The Effects of Sandplay Therapy on the Anxiety, Self-esteem, and Sociality of College Students with Blindness

Abstract

The five sense organs of the human body are vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The visual sense is essential for determining directions, identifying people and objects, and adjusting movement and social behavior (Kim et al., 1998). However, the blind are restricted in these modes and they often experience discomfort in performing tasks that require vision and in controlling social behavior. In particular, those with acquired blindness tend to experience an acute sense of loss or “restriction” as a result of their severe psychological conflict and shock (Lowenfeld, 1979), and indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say, “Loss of sight is dying” (Carroll, 1961). Accordingly, this study examined three emotional problems that typically afflict blind people and investigated how sandplay therapy may solve such problems. One of the emotional problems resulting from blindness is anxiety. This is often triggered by an unidentified sound or smell and blind people may experience extreme anxiety until they obtain knowledge about its source from those who are not blind (Lim, 2000). In addition, blind people may feel tense and anxious that those without blindness are watching them (Kim, 1999). Blind people may not precisely recognize responses or evaluations around them and feel anxiety and fear due to their failure to understand information or cope with a danger or unexpected situation (Ma, 2003). A second emotional problem resulting from blindness is low self-esteem. Blind children’s restricted capabilities and resultant limited experiences can lead to passivity, dependence, and learned lethargy (Kim, 2005). As a result, their self-confidence and concept of ego are negatively affected and they have difficulty with actively expressing their thoughts and feelings to others. A third emotional problem because of blindness is lack of sociality. Those with blindness are lacking in social experiences as a result of their visual impairment. In interaction between blind children and their mother, she is dominant and authoritarian (Kim, 2003). Blind children tend to have more interaction with adults, rather than their peers, and largely play alone, not playing Original Article Symbols and Sandplay Therapy 2014;5(1):14-22 http://dx.doi.org/10.12964/jsst.130013 eISSN : 2288-5188 pISSN : 2234-0556