Sandplay Therapy: A Path Beyond Words

Have you ever felt something deeply but struggled to explain it? Sandplay therapy works with that space beyond words.

So much of what shapes our feelings and behaviour lives below the surface of conscious thought. While talking can give us insights, it often isn’t enough to touch the deeper layers that hold our experiences, patterns, and pain. Sandplay offers a way to reach what lies just out of sight.

What is Sandplay?

Sandplay is a creative, non-verbal therapeutic process.

This is the Sandplay tray itself — a simple container of sand, with shelves of miniature figures waiting to be chosen.

What begins as arranging objects often becomes a doorway into feelings and stories that words alone can’t reach.

These scenes become an expression of your inner world — feelings, memories, or parts of yourself that are difficult to put into words.

It’s not “just playing in the sand,” and it’s not only for children. Adults often find Sandplay to be a powerful, transformative process that reveals root causes, shifts old patterns, and brings healing where talking alone may not reach

The Crucible Centre lineage: Active Sandplay

Here are my teachers, John and Hilary James with Marg Garvan, at the Crucible Centre in the Blue Mountains in 2005.

Their pioneering work in what became known as Active Sandplay. I love this moment of John, Hilary, and Marg laughing together — a reminder that alongside the depth, there is lightness, creativity, and human connection.

Traditional Jungian Sandplay invites the unconscious to express itself in the sand, allowing meaning to emerge slowly over time. At the Crucible Centre, John, Hilary, and Marg introduced a more active dimension — engaging with the symbols while the process was “hot.” By drawing on Gestalt methods, deep inner searching, and transpersonal perspectives, they created a way for clients to explore the meaning of their images in the moment, often bringing profound insight and resolution.

This collaborative approach showed that Sandplay could be both deeply symbolic and immediately transformative. It asked much of the practitioner too, requiring significant personal development to be able to hold the intensity of the work with safety and integrity. I feel honoured to carry forward their teachings, especially knowing the spirit of all three continues to inspire the practice today.

The transpersonal dimension

Sandplay has always had a transpersonal quality. Working with symbols in the sand often connects us to something larger than ourselves — a sense of meaning, intuition, or spirit that goes beyond the personal story. In this way, Sandplay can be both a psychological process and a spiritual journey, inviting healing on multiple levels.

A safe and personal space

This is my own Sandplay space in Sydney’s Inner West.

Here, you have the freedom to explore at your own pace, knowing that everything you create in the sand is honoured and held with care.

Who is Sandplay for?

This Sandtray was created by me during a retreat on Pumpkin Island in 2003. It was one of many formative experiences in my own Work.

Sandplay can support people of all ages. In my practice, I often work with adults navigating life changes, chronic illness, emotional stress, or a desire for deeper self-understanding.

It’s particularly helpful if you’ve found that talking only goes so far and you’re curious to explore another dimension of healing.

Honouring my teachers

And finally, another image of John, Hilary, and Marg during a Sandplay retreat on Pumpkin Island in 2005.

Their shared vision and dedication to this work remain a constant source of inspiration for me.

I offer this work with gratitude for their shared vision, courage, and dedication