Clinical Psychology Studies

Abstract Objective: Art therapy has the largest number of therapeutic techniques among all of the known psychotherapies. Although this type of psychotherapy was first established for children, later and over time it has become a method for the treatment of adults. The present research was carried out following two scientific-clinical challenges. The first challenge was related to the large number of adult-specific art therapy techniques and the very small number of children-specific techniques. The current research was originally started with the aim of solving the first challenge, but on the way to achieve this goal, the second challenge also appeared. The recent challenge was related to the validation of innovative techniques. There were no indicators to validate the techniques individually. Therefore, inventing an index to evaluate the efficiency of each technique alone became the second goal of this research.
Research Methodology: All the research sets underlying the present paper were conducted using a single-subject method that falls under the category of experimental research. However, the specific research method can be considered a qualitative method because it was used in both the primary validation (by Delphi method) and the secondary validation of the techniques (based on the efficiency index).
Findings: A total of five art therapy techniques specific to children (Hidden colored pencil, White rug, Patchwork, Ugly painting, & Defensive shield) and an index to evaluate their efficiency are introduced in this study. The results of the validation of the techniques and the degree of concordance between the evaluators' opinions indicate the validity of the techniques introduced in the study.
Conclusion: Based on the research findings, the introduced innovative techniques can be considered valid techniques, but considering the research method, generalization of the results requires more research.

Abstract The consequences of cancer do not just impact on the body only, but expands into the other levels of human existence, including psychological levels. Sometimes these consequences are even more painful and more destructive than physical harms, especially in children. Therefore, the use of psychotherapy for children, particularly art-based psychotherapies, is necessary. So, the main objective of the present research was to develop a new family-based art therapy for hospitalized children with cancer and to evaluation its effectiveness on the symptoms of depression (DEP) and pain anxiety (PA). Five hospitalized children with cancer, participated in this single-subject study (A-B type) accompanied with their mothers. The intervention was applied in eight sessions (30-60 minutes per session). Children’s depression and pain anxiety were measured repeatedly in two phases and data were analyzed by graphs and tables. The effect size (ES) and reliable change index (RCI) are also reported in addition to the customary values. The results showed that family-based art therapy was significantly effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and pain anxiety in all of the children. The findings indicate the effectiveness of family-based art therapy in helping to modify the psychological consequences of cancer, and clarify the need for this approach to be applied in similar conditions.

Abstract This study seeks to determine the effect of clay therapy on the aggression of 7-12 years-old school children. For this purpose, 35 aggressive elementary school children of Tehran were selected according to the aggression scale of CBCL test. Then, they were randomly divided into control (n=14) and experimental groups (n=21). The experimental group went under clay therapy while control group received no treatment. The two groups were evaluated immediately after the treatment session and two months later. Data were analyzed based on the repeated analysis of variance (between-within the mixed group). The F parameter showed that clay therapy is able to reduce the aggression of the experimental group in comparison to the control group. These results were also observed during follow-up period.