Book excerpt: While the hands explore the sand’s consistency, its smoothness, and its readiness to respond to the slightest touch, all sorts of perceptions and emotions go through the clients’ state of mind, and they cannot say whether they came from inside or out. It appears to be a circular process, a very subtle but also very persistent and concrete dialogue between the inner and outer worlds, between body and psyche, and more generally, between psyche and matter. The author explores the psyche’s astonishing capacity and determination to regulate itself by creating images and narratives as soon as a free and protected space for expression is provided. A variety of examples from analytic practice with adults and from psychosocial projects with children in vulnerable situations illustrate how sandplay can be used in different therapeutic settings.