Providing a Protocol Based on Short Term Psychodynamic Sand Tray Group Therapy for Bereaved Juveniles

Losing a beloved person with whom one is deeply involved is like falling into an abyss of infinity leading to an undesirable feeling which in turn may cause mourning. The grief reactions differ from person to person depending on the circumstances of the occurred calamities, religious, social and cultural beliefs and in general the perceived meaning of the death for the bereaved. Adolescents are one of the vulnerable groups in facing the loss. Belongingness during adolescence is of an essence, as the adolescent seeks to shape ego identity in oneself. The grief process may nullify the personal assumptions regarding the world (spiritual assimilation), relations with others, and personal identity (inner world). Hence, it is indispensable to provide interventions for healing the wounds stemming from the loss. Among various approaches, play therapy is one of the best treatments for grief in the juveniles. Play therapy is the process of making conscious and verbalization of the unconscious and the nonverbal issues. Sand tray therapy is a sort of play therapy which provides people an opportunity to express themselves in a creative and nonverbal way. Currently this kind of therapy is considered as an effective method to work with children and adolescents. However, despite the high rate of mortality in Iran, there is not enough research conducted in this regard. In light of the great significance of cultural differences in the resolution of grief, it is essential to evaluate a variety of theories effective in resolving this process in order to construct a custom-made protocol for sand tray therapy in Iranian population. Subsequently, 25 volunteers, who had lost one of their close relatives between the previous two months to two years, were selected through convenient sampling as the subjects of the study; they completed the Grief Experience Inventory, Adjective Check List, and two researcher made questionnaires named Life Story and Dream Memo Questioners. Ultimately, a protocol to induce reduction of the severity of grief experience was developed via collecting data from the questionnaires (descriptive and inferential statistics) and the theories relevant to the resolution of the grief process.