The application of sandplay therapy in children with obsessive compulsive disorder

Abstract

The objective of this study is to present the results of Sandplay Therapy (ST) in case of three children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A review of the literature on the psychotherapeutic treatment of children with this disorder identified that the psychological technique most frequently used has been Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This is to our knowledge the first study to apply ST for such cases. The children were tested before and at the end of their processes by the instruments: psychiatric report; interview with parents; Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS); Beck Depression Inventory; Beck Anxiety Inventory and school report. The scenarios were organized in categories and divided in three periods: start, middle, and end. A comparison enabled to observe an increase in positive and decrease in negatives categories at the end of the process. According with the instruments, there was a remission of symptoms of OCD at the end of ST for the three cases.