Often the word ritual is frightening to health professionals and so it is not mentioned at the beginning of the exercise, rather we offer a direct experience of the exercise and afterwards interpret it and its theory for the group. Most groups will spontaneously realize that they have participated in a ritual and as a result of the experience, have a far deeper respect for the power of these sorts of interactions. It is among other things, an exercise in listening as a community and being listened to by a community. It is also a contemplative experience done in community and witnessed by community. The exercise is done in total silence, except for that period of time a participant is describing the objects they have chosen.
Participants speak about every object they have put in the sand in their part of the tray.
If they do not know what an object means or why they have selected it, they simply say that. We discuss the unconscious mind and tell people to follow their intuition. We describe the sandtray room briefly, a room filled with objects representing the contents of the inner and the outer world. The group is then told that they do not have to remember the question. The space holders are an essential part of the group sandtray experience.