ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses aspects of child development, both in theory and in practice. It presents, more specifically, a discussion about children who exhibit feelings of gender incongruity without manifesting any disorders of sexual development. This discussion intends to reflect, from the principle of alterity, on how a child that presents gender issues can manifest him or herself in a more complex and creative form and in line with the emerging paradigms. The Sandplay analytical setting is considered to be a creative space that promotes a playful experience as a way of connecting to the Self to achieve self-regulation and psychic transformation. Ruth Ammann also clarifies that the psychological mechanism of ‘creative regression’, stimulated by the experience of Sandplay, offers the way for the transformation of deep and unconscious complexes. Children can find in Sandplay therapy a creative space to actualise potentials, work with inner conflicts and strengthen the ability to face their developmental challenges.
