ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the sandplay series of three females, each of whom was in the midst of a biological life transition. In these cases, sandplay activated the instinctual wisdom of the psyche and provided the space necessary for initiatory life experience. For each of these females, something from a deep archetypal source knew that a meaningful rite must be performed to acknowledge the passage from one life stage to another.
The first case – of a ten-year-old girl exhibiting withdrawal, anxiety, and depression – illustrates how sandplay helped her transition into adolescence. The second case involved a young woman who was 17 and had not yet begun to menstruate. Her sandplay experience helped her make the transition from her childhood state into a fuller and more developed sense of womanhood. The third case began with a woman in her early forties who came into treatment because she had a feeling of emptiness and that her life seemed without any direction. During the ensuing ten-year series of periodic sandplay, the process helped her transition into menopause – and a much fuller and more satisfying life.
