Beyond the Shadow

In this presentation, Dora Kalff (1904–1990), the Swiss Jungian analyst who founded sandplay therapy and the International Society for Sandplay Therapy, explores images in the sand that go “beyond the shadow” to touch the original Self. Drawing on sandplay cases with children, adolescents, and adults, including children struggling with stuttering, shyness, and separation anxiety, she shows how the confrontation with one’s own shadow can open the way to numinous, transforming experiences of the Self, expressed in symbols such as the circle, the white horse, the night-sea journey, and jewels. Kalff shows how such an experience brings forth new qualities of the personality, and her presentation offers a rare chance to see and hear the founder of sandplay describe the heart of her work.