"The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of sandplay therapy from the perspective of ego development for the emotional instability of 5-year-old boy having psychological problems such as maternal separation anxiety, social withdrawal, attention deficit, and aggression. On the basis of psychological assessment of full-battery testing and intake interview, 13 sessions of sandplay therapy were applied to the child during 6 months. Sandplay themes, which is a visual image or set of images in a sandplay picture, were analyzed for examining the healing process of sandplay therapy. Also, the interview with his mother were implemented after every therapeutic session with child in order to investigate his emotional and behavioral change appeared in daily life through the sessions of sandplay therapy. The result are as follows: first, the number of wounding and healing themes changed as the session of therapy progressed. In the early phase of therapy, sandplay pictures contained more wounding themes than healing's. However, the further the therapy process went on, the more the themes of healing and wholeness emerged, and eventually outnumbered the themes of wounding. Second, He showed the ego growth and the individuation through a series of sandplay therapy. Third, his emotional instability problems in daily life disappeared after all, and he became active in peer interactions and enjoyed his social activities such as sports, drawing and learning. The findings of this case study suggest that the sandplay therapy is a very effective method in helping children adjust to the social environment.
Key words : Sandplay themes, Psychological transformation, Ego development, Sandplay therapy"