Abstract
Mandalas were first used in therapy by Carl Jung, who found that the act of drawing mandalas had a calming effect on patients while at the same time facilitating psychic integration. There is a scarcity of controlled empirical studies of the healing impact of mandalas on mental health. Based on the efficacy of James Pennebaker’s written disclosure paradigm in promoting mental well-being (Pennebaker, 1997a, 1997b), the purpose of our study was to examine the benefits for those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of processing traumatic events through the creation of mandalas. Benefits to participants were measured in terms of changes in the variables of PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, anxiety, spiritual meaning, and the frequency of physical symptoms and illness. Relative to those in the control condition, individuals assigned to the experimental mandala-creation group reported greater decreases in symptoms of trauma at the 1-month follow up. There were no other statistically significant outcome differences. Alternative modes of processing traumatic events (e.g., visually symbolically) may serve individuals who are either reluctant or unable to write about their experiences.
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