Ethical Issues in Sandplay Therapy Practice and Research

Sana Loue, J.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.S.A. is a professor at Case Western Reserve University. She holds a primary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Medicine and secondary appointments in the Departments of Bioethics, Global Health, and Psychiatry, as well as in the Mandel School of Applied Social Services, the university’s school of social worker. Her empirical research focuses on HIV risk and prevention in minority communities, family violence, and mental illness, while her more theoretical research includes forensic epidemiology and research ethics. As a licensed social worker, she offers counseling services through a local AIDS organization to minority young adults with issues ranging from partner violence, childhood sexual abuse and trauma, gender and sexual orientation questioning, self-injurious behaviors, and severe mental illness.

• ​Introduction.- Ethical Issues Associated with Self-Identifying as a Sandplay Therapist.- Ethical Issues in Sandplay Cyber-Supervision.- Sandplay Therapy and Access to Mental Health Care Services: Present Barriers and Future Promise.- Transference and Countertransference in an Ethical Context.- Ethical Issues in Sandplay Research.- Dual Relationships and Conflict of Interest in Sandplay Therapy.- Special Ethical Considerations in Sandplay Therapy.

“The concerns presented and elucidated in this book inform sandplay therapists, guiding us in our commitment to competence, professionalism and our responsibility to ‘do no harm,’ as well as the global imperative to be more inclusive, making sandplay training and sandplay therapy more available in our traumatized world.” (Linda Cunningham, Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Vol. 29 (1), 2020)