The purpose of this study is to see the effect of sandplay therapy on adult ADHD, depression and anxiety. This study selected 911 students from N University in Chungnam Province and conducted a survey. After collecting data through questionnaire, the ...
The purpose of this study is to see the effect of sandplay therapy on adult ADHD, depression and anxiety. This study selected 911 students from N University in Chungnam Province and conducted a survey. After collecting data through questionnaire, the upper 20% of the study subjects were chosen. Then, this study again chose six subjects for the experiment group and another six for the control group among the survey participants who showed serious depression level in Beck Depression Inventory and high level of anxiety score in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Sandplay therapy was conducted ten times, once a week from March to May 2009.
To see the difference between pre and post therapy, this study used Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Korean version (CAARS-K), Beck’s Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. After ten times of sandplay therapy, this study conducted qualitative analysis based on the Sandplay Categorical Checklist (SCC) developed by Grubbs (1997).
The study result shows that sandplay therapy has positive effect on improving adult ADHD symptoms as well as reducing depression and anxiety. Moreover, the six subjects from the experiment group tried to contact their unconsciousness. When they recognized their difficulties, they tried to search for the causes of impulse, carelessness, depression, and anxiety and raised an ability to adapt them to the reality. Therefore, sandplay therapy seemed to have positive effect on adult ADHD symptoms, depression, and anxiety. During sandplay, the study subjects formed a trustful relationship with the therapists while they were supported with acceptance and empathy creating positive self-image.