Building Insight One Tray at a Time: A Systematized Review of Sandtray Expressive Arts on Counselor Trainees’ Self-Awareness

Author

A'Lyse M. Miranda, University of South Florida

Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Tammy Jorgensen Smtih, Ph.D., CRC

Committee Member

Tessa Hastings, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Lanicia Marshall, Ph.D.

Keywords

Counselors-in-training, Emotional processing, Expressive art intervention, Professional development, Sandtray therapy

Abstract

This study examines the impact of sandtray expressive art interventions on the self-awareness of counseling students, recognizing the vital role self-awareness plays in counselor development. It is essential for counselors to practice self-awareness so that they may connect effectively with clients, make ethical decisions, and enhance their professional competence. Self-awareness is best identified as a transformative and reflective integration process. While traditional methods like journaling and supervision are commonly studied, the use of sand tray therapy as an expressive art intervention has received limited attention. This review synthesizes existing literature on self-awareness and sandtray expressive art interventions in counselor education, identifying key findings and gaps in current research. Notably, there is a lack of studies focusing on the efficacy of a single expressive art intervention. This gap presents an opportunity for further exploration into how specific interventions, such as sand tray therapy, affect self-awareness in counseling students. The purpose of this systematized review is to investigate whether the use of sandtray expressive art interventions enhance self-awareness among counselor trainees, with the hypothesis that students using these interventions will show increased self-awareness. Findings reveal that four major themes emerge from masters-level counseling students using sandtray intervention, having a positive effect on their self-awareness.

Scholar Commons Citation

Miranda, A'Lyse M., "Building Insight One Tray at a Time: A Systematized Review of Sandtray Expressive Arts on Counselor Trainees’ Self-Awareness" (2025). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11095