The Significance of the Final Sandplay in the Hermeneutics of Sandplay Process

Abstract

This research takes a hermeneutic approach to the interpretation of the published case reports of sandplay therapy, with a special attention placed upon the photographic images of the first and the final sand pictures. As the interest is in the final sandplay, this study enters into the hermeneutic cycle from the final sandplay scene. The hermeneutic cycle involves four steps: brief background and therapeutic process, comparison between the final and the first sandplay scenes for exploring the major theme, the relationship between the process and the final sandplay, and commencement. This study has discovered three essential characteristics of the final sandplay scene. First, the client is connected with an “existence of sacredness” in the composition of the final sandplay. Secondly, a discernment of the sandplay process from the perspective provided by the final sand picture creates a new understanding of the whole sandplay process. Also, the final sandplay presents a certain kind of commencement, signifying not only the end but also the beginning of a new stage. From the hermeneutical perspective, this study also recognizes a significant function of the final sandplay as a condensed overview and integration of a cyclic series of sand pictures that the client has gone through.