Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010, Page 88
in an ethical, accepting, and safe therapeutic relationship, she was able to take another big
step toward her recovery through this creative and playful therapy.
Creative Sand Tray Therapy
I agree with Stevens (2004), who notes that ―playing with small objects in a tray of sand is
a powerful but simple form of experimentation‖ (p. 1). The principle is similar to working
with dreams, in that the sand tray offers the client a medium for projecting parts of the self
into figures that can express their dilemma or difficulty. It is hard to capture in words the
subtle nuances, pauses, and nonverbal communications that take place during creative sand
tray therapy and use of play in treatment in general. I limit my discussion to the pivotal
moments in the session, trusting the reader to imagine the momentum and flow that led
from one segment to the other.
A client, J, had always felt that she was dirty. She had been brought up in a cultic
environment where she was sexually abused and had very little contact with her mother.
Her father lived outside the cult. In the sand tray work with her therapist, J selected a
number of figures, including a little girl doll about six inches high, with long blond hair tied
back, and dressed in a pretty dress. As she picked up the doll, J told her therapist that this
doll was dirty. Her therapist said that she looked pretty to her and she could not see how
she was dirty. J was adamant that the doll was dirty, so the therapist asked to hear more. J
began to speak about her sexual abuse and how this had left her dirty. Her therapist gently
challenged this, pointing out that the abuser was dirty, not her. J kneeled quietly in front of
the sand tray for a while, moving the doll around in the sand. She suddenly and jerkily
began to take the band out of the doll‘s hair and spread the hair out. She said, in a shocked
voice, that the doll was just a little girl, there was nothing wrong with her, and she looked
lovely with her hair spread out, innocent, and—well, just a little girl.
The therapist strongly affirmed this perspective by reflecting back to J what an amazing
insight this was, and totally agreed that the doll was just an innocent little girl and not dirty
at all. This was a turning point in the therapy for J and whilst she continued to need to
challenge the introject of believing she was dirty, she felt she had really seen things
differently for the first time.
I suggest that this was a case of J raising awareness and integrating a part of her self that
was hidden from her. As she played, and put into words the belief that she was dirty, she
was able to assess this belief and challenge it, and this was empowering for her.
Conclusion
Creativity in cults is characterised more by compliance and anxiety than by play. In some
forms, creativity may provide a helpful outlet or means of expression for members, but in
many cases it is used as a means of reinforcing cult control, thought reform, and the cult
pseudo-personality at this point, it becomes what I have termed ―cult-induced pseudo-
creativity.‖ The Community used creativity for its own ends, exploiting and abusing the
group‘s members and robbing them of the legitimate pleasures and rewards of personal
creativity, with it instead becoming negative and harmful.
Creativity can, in contrast, be an important component of recovery from cults, enriching and
life-enhancing. As I have illustrated, therapists can use creative arts and playful creativity
with former-cult-member clients to enhance recovery. This recovery includes healing,
reconnection with their pre-cult personality, and moving forward to create a post-cult
identity.
The Door—Creative Writing
―The Door‖ is a composite of many different experiences. I wrote it for my MA in Gestalt
Psychotherapy dissertation, to illustrate the process of entering, living in, and exiting a cult.
in an ethical, accepting, and safe therapeutic relationship, she was able to take another big
step toward her recovery through this creative and playful therapy.
Creative Sand Tray Therapy
I agree with Stevens (2004), who notes that ―playing with small objects in a tray of sand is
a powerful but simple form of experimentation‖ (p. 1). The principle is similar to working
with dreams, in that the sand tray offers the client a medium for projecting parts of the self
into figures that can express their dilemma or difficulty. It is hard to capture in words the
subtle nuances, pauses, and nonverbal communications that take place during creative sand
tray therapy and use of play in treatment in general. I limit my discussion to the pivotal
moments in the session, trusting the reader to imagine the momentum and flow that led
from one segment to the other.
A client, J, had always felt that she was dirty. She had been brought up in a cultic
environment where she was sexually abused and had very little contact with her mother.
Her father lived outside the cult. In the sand tray work with her therapist, J selected a
number of figures, including a little girl doll about six inches high, with long blond hair tied
back, and dressed in a pretty dress. As she picked up the doll, J told her therapist that this
doll was dirty. Her therapist said that she looked pretty to her and she could not see how
she was dirty. J was adamant that the doll was dirty, so the therapist asked to hear more. J
began to speak about her sexual abuse and how this had left her dirty. Her therapist gently
challenged this, pointing out that the abuser was dirty, not her. J kneeled quietly in front of
the sand tray for a while, moving the doll around in the sand. She suddenly and jerkily
began to take the band out of the doll‘s hair and spread the hair out. She said, in a shocked
voice, that the doll was just a little girl, there was nothing wrong with her, and she looked
lovely with her hair spread out, innocent, and—well, just a little girl.
The therapist strongly affirmed this perspective by reflecting back to J what an amazing
insight this was, and totally agreed that the doll was just an innocent little girl and not dirty
at all. This was a turning point in the therapy for J and whilst she continued to need to
challenge the introject of believing she was dirty, she felt she had really seen things
differently for the first time.
I suggest that this was a case of J raising awareness and integrating a part of her self that
was hidden from her. As she played, and put into words the belief that she was dirty, she
was able to assess this belief and challenge it, and this was empowering for her.
Conclusion
Creativity in cults is characterised more by compliance and anxiety than by play. In some
forms, creativity may provide a helpful outlet or means of expression for members, but in
many cases it is used as a means of reinforcing cult control, thought reform, and the cult
pseudo-personality at this point, it becomes what I have termed ―cult-induced pseudo-
creativity.‖ The Community used creativity for its own ends, exploiting and abusing the
group‘s members and robbing them of the legitimate pleasures and rewards of personal
creativity, with it instead becoming negative and harmful.
Creativity can, in contrast, be an important component of recovery from cults, enriching and
life-enhancing. As I have illustrated, therapists can use creative arts and playful creativity
with former-cult-member clients to enhance recovery. This recovery includes healing,
reconnection with their pre-cult personality, and moving forward to create a post-cult
identity.
The Door—Creative Writing
―The Door‖ is a composite of many different experiences. I wrote it for my MA in Gestalt
Psychotherapy dissertation, to illustrate the process of entering, living in, and exiting a cult.
