Diane Gattermann, MA, MFT, ATR, nd

Art Therapy

Art therapy adds a creative element to the process of psychotherapy and can be helpful in exploring issues that come up in individual, couple or family therapy.  By including art in the therapy process, it gives the client the opportunity to express themselves visually and symbolically, as well as helping you to explore ideas that may lay underneath the surface.  Art therapy offers creative opportunities to explore problems and unlock doors that may previously have lain hidden.  The process of art is in itself healing.  No artistic skills or creative background is needed to benefit from art therapy.

For more information regarding art therapy, please consult The Art Therapy Association of Quebec (Association des arts-thérapeutes du Québec) at www.aatq.org

Sandplay

Sandplay is a creative arts modality that can be used in addition to verbal psychotherapy to explore situations and blocks that one would explore in individual, couple or family therapy. It was developed in the 1950's by Dora Kalff, a Jungian therapist, and while this method was originally designed to work with children, it tends to bring about astounding “ah hah!” moments in many adults.

The sandplay process consists of a “sandtray”, which is essentially a wooden rectangle (approximately 19.5 x 28.5 x 2.75 inches; floor and sides painted with water-resistant bright-blue paint) which is filled with sand.

Clients have at their disposal a number of small figures with which they create their internal worlds in the sandtray.

The figures represent a cross-section of inanimate and animate beings which we encounter in the external world as well as in the inner imaginative world: trees, plants, stones, wild and domesticated animals, ordinary women and men pursuing various activities, soldiers, fairytale figures, religious figures from diverse cultural spheres, houses, bridges, ships, vehicles, etc.

The client is given the possibility, by means of figures and the arrangement of the sand in the area bounded by the sandbox, to set up a world corresponding to his or her inner state and world. In this manner, through free, creative play, unconscious processes are made visible in a three-dimensional form and a pictorial world then appears which is comparable to the dream experience. It is often in these sandplay creations that clients break through bogged-down conceptions and fears and find in the sandplay a new relationship to their own depth.

For more information on sandplay, please, go to: www.sandplay.ca

Here is what some of my clients* have said about sandplay:

“Sandplay offers a unique way to interact in the process of therapy. It digs into new spaces, captures ideas perhaps not expressed through therapy conversations. It offers a different way of “being” in the process.”

“I felt the use of sandplay therapy gave me symbolic tools to express myself and exchange with my partner.  The use of objects to represent aspects of one's self is a good example of how an image is worth a thousand words.”

“To be fair, I had some reservations about this therapy but in the end it was surprisingly revealing. It opens a window into the subconscious if you're honest and true to yourself. It made me realize quite a few things that I wasn't seeing before.”

“Sandplay enables participants to gain a greater understanding of the multi-faceted dynamics that make up their lives. Here specifically sandplay helps establish how individuals view their situation and the role they themselves play in it.”

* The above comments have been used with  full client consent.  The names are withheld to maintain confidentiality.