ABSTRACT
Often the group sandtray therapist may desire to artificially and temporarily divide the group sandtray into sections. For example, this may be valuable when working with enmeshed or disengaged families or shifting from individual trays to group sandtray. This is easily done in a group sandtray by using dowels. (Again, dowels are available at home center stores where they will cut them to your requested lengths.) In the 3-foot by 3-foot sandtray just described, dowels of about 18 inches provide several uses. For example, use the dowels to divide the tray into four quadrants for a family of four. Each family member initially has their own section in which to work, while still participating
within the larger family tray. At some appropriate time in the therapeutic process, the dividers can be reconfigured to have space for a parent subsystem and another for the children subsystem. The family can then work on realigning these subsystems, which are often in disarray because of a number of systemic issues. Finally, all dividers may be removed for the family to collectively create together in the sandtray.
