HIROSHI ISHIHARA: THE THERAPEUTIC MECHANISM OF SANDPLAY THERAPY

This book brings to a wider audience an important Japanese contribution to research on Sandplay Therapy, a psychotherapeutic method that is practiced worldwide. 
 
Dr. Ishihara asks the essential question, “What part of making a sandplay scene facilitates therapeutic change?” 
 
To study this question, Dr. Ishihara created an original protocol that focuses on the subjective experience in sandplay, rather than relying on the observations of the researcher. 
 
His protocol instructs the research participant to choose one item out of 550 miniatures and to place it in a sand tray where he/she feels, “Here it is [where it belongs].” The participant then responds to a questionnaire, followed by an interview. During the interview, the way in which participants make their choices is further explored, for example by asking the participant to move the item to a different location in the sand tray.