our task

2: Our Task To clarify our path through diversity we must Define Terms and Delineate Boundaries for Theory, Technique, Application � Sand Therapy Culture and Diversity Clinical Efficacy Cultural Competency

3: Conference Objectives 1. Identify two issues related to diversity, ethnicity, and culture in play therapy All sand scenes are imbued with representations of culture and culture-related issues Ethnocentrism and personal bias seep into our understanding and interpretation of sand scenes, no matter the population Culturally conscious interventions require skills to address subjectivity, complexity, overt & covert cultural dynamics

4: Conference Objectives 2. Identify the importance and impact of sand therapy use with at  least two different populations Sand therapy requires little or no verbal explanation from the client. Hence it is useful with clients who are unable to speak, use a different language, can not trust, are unable to speak of their trauma, or have a world view unfamiliar to the therapist. As a powerful non-verbal, symbolic, creative process, sand therapy reaches levels of psychotherapeutic healing where we can not go�where differences in cultural worlds limit understanding and articulation. Consider populations with PTSD and clients who are severely oppressed.

5: Conference Objectives 3. Identify two points regarding the significance of culture-related  representations in sand scenes. All objects in a sand scene are imbued with many levels of meaning. The most significant meaning is that given by the client through his or her personal associations. Cultural icons, artifacts, symbols and toys carry the meaning of the culture of origin, evolving cultural meanings, and merged meanings when two or more cultures meet.  Gender, generation, geography, class, and social constructions influence interpretation. The arrangement of a sand scene contains idiosyncratic and culture specific meanings and sets up tensions among objects.

6: Defining Diversity Economic Class, Gender,Sexual Orientation, Ability, Religion, GeographyCultural AssociationsHistorical Moment, Familial ArrangementsEducation, Power-Affiliations Language

7: Tribute by Laverne Ross �Ethnicity is the product of actions undertaken by ethnic groups as they shape and reshape their self-definition and culture; however, ethnicity is also constructed by external social, economic, and political processes and actors as they shape and reshape ethnic categories and definitions.� Joane Nagel

8: Cultural Identity encompasses unique constructions of a Self-Concept and a sense of belonging to Group Identification with positive and negative attitudes toward one's Self & the Identity Group

9: Dancing �til Dawn by Marianne Millar Diversity is best understood as a dynamic, constantly evolving property of both individual identity and group dynamics.  The construction of ethnic identity & cultural affiliation is the result of unconscious energies and a dialectic played out by culture-specific groups and the larger society.

10: Our Creative Roots We began our journey to bridge the internal with our life-world over 30,000 years ago. We represented culture on cave walls, monoliths & stone artifacts. Story, society and cultural icons merged to bridge inner images and experience. We continue to create and redefine ourselves. Sand scenes reflect the sacred ritual of the ancestors and our innate capacity to transform through the symbolic.

11: No Sand Scene is Malicious, Violent, or Ignorant It is a Container to Hold Our life-long emotional wounds Inner turmoil, confusion, and fears Judgments & misunderstandings Our experience of alienation & oppression It is a Space to Create Expressions of unique cultural experience Renewed hope for ourselves & our cultural Other Alternative configurations for a multi-layered identity Renewal of hope, personal efficacy & community It is a Way for Transformation of Cultural Being-in-the-World

12: From Disenfranchisement to Understanding Hope lies in the efficacy of the clinician to Adopt Critical Thinking, Develop Cultural Consciousness, and Acquire Amplification Strategies to peel back Cultural Bias, Ethnocentrism, Diminishing Attitudes and Uninformed Suppositions.

13: Culturally Conscious Ethical Sand Therapy Efficacy with diverse clients requires Cultural Knowledge, Respect for Difference, and the Ability to Hold the Dynamics of Cultural Worlds. To recognize Difference and Similarity . . . the Idiosyncratic and Universal . . . in  Myths Symbols History and Evolving Culture

14: Culturally Conscious Ethical Sand Therapy Communicate an openness to understand the client�s unique cultural world What do you want me to know about your cultural world? What do you want to know about my world? Practice a discipline of cultural study Establish a Culturally Relevant Library, Engage in Professional Dialogues, and Actively Journal Make available cultural resources Global representations of cultural artifacts, diverse sand color, language, icons, signs and symbols  Integrate culturally conscious strategies What are the complexities I assume? How does my worldview inform my interpretation?

15: Sand Therapy Sand Tray A generic use of sand and toys Use and interpretation depend on theory World Technique Child-Centered Filial therapy Developmental models: Erickson Adlerian, Cognitive-behavioral Social theorists: Vygotsky Constructionists: Narrative Therapy Gestalt, transactional Sandplay A Projective Technique Dora Kalff, Swiss Jungian Analyst. Originator Sandplay. (1930-1980) Applied theories of C.G Jungian & Eric Neumann (1954). Early life-crisis disrupts manifestation of Self, a weak ego results. Emphasis on safe & protected space Trust innate healing ability of the child: rediscovers & reintegrate split off psyche

16: Psychotherapeutic Process Sand Tray Active engagement with the client Therapist may give voice to a toy and dialogue with toy or with client Toys are viewed for what they actually are and as representations in real or imagined world. Sandplay No intervention during sandplay: Therapist quietly and patiently attends while child creates scene. Sand scenes are viewed as a series of interconnected expressions, a process driven by unconscious movement toward wholeness & balance -- Individuation

17: Containment & Culture Sand Tray� Boundaries set to contain psychotherapeutic process & depend on theoretical orientation. Containment related to problem-solving & then externalized for interpersonal skills. Culture may or may not be included depending on cultural consciousness of the therapist. Sandplay  Boundaries set to contain activity in the sand tray, between client /clinician and in the environment. Containment for unconscious activity. Symbols imbued with meaning from complexes & archetypes are activated (global & idiosyncratic) Culture always included when clinician turns to amplify symbols in sand scene.