Sand Tray Therapy Project: Childhood Home Sand Tray

by #2 Summer 2014
(Atlanta, GA)

Ahh the Childhood Home Sand Tray project for sand tray therapy class, initially I had a little anxiety about creating this tray and I was afraid that I would not have the miniatures I wanted to truly represent my childhood home. I was mistaken, I had exactly what I needed to create this tray.
I used the purple necklace to create a boundary between my home and the rest of the world. In the far left hand corner I placed a nest with a seashell, inside the seashell are small rocks which represent the five children that my mother created. On top of the nest is a bird which depicts my mother and her ability to keep us safe and nurtured. The lady in the tray is my mother, she has roller skates on and is having a difficult time balancing; sometimes she rides the skateboard and glides by and other times she is shaky, but she always stays on her feet. The house was filled with a lot of love and laughter always; I always knew I was loved.
On the purple barrier is a scorpion which represents the fact danger and pain sometimes entered our world; it is placed on the barrier because sometime it is inside and sometime it is outside; the same is true for the spider on the bridge and the bumble bee. On the other side of the bridge is a cross that is partially buried; to represent the fact that spirituality was not a part of our life but it did exist outside of our world. This is the main aspect missing from our upbringing. If we would have had a spiritual connection then we may have healed faster from trauma and had a positive coping mechanism. Having a relationship with God teaches us that we do not have to rely only on ourselves.
One of the best things that my mother did to protect us was to move us from the city to the next county over. Although, there was still some crime and safety issues; had we stayed in the city in which we were born it would have been a lot worse. She was able to separate us from daily contact with family members who were not positive or the best role models. The purple barriers also represents the distance that she placed between us and our extended family.


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