accountid=39522

Copyright: Copyright © 2013 by Microtraining Associates, Copyright © 2016. Academic Video Online

Last updated: 2022-02-03

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