ABSTRACT
The use of the sand tray, as with any therapeutic intervention or technique, should be purposeful, intentional, and selected for a specific goal. Some therapists use sandtray therapy as the sole or primary intervention with clients. While this may be the appropriate choice for some therapists or clients, we suggest that there are times in the therapeutic process that may particularly prove amenable to sandtray intervention. In traditional talk therapy, counselors are trained to pay attention to nonverbal communication by the client. Analytically trained psychotherapists who use sandtray therapy may spend a great deal of time in the assessment or interpretation of the structural organization of the sandtray. A sandtray is considered an Empty World if there are less than 50 items used in the tray, and less than five different categories. The Closed/Fenced configuration is identified when the client uses fences or other items to divide the scene in the sandtray.
