How Māui Found his Mother: The Sandplay Process of an 8 year old Māori boy with Complex Trauma who Battles with the Archetypal Forces within to Find His Way Home

How Māui Found his Mother: The Sandplay Process of an 8 year old Māori boy with Complex Trauma who Battles with the Archetypal Forces within to Find His Way Home

Adverse early childhood experiences, including neglect, childhood dysfuncion and abuse have a powerful impact on attachment, development and a triggered pattern of dysregulated responses. Developmental trauma disorder was proposed but rejected as a diagnosis to explain the describe the broad domains of distress and impairment that are consistent with children who have been exposed to complex trauma. How Māui Fund His Mother is a Māori story of the Polynesian hero Māui’s separation from his mother and then the journey back. This can be seen as a traumatic experience. This article examines the proposed criteria of developmental trauma disorder by applying it to the case study of an 8-year-old boy of Māori descent who has many daily battles with learning; speech; complex behavioural and emotional issues. The archetypal power of trauma is described by looking at the images and metaphors associated with trauma in general and then through the case study in specific. Through Sandplay therapy and storytelling the client finds a way to express the archetypal forces of the mother complex within. The archetypal power of trauma is to renew and to expand consciousness and in this case study it came through cultural identity. Although the client had a limited number of 14 sessions, one can see the trauma archetype clearly.