社交焦虑指的是人对于一种或多种社交环境，会产生忧虑、紧张、恐惧等负面情绪，且会做出拖延、逃避等回避行为的一种问题；社交焦虑最高会表现为社交焦虑症。作为一种常见的焦虑障碍，社交焦虑常发于青春期，而25岁以后较为少见，在大学生群体中属较多见的焦虑障碍。

箱庭疗法是来访者在咨询者的陪伴下，通过沙箱、玩具和沙完成一个作品，从而进行自我表达的一种心理疗法，其特点在于具有较强的投射性和表达性。过往的大量研究表明，对于来访者来说，箱庭疗法非言语的表达方式和对母子一体性治疗关系的强调能够有效地缓解社交焦虑。

本研究为一名社交焦虑的大二学生提供了每两周3次，共12次的个体箱庭疗法干预，使用社交回避及苦恼量表和交往焦虑量表进行前后测。干预后，来访者的问卷分数降至平均值上下，证实箱庭疗法帮助来访者缓解了社交焦虑。

在此案中，箱庭疗法通过以下三个方面帮助来访者缓解了社交焦虑：

（1）母子一体性的治疗关系为长期处于自卑和苛刻要求中的来访者提供了包容温暖的环境，让来访者能够逐渐培养良好的心态和自信；

（2）借助箱庭作品，来访者表达了自己成长过程中的创伤性经历，表达即治疗，让来访者能抒发压抑的情感，并对曾经的体验重新进行认识与建构。

（3）玩具的丰富象征性意义让来访者能够更自然地表达自己的内心世界，连接无意识与意识，促进来访者对自己内心情绪的觉知、表达与处理。

Social anxiety refers to a problem where individuals experience negative emotions such as anxiety, nervousness, and fear when exposed to one or more social situations and engage in avoidance behavior such as procrastination and escape. Social anxiety disorder is the highest manifestation of social anxiety. As a common type anxiety disorder, social anxiety often occurs during adolescence and is more rare after the age of 25. It is also one of the more prevalent anxiety disorders among college students.

Sandplay therapy is a form of psychotherapy where the client, with the guidance of the therapist, creates a personal expression through the completion of work by a sandbox, toys, and sand. Its main feature is its strong projection and expressive qualities. Prior research has shown that sandplay therapy can be an effective non-verbal form of expression and can emphasize the mother-child unity relationship, which can effectively alleviate social anxiety for clients.

This study involved a college student with social anxiety who received individual sandplay therapy interventions three times every two weeks for a total of twelve sessions. Social Avoidance and Distress scale (SAD) and Interaction Anxiety Scale (IAS) were used for pre- and post-intervention assessment. After the intervention, the client's questionnaire scores dropped to around the mean, which confirmed that sandplay therapy helped the client alleviate social anxiety.

In this case, sandplay therapy helped the client alleviate social anxiety through the following three aspects:

(1) The mother-child unity relationship provided a warm and accepting environment for the client who has long been living with low self-esteem and high self-demands, allowing the client to gradually develop a positive attitude and self-confidence;

(2) By using works from the sandplay, the client was able to express the traumatic experiences of her growth process as a form of therapy. It allowed the client to release suppressed emotions and re-recognize and reconstruct past experiences;

(3) The rich symbolic meaning of the toys allowed the client to express her inner world more naturally, connecting the unconscious with the conscious, promoting the client's awareness, expression, and processing of her emotions.