Patients with Schizophrenia have difficulties in their interpersonal relationships due to the limited ability to express their emotions and thoughts to others. The purpose of this study is to test the effect of group sand play therapy on Schizophrenia...
Patients with Schizophrenia have difficulties in their interpersonal relationships due to the limited ability to express their emotions and thoughts to others. The purpose of this study is to test the effect of group sand play therapy on Schizophrenia patients’ emotional expressivity, emotional-expressive behavior, and social skills. The experimental group consists of six Schizophrenia patients who enrolled in group sand play therapy at a mental health center in Daejeon and the control group consists of six Schizophrenia patients who resided in a nursing home. The experimental group received group sand play therapy once a week for 90-minute sessions over the course of 12 weeks. Participants’ emotional expressivity scale (EES), emotional expressiveness questionnaire (EEQ), and social skills scale (SSS) were measured. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. For qualitative analysis, Grubbs’ (1997) sand play categorical checklist (SCC) and Fischer's categories were modified and used for the analysis of sand play categories and verbal expressions. The qualitative analysis shows that group sand play therapy improved Schizophrenia patients’ emotional expressivity, emotional-expressive behavior (expressions of positive emotions, negative emotions, and intimacy), and social skills. Therefore, this study concludes group sand play therapy is an effective program to improve Schizophrenia patients’ emotional expressivity, emotional-expressive behavior, and social skills.