The Effect of Group Sandplay Therapy on Psychological Health and Resilience of Adolescent Survivors of Nepal Earthquake

Abstract

The authors analyzed the effects of group sandplay therapy on the psychological health and resilience of adolescent survivors 16 months after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and explored the themes these adolescents expressed during counseling. Group sandplay was found to have significantly decreased the adolescents' internalizing problems such as anxiety/depression and withdrawal/depression, while their resilience had also significantly improved. The narrative analysis in turn yielded seven themes: magical wish fulfillment/hope for recovery; direct expression of danger of disaster; relationship with gods revealing human's identity; desire for protection and care from danger and damage in reality; recovering the order of life from chaos; creation of a new world from the chaotic world; and return to their normal daily life.

A Study on the Symbols and Themes of Sandplay Therapy for Children of Myanmar Refugees living in Malaysia

“…But after those expressions were made to a certain extent, they began focusing more on their awareness of the reality and what is lacking. This is similar to other study findings that people who experienced massive trauma such as war and natural disasters begin to show hope of returning to their daily lives as they become more stable with the passing of time, through psychotherapy like sandplay therapy or due to the inner recovery mechanism (Lee, Jang, 2020). While expressing desires for protection and care against dangers and damages, recovery of order from chaos, and hopes of returning to everyday life in sandplay could be an expectation or wish to restore one's outer reality, it could also indicate psychological recovery.…”

Effect of Sandplay Therapy on the Mental Health Level of College Students

“…In the mental health education of college students, the application of individual court and group court should be combined to make full use of its nonverbal advantages in the court therapy [7], to help students express their emotions well in the early stages of adult development, to provide a good solution for students who have problems in learning burnout, social anxiety, maladjustment, career decision-making, and so on, and to encourage them to constantly improve their ability of self-exploration, constantly explore the unknown self, and promote the improvement of self-healing ability and the growth of healthy psychology [8,9]. Negative emotions can be channeled, psychological trauma can be cured, selfawareness can be enhanced, and self-potential can be stimulated when college students can freely express their ideas and therapists can make college students feel accepted, understood, and included through noncritical communication [10,11]. 500 college students were openly recruited, using the University Student Mental Health Questionnaire (UPI) to screen out 76 students in the UPI category; 34 college students were randomly selected and divided into two groups, 17 in the control group and 17 in the SP therapy group (experimental group), and the experimental group was treated with SP therapy.…”

Sandtray and Sandplay in the Treatment of Trauma with Children and Adolescents: A Systemic Review

“…The results of this study provide further evidence of the positive effect of ST on coping with traumatic events in children. ST is a technique that helps children share their stories, access their unconscious resources, alleviate psychological distress symptoms, and promote resilience (Chenghou & Shen, 2010;Freedle et al, 2021;Kawai, 2015;Lacroix et al, 2007;Lee & Jang, 2020;Park, 2018;Zoja, 2011). Wang and You (2022) applied ST to 96 children aged 6 to 18 who had experienced the Wenchuan earthquake.…”