Effects of Expressive Art Therapy Applied to Earthquake Victims Who Have Experienced Loss

Effects of Expressive Art Therapy Applied to Earthquake Victims Who Have Experienced Loss on Psychological Symptoms and Post-Traumatic Growth: A Randomized Controlled Study

Earthquakes can negatively affect individuals' mental health by creating serious traumatic effects on individual and societal levels. Traumatic experiences such as losing one's home or workplace, being injured, or losing a loved one cause individuals to develop long-term psychological symptoms. In this context, strengthening psychosocial support programs aimed at coping with psychological and social problems after an earthquake is of great importance. In this study, the effect of expressive art therapy applied to individuals who experienced losses due to the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on psychological symptoms and post-traumatic growth was examined.

A randomized controlled intervention design with pre-test-post-follow-up measurements was used, which is one of the quantitative research methods. In line with the power analysis, a total of 42 participants, 21 in each group, constituted the research sample. The distribution of participants to the intervention and control groups was made with stratified block randomization. The inclusion criteria of the study included being 18 years of age or older, knowing Turkish, and having experienced material and moral loss due to the earthquake; while the exclusion criteria were mental illness or receiving active psychosocial support. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Post-Traumatic Growth Scale (PTS) were used as data collection tools. The intervention process includes a six-session expressive arts therapy program. The scales will be administered online at pre-test, post-test and two-month follow-up. Data will be evaluated with repeated measures and two-way variance analyses. It is expected that this study will contribute to post-traumatic recovery processes and art-based psychosocial interventions.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being 18 years of age or older,
• Being able to understand, speak and write Turkish,
• Having directly experienced the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, -
• Having experienced material and moral losses due to the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having a neurological disorder that prevents communication,
• Actively receiving any psychosocial support/counseling