TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1.0

Introduction
Procedure and Techniques
2.1
Therapist qualifications
2.2
Client characteristics
2.3
Logistics
2.4
Sand play Evaluation
Sand play Evaluation
3.1
Interpretation of formal aspects
3.2
Context analysis
3.3
Final analysis
Conclusion
Attachment
References

Introduction
The form of play-diagnosis and play-therapy that has been used widely in
Sweden during the last 40 years is called the Erica-Method and was developed at the
Erica Institute in Stockholm. It has its roots in the World-Technique, developed by the

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British psychiatrist Dr. Margaret Lowenfeld, and utilizes a standardized material that
consists of sandboxes and miniature toys. Comprehensive registration and
interpretation are provided in the manual, and the method is a very useful tool for
better understanding of both developmental, neurological and psychopathological
problems of childhood.
The Erica Method is named after the plant Erica Telrarix. This plant is noted
for its strength and hardiness as well as for its soft, pink, lovely flower. In like
manner, the Erica Method combines the two elements of structured observation and
clinical intuition. More specifically, the Erica Method combines the hardiness of a
formal, reality-based observation with the softness and fragility of empathic contact
with the child.
Sand play therapy is a more generic term referring to a variety of effective
ways of using sand, figures, and a container from different theoretical perspectives.
Sand play therapy emphasizes the spontaneous and dynamic qualities of the creative
experience itself. The essence of sand play is non-verbal and symbolic.
In what Kalff called the "free and protected place" provided by the tray and
the relationship with the therapist, children and adults play with sand, water, and
miniatures over a period of time, constructing concrete manifestations of their inner
world.
When energies in the form of "living symbols" are touched upon in the
personal and collective unconscious, healing can happen spontaneously within a
person at an unconscious level. As a more harmonious relationship between the
conscious and the unconscious develops, the ego is restructured and strengthened
(Lauren Cunningham,1997, p1). The process of individuation is stimulated and
brought to fruition (Dora M. Kalff, 1991, p1).
There is no right way to use sand. It invites participation; it permits children to
make and test hypotheses; it stretches the imagination; it provides a potentially
soothing sensory experience; and it is an excellent avenue for children to learn
physical, cognitive, and social skills.
Because sand play is open-ended, the child determines the direction and path
of his or her own play. This freedom then clears the way for the child to build
developmental concepts.
According to constructivist theory (Piaget, 1945), children have an inner drive
to build an understanding of their world as they explore and interact with materials.
Concepts about how the world works are built gradually and become increasingly

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complex as the child enters a rich learning environment and exercises his or her
freedom to play.

2.0

Procedure and Techniques

Procedure and technique have several important points, such aspects as therapist
qualifications, client characteristics, logistics and play observation.

2.1

Therapist qualifications

By asking open-ended questions, the teacher provides a framework that

enables children to learn more than they could on their own. Vygotsky (1933) called
this framework a scaffold. The teacher provides support for learning, then gradually
withdraws that support as children become able to do more and more on their own.
The teacher first carefully prepares a challenging, intriguing environment. She then
asks open-ended, purposeful questions which build a bridge for children to cross the
gap between what they could accomplish with appropriate scaffolding.
The Erica Method is used primarly by psychiatrist, psychologists and social
workers in child guidance setting. However, the method is increasingly being used by
school counselors as an effective way of communicating with children.
Even though child clinicians can easily understand the Erica Method and
incorporate it into their daily work, they should have a thorough background in child
development and some knowledge of projective methods. A year-long course is taught
at the Erica Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, where theories of psychodynamic
psychology and projective testing are interspersed with clinical experience. A similar
training program is taught by The Erica Institute in Connecticut, and workshops are
presented throughout the United States on a regular basis.
As we know, the traditional psychological therapy methods often emphasize
the interpretation and help the client find the way to cure, but the sandplay therapy

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asks the therapist to do nothing. Dora Kalff once said, It is harder to do nothing
than to do something.(Linda Ellis Dean,1996, p1).
The silent respectful acceptance of the images created during the sandplay
process allows the client to feel increasingly safe and free. As this happens the images
seem to come less from the ego and personal unconscious, and more from the deeper
levels of the human psyche, or the collective unconscious.
If, as Jung believed, the human psyche has the ability to regulate its own path
toward wholeness, healing comes from this deep level of the psyche rather than from
outside. So the therapist must be capable of establishing a free and protected space,
they should possess an openness that is the fruit of an open encounter with ones own
dark and unknown sides.

