Soft Sculpting
The systemic intervention of soft sculpting, developed by David Kantor and Fred and Bunny Duhl was adapted as an intergenerational model by Virginia Satir in her experiential therapy, with the core concept being to bring family patterns alive in the present (Dallos & Draper, 2013).
I had never used this intervention, but due to the client’s creativity and the therapeutic alliance having been established, I felt comfortable knowing she would have time to process any painful feelings which arose, in future sessions (Dallos & Draper, 2013). I contained her emotions throughout the whole process, which allowed her to assess the experience in a safe environment (Corey, 2009).
We discussed the sculpt collaboratively (Appendix B) and observed how the lower part represented her current family of origin (FO) which were positioned as far away as possible, to protect herself from their toxicity. She had chosen hard textured objects to represent her FO, symbolising their lack of emotion and for each she had chosen a specific
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The three black balls directly on top, represented her cats, whom she saw as surrogate children and the third symbolised her familial role of the black sheep following her alcoholism. Either side, were her maternal grandparents and paternal grandmother, represented by bears, symbolising strength, as she felt they protected her. The other faces represented her housemate, work colleagues and, as her therapist, she chose for me a yellow smiley face, as she experienced me as her sunshine and positive energy. The top line of the sculpt comprised of people who knew her best and protected her, whilst representing how she would like her family to be. She also imagined an imaginary wall dividing her from her FO, as a means of