Gestalt Therapy - A podcast about living here and now

Episode 16 - Gestalt Therapy Experiment called Sandplay

In Gestalt Therapy we use different experiments.  In earlier episodes for example I have already mentioned the empty chair experiment. This time I have a guest Emanuelle Lamberty who uses the experiment called Sandplay in her Gestalt Therapy praxis. Emanuelle is of Belgian and Luxembourgish origin and has her praxis in Belgium right at the Luxembourgish border. She has lived in The US and Germany, loves to learn new languages and finds her inspiration in nature, creativity and existential matters.

Figure of today

Using experiments in Gestalt Therapy sessions can bring new awareness for clients. They are called experiments because you never know what will come out of it. There is no right or wrong result.

Sandplay uses a vast amount of objects placed in a tray of sand, these objects could be anything, elements of nature, cartoons, household etc. The clients use these objects to communicate whatever they feel like.

How is this important?

Sandplay is a very practical tool, it is very useful for people who are in their heads a lot and have trouble finding the words. It helps create realisations, some clients come in the therapy room with a question about one thing but end up realising that something else is more important to work on because of the object that person has chosen.

What’s Gestalt in all of this?

Using Sandplay is to really go into something, using action by choosing and placing the object and visualising the problem or issue at hand.

Awareness is also important in Sandplay, what the client is feeling when touching the sand or placing the objects. The sensations of the body as well as the mind are the connecting factors for using Sandplay as a Gestalt Therapy experiment.

References :

Inventor of Sandplay - Margaret Lowenfeld

More about Emanuelle;

www.elamberty.be (website in French only ; sessions in French, English and Luxembourgish)

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Just a quick disclaimer:

All case-stories are anonymised and no clients directly quoted without prior written consent.

And remember any information you hear on this podcast, see on the willegestalt website, facebook page or Instagram is for information purposes only and should never be a substitute for actual mental and/or medical advice from a doctor, psychiatrist or any other health professional.