2.2

Client characteristics
The Erica Method is most commonly used with children between the ages of 3

and 12, but the concept of combining toys and sand is really ageless. Both adolescents
and adults, at times, welcome the opportunity to give gestalt to their life experiences
without necessarily using words for communication.
The nonverbal aspects of the method make it possible to communicate with a
population who, for developmental or other reasons cannot respond to verbal tasks.
The Erica Method is used very successfully in a number of schools for deaf children.
Children who have experienced trauma and abuse are also good candidates for
the Erica Method because they might have difficulty discussing their experiences. The
toys and the sandtray give them an opportunity to vent their feelings and reveal their
background in a nonthreating and safe manner.
Throwing sand or destroying the toys is usually not productive to the
therapeutic process, and limits should be set for such behaviour. A child who will
continuously challenge these limits is probably overwhelmed by the situation and not
ready to function within the structure of the method.

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The great majority of children adapt easily to the task of building a world and
can use the materials in a very productive manner.

2.3

Logistics
When children enter the playroom, they are introduced to the toys, which are

kept in an open cabinet with shelves divided into 12 compartments. It is a good rule to
try to keep the observations as clean as possible by removing other kids of toys or
materials from the observations room.
The toys are arranged in the cabinet along a continuum from peaceful to
aggressive on the vertical axes. They are arranged on the horizontal axes by whether
they are moving, active, or static. A small piece of clay is also provided so the child
can create whatever they might miss from among the collection of types. All of the
different Erica toys carry different symbolic significance. Some have individual
symbolic value, where as other are ambiguous.
During the development of the method, a concerted effort was made to make
the material as rich as possible so as to provide children with many sources of
identification and symbolic expression. The toys were and still are, collected from
many parts of the world and include cannons, boats, fences, trees and buildings of
various types and sizes, and vehicles like a sports cars, trucks and lorries.

2.4

The play observation

When the child has chosen a sandtray, the examiner sits in a place that allows

observing and recording of the childs behaviour without intruding into the childs
play. The examiner openly makes continuous and chronological notes regarding the
childs activities. Example what the childs touches, examines and places in the sand.
As well as the childs comments, questions, facial expressions and behavior in general.
The method of observation is nondirective in that the examiner attempts to be
passive and neutral while remaining interested and supportive of what the child is
doing. The examiner does not intrude with questions or suggestions. The purpose of
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the observation is to make the child feel free to express thoughts and feelings through
the medium of the sand and toys. Thus, the method is more toy-centered than
relationship-centered. It is important to create a relaxed and calm atmosphere and to
avoid making suggestions or giving selective support to the childs expressions or
behaviours.

3.0

Sand play Evaluation

In evaluating a childs play constructions, one must consider both formal and content

aspects. In the analysis, each of the three sandtrays is evaluated separately. The final
evaluation is based on the continuity and repetition of structual as well as thematic elements.
It is only by analyzing both formal and content variables that the full projective picture of the
childs sand play emerges.
The psychological aspects of the Erica Method of evaluation provide insight into a
childs psychological functioning as projected in the play; whether are their thoughts clear
and easily understood, or is there fusion of thoughts and peculiarities.
The observation forms can help provide an overview of such formal aspects as which
sandtray (dry or wet) the children choose, how they treat the sand or whether they use the
whole surface of the tray, as opposed to building only in corner. Information regarding how
much time the children use and how they use the material is noted as well as general
information regarding such behavioral aspects as relatedness to the examiner and affect level.
Different columns on the scoring sheets help outline this information over the three
observations and assist the examiner in formulating hypotheses and diagnostic impressions
upon which the final recommendations are made.

