Sandtray therapy, reflectivity and leadership preparation

Abstract

The present study is a follow‐up study to the initial study that appeared in International Journal of Leadership in Education, 7(3), 257–284. In this second study, the authors compared the standtrays of the students in the first study with the sandtrays that they did at the end of their one‐year program in BYU’s Leadership Preparation Program (LPP). They found that doing standtray work helped their students concretely embody both the positive and problematic sides of their experiences in the LPP. Comparison of entering and exiting sandtrays revealed: 1) a wide range of strengths as well as room for improvement in the program and 2) how other professors of educational leadership might use sandtray work in order to both broaden and deepen their students’ experiences as prospective administrators.

Notes

1. Clifford Mayes and Pamela Mayes have been recognized by Kay Bradway, one of the most important American Jungian theorists of the 20th century and the dean of American sandplay analysts, as having offered an important new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of patients’ sandtrays (Bradway, 2002). The authors of this article would also be very happy to consult with anyone who wishes to get started in the use of sandtrays in his or her classes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Clifford Mayes

Clifford Mayes is an Associate Professor of Education at Brigham Young University. Email: [email protected]. He maintains a counseling practice in which he uses sandtrays.

Pamela Blackwell Mayes

Pamela Blackwell Mayes is a therapist in private practice Provo, Utah. She has had 40 years as a counseling psychologist, and sandtrays are a part of her practice.

Ellen Williams

Ellen Williams is an Associate Professor of Education at Brigham Young University. Previously he spent 30 years in the public schools system as a teacher, principal and district administrator.