Extended Sand Tray Therapy Tray- Student #5

by Student #5
(Mercer University- Atlanta campus)

For this sand tray for sand tray therapy , I really spent time trying to conceptualize a recent issue, dilemma, or state of mind I could depict with my tray. Immediately what came to mind for me was my feelings of being overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the demands of the program, overwhelmed with my responsibilities as a mother, overwhelmed with juggling school, work, and my internship, and just the daily ins and outs of life. As you will see in my tray, I tried to capture a story of myself going through a battle. In the first tray, there is the image of myself on one side and a small army of people on the other side that are against me. This army symbolizes all of the stressors I mentioned earlier. In the second tray, the stress starts to get bigger. I added both a Batman and Superman to demonstrate the power of the stress. In the next tray, I added snakes. This added a dimension of venom, or people who are vindictive, spiteful, and hateful as well as people who don't want to see me succeed. You can also see that my body is starting to sink into the sand as I feel more and more pressure. In the next tray, I added a huge army tank. This tank represents the program and how out of control I sometimes feel when I'm overloaded. At this point, my body is completely covered by the sand and you can only see the very top of my head. In the final tray, I incorporate the one piece of strength I feel I can always continuously rely on: my faith. The cross behind me represents the faith for me to continue pushing on, encouraging me to never give up and to endure and push through because tough times never last forever. At this point, I am elevated on top of a hill and all of my enemies, stress, and seemingly difficult situations are below me and no longer powerful.

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