The Effects of Sandplay Therapy on Depression and Stress from Child Rearing in Mothers with Disabled Children

This study applied sandplay therapy to mothers with disabled children and had them express emotions suppressed while rearing their children, thereby intending to improve their power to cope with stress through internal reinforcement that may relieve psychological recession. In order to verify the above study issues, 28 mothers were selected as subjects and equally divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received sandplay therapy for 40 minutes once per week, for a total of 10 weeks, and a test on the scale of depression and stress from child rearing was conducted prior to and after each session of sandplay therapy. The results of this study showed that sandplay therapy was effective in decreasing depression and stress from child rearing in mothers with disabled children. This study’s results are considered to provide basic data that can be utilized as a psychological therapeutic approach for seeking the stability of depressed ego resulting from depression and stress in mothers with disabled children, and also improvement in the quality of care of disabled children.