An Arts-based research on group sandplay therapy for children in local children's centers who are overly dependent on internet and smartphones experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic era

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find a clue of psychological intervention in group sandplay therapy for children in local children's centers who are overly dependent on internet and smartphones experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic era. Art is a process of expressing imagination, and it is in line with the fact that play is a symbolic and creative activity. Therefore, it can be said that children's imaginary play scenes and imaginary stories appearing in sandplay therapy are a form of art. Sandplay enables non-verbal expression, and the unconscious contents expressed by children are useful in understanding children's emotions. In this process, the researcher understands the client through imagination which is the intersubjective method and experiences an accepting relationship where healing and change occur. However, previous studies have limitations in that they approached children's dependence on the Internet and smartphones based on language. Therefore, these researchers conducted an arts-based study from an analytical psychology perspective to understand the experiences of children in local children's centers who are overly dependent on the Internet and smartphones through the group sandplay therapy process. To this end, co-researchers attending the doctoral program in child counseling and psychotherapy have categorized and discussed four themes: ‘wanting to be loved’, ‘suffering from anxiety’, ‘tolerating being alone/not communicating’, ‘trying to protect oneself’. Finally, it was intended to alleviate the psychological difficulties of children in local children's centers who are overly dependent on internet and smartphones, and to provide an open method for resolving the Internet and smartphone dependence phenomenon.