As is emphasized in any credible clinical education program, immersion in our own process is essential to develop the sensibility and awareness necessary to safely and ethically facilitate therapeutic process for clients. Through our own immersive experience, we learn not only what resonates with us and truly facilitates healing, but also how we learn to identify approaches and interventions that feel contrived, coercive, and invasive.
“Whether as a component of a larger training program or an individual effort for personal development, private consultations are essential to reduce risks and facilitate healing engagement with symbols.”
Tim Mewmaw
Co-founder, The Sand Therapy Training Institute
Especially important for safe and effective facilitation of projective approaches, like Narrative Sand Therapy, is how we identify, understand, and contain our own projections which can prevent effective therapeutic rapport. When a therapist has little to no personal experience of their own, they risk precipitating client trauma, reinforce cultural/social biases, and remain blind to alienating injunctions.
The most common responses to personal immersion we hear from clinicians at all experience levels is how deeply meaningful and validating this approach is. Clinicians with decades of sand/symbol work share how personal immersion expands self-awareness, gives access to valuable intuitions, and opens their ability to see far more in a sand scene than years of client work.
During immersion and private consultations there is an increase in respect for clients’ experience and vulnerability. Symbol voices give way to an increase in mind-body-culture integration. There is a visceral experience of a respectful presence, life-enhancing permissions, compassionate protection, and empowerment. Immersion is a transformative experience, utilizing process to engage layers of meaning and to access the psychological framework and self-awareness that promotes sustainable healing both in and out of the therapeutic space.
