"Some people never live": Loss of innocence, violence of separation and self-realization

Author
Allen, Emma
Keyword
Art therapy
Homicide
Self-injurious behaviour
Bereavement
Date
2019

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Abstract
Forensic Sandplay Therapy (FSPT) has been pioneered in one of three high secure hospitals (HSH) in the UK since 2012. It is the first of its kind in the UK and wider afield. FSPT aims towards the reduction of risk of harm to self and others by offering a symbolic means in which to explore offending behaviour and emotional states. The case study details the sandplay process with "Tony" (pseudonym) - a man who committed matricide, and resided in the HSH for treatment of mental and physical disorder (including suicidal ideation), and presented with a high risk of violence towards women. The study examines the first, penultimate and final tray in depth, followed by the reoccurring, significant symbols in Tony's sandplay process; examining symbolic themes of living and dying where sand pictures reveal a traumatic birth experience, a co-transference of the mother-son relationship, and a rebirth of a new ego attitude and consciousness. Violent rage is safely contained and confronted in the sand, where dangerous dynamics of enmeshed attachment, separation and loss are all explored in the gender-mixed dyad. The study also reflects upon bereavement and the death of the self after matricide, along with a parallel process in the therapeutic relationship and the importance of a 'good enough ending'. FSPT is hypothesised as offering a new opening, and symbolic gateway into the offender's unconscious, intra-psychic world where self-directed healing of destructive tendencies takes place, and where pre-verbal rage, over-control and critical judgement are surrendered. Symbols transition towards a psychic renewal and recovery, where 'creative living' is activated, and autonomy and self-control are realised. This is witnessed in the sandplay process of infantile states (baby miniatures) transitioning into maturation and healthier forms of masculinity (a man) and emotional expression (anima development); the transcendent function. Emma Allen has been working in forensic settings, including one of three high secure hospitals in the UK for over the last decade. She is a writer, supervisor, lecturer, and founder, pioneer and author of Forensic Sandplay Therapy. Emma trained with the British and Irish Sandplay Society and submitted her final case to ISST in October 2018.
Citation
Allen, E. "Some people never live": Loss of innocence, violence of separation and self-realization. 25th Congress of the International Society for Sandplay Therapy "Dreaming with the Hands", 5-9 September 2019 Berlin.
Type
Conference Proceeding
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12904/17195
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