3.1

Interpretation of formal aspects

Formal aspects of a childs play include such aspects as choice and treatment

of the sand, number of the toys and categories used, developmental level of sand play,
changes and corrections, time limits and level of compositions.
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The process of three consecutive observations is very important in the

formulation of hypotheses and treatment plans. Comparisons between the three
sandtrays will help the examiner assess the nature of the childs problem as well as
given information as to the severity of the problem. If the three sandtray constructions
show gradual improvement, it probably means that the childs difficulties are of a
more reactive and transient nature.
A child can be so stimulated by the tactile sensation of touching and stroking
the sand as to become unable to move beyond this behavior and constructively use the
rest of the material. Brushing sand off hands and clothes is a normal and commom
behavior. However, children who are anxious about getting dirty and messy may
become so upset when they get sand on them that they insist on cleaning up right
away. Sometimes children are so concerned about cleanlines that they refuse to use
the sand at all and will only build on the wooden ledge surrounding the sandtray.
The childs choice of wet or dry sand can be diagnostic. At the first
observation, it is more common for children to use dry sand. Dry sand is safe and does
not require a lot of effort. Sometimes children will use both sandtrays or switch the
activity from one tray to the other. Bright and creative children may run out of space
and continue their creation in the form of a lake or sea in the wet sand. Children will
shape the wet sand into some kind of construction. The way the child use the surface
of the sandtray is often related to age.
The level of composition provides important developmental information and
has been found to be related both to age and to IQ (Hardling1965). The level of
composition of a childs sand world will range from chaos to a meaningful whole. The
older child will try to bring order and meaning to the task of constructing a world and
should be able to put the toys together and meaningful was so as to create scene and
stories. In general, most children around the age of 7 have reached a development
level at which they can perceive and express reality in a coherent and organized
fashion. Therefore, they should be able to use the Erica materials to create a
meaningful world in the sand (Denielson,1976;Harding,1965;Kessler,1966).
Before age 7, young children will often place the toys without paying attention
to what they present. Thus, they cannot combine the toys in a meaningful manner.
They do not perceive the toys as relating to outer reality, so they often place them at
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random in the sandtray. Most commonly, a childs sand world will represent one of
the following levels of composition.
Indifferent placement are typical of children around the ages of 2 and 3 and
indicate that the child cannot perceive the relationship among the toys and is not
concerned if they are placed upside-down or jumbled together in a meaningless
haphazard pattern. Children at this age see reality more in term of concrete and
individual object and have difficultly arranging memories and perception into
meaningful constructions.

Constructions in the sand tray at this age will often

resemble the childs way of speaking in incomplete sentences, that is, trying to
communicate through the use of one or two words
Sorting toys according to similar, such as colours or categories, is a normal
behaviour for children around the age of 3. A sorted category has no meaningful
connection to other categories except in the way it is placed in the sand. So all the cars
might end up in one corner of the box, and all the people and trees are placed in other
corners. Children who simply sort the toys are often defending against underlying
chaos.

3.2

Context analysis
Content analysis involves the examination of themes in one or several of the

childs worlds and the relationship with them. The content is what the worlds are all
about. Similar to popular responses on the Rorschach test, there is a tendency for
certain world to appear more frequently in childrens play, such as war scenes, cities,
traffic scenes, country scenes,farms and zoo scenes.
The childs description of the world after it is finished gives valuable
information about the meaning of the creation.Some children, however, do not have
the verbal capacity to explain what they have created, and the examiner then has to
reply on clinical judgement.Are they repeated themes of loneliness, aggressiveness, or
nurturance? Are they violent crashes or accidents? How do human figures relate to
each other? Are they objects of identification? Is the child describing scary scenes
from real life, or is the play a projection of wishful thinking?

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Most normal children, particularly boys, will build at least one aggressive
scene. So the task of the examiner is to interpret how aggressive the worlds are,that is,
how intense or frequent the aggressive play is. Is the child identifying with the victim
or with the aggressor; for example, is the child using active or passive soldiers? These
observations provide information not only in terms of how children view aggression,
but also in terms of how they handle their own aggressive feelings.

3.3

Final analysis
After the three play session, the information collected on the observation sheet

and from note taking is ready to be condensed and interpreted by the examiner using
both the formal and the content aspects. This leads to hypotheses regarding the childs
developmental level, personality, strengths, defences and psychological problems.
Beside generating diagnostic impressions, the Erica Method play sessions are
excellent opportunities for the examiner to observe the childs interpersonal
relatedness and likely response to psychotherapy.

4.0

Conclusion
Children have a natural affinity for sand play. Teachers can build on that interest by

providing children with inviting props, asking appropriate questions, and scheduling ample
time for children to work through their play ideas. While the teacher provides the stimulating
environment to enhance concept development and skill building, it is important that the sand
play area remain free and child centre so that children may generate their own play schemes
imaginatively.
It is through purposeful, self-initiated play that children move beyond the world of
what is to become the strongest, the wisest, the most competent and skilled participants in the
world of what could be. We need to invite children to explore the time-tested natural
ingredients of play so that they, too, might stretch their toes really far.
Besides the diagnostic information provided by the Erica Method as such, the
evaluations are excellent opportunities for general clinical observations. During the course of
the three sessions, the examiner will have ample opportunities to observe the childs general
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behavior, concentration, spontaneity, creativity, verbal abilities, fine motor functioning, and
so on. The final outcome is generally a very comprehensive picture of the child.
Although the Erica Method, as described in this chapter is a diagnostic method used
for the understanding of childrens feelings and behaviors, it has its origin in child theraphy,
and the material can readily be used for therapeutic purposes. Sand is an excellent medium
for children of all ages and together with water. It readily lends itself to the demonstration of
a large variety of fantasies.
In the process of play therapy, the therapist, according to his or her individual style,
can use the Erica Method materials to communicate without words and provide the child with
an opportunity to play out feelings in a safe and accepting atmosphere.
On the basis of available research and perspectives on the difficulties of research in
this area, several tentative conclusions may be made. The first of these is that the available
case study accounts of positive therapeutic outcomes associated with sand play therapy
should be considered as valid clinical evidence for the therapeutic efficacy of the technique.
Also, the lack of scientific validation may at this stage be viewed as reflective of
methodological limitations, rather than a conclusive indication that sand play therapy is
ineffective or inappropriate for therapeutic work with children. Finally, conclusions regarding
the nature of outcomes associated with the practice of sand play therapy will be greatly
informed by going attempts to address the challenge of creating a research design that
incorporates both processes and outcomes.
As the range of presenting issues and diversity of student needs continue to grow,
school guidance counsellors will be increasingly required to draw on a large range of skills
and abilities to assist with multiple and complex problems and circumstances. Sand play
therapy needs to be considered as a valued and therapeutically effective part of those school
guidance programs.
(3079 words)
Attachment

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References
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Kevin J.OConnor, Charles E.Schaefer(1983) Handbook of play Therapy.Canada.

Play-diagnosis

and

therapy

in

Sweden:

The

Erica-Method.

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PB.pdf[accessed Nov 1, 2015].

Sandtray-Worldplayhttp://vision-quest.us/vqisr/The%20Sandtray Worldplay%20Method
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Counsellorshttp://eprints.qut.edu.au/1942/1/1942.pdf[accessed Nov 9, 2015].
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Level Clinicians http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1026&context=edissertations_sp2[accessed Nov 10, 2015].
Making the Most of Sand
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ArticleID=62[accessed Nov 11, 2015].

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