Self-esteem in the sandtray

Adolescence is a troublesome time for many people and adolescent girls tend to be more vulnerable than boys. In particular adolescent girls tend to have a lower self-esteem than boys; this is important as a high self-esteem is considered to be a protective factor for mental-health problems. Many girls between 11-14 are still in the concrete operational stage of development and often have difficulty in expressing their feelings adequately in words so group activity therapy may be more appropriate in this group. Group sandtray therapy is an intervention in which "group members build small worlds with miniature figures in individual trays of sand and share about their worlds as they are willing." Sessions are facilitated by a trained therapist who explores some of the psychological and interpersonal issues raised by participants. A U.S. study of 37 girls found that after nine sessions of sandtray therapy self-esteem was improved in the areas of: scholastic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, behavioural conduct and global self-worth.

Shen, Yu-Pei and Armstrong, Stephen A. - Impact of group sandtray therapy on the self-esteem of young adolescent girls Journal for Specialists in Group Work June 2008, 33(2), 118-137

Brief words, lasting effect for writing therapy

Writing therapy has been found to improve people's physical and mental health. A review of studies into its effectiveness has found that, although the benefits are modest in absolute terms they are still very impressive in terms of the short amount of time that writing therapy takes compared to other interventions. In the vast majority of research participants write for 15-20 minutes but this is a matter of convention rather than being based on any evidence and no studies have sought to identify the minimum dosage required to reap the benefits of writing. A U.S. study of 49 students looked into the benefits of a very short (2 minutes x 2 days) writing intervention in which participants were asked to write about something they had found traumatic, or a positive experience or a neutral subject. 4-6 weeks later the students who had written about a trauma or a positive experience reported fewer health complaints than those who had written about a neutral topic.

Burton, Chad M. and King, Laura A. - Effects of (very) brief writing on health: the two-minute miracle. British Journal of Health Psychology March 2008, 13(1), 9-14

Music therapy and depression

About 121 million people worldwide are believed to suffer from depression. This can be seen in disturbed appetite, sleep patterns and overall functioning as well as leading to low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness and guilt. It can lead to suicide and is associated with a million deaths a year. Drugs and psychotherapy are the usual treatments but a review into the effectiveness of music therapy has shown that this could also be an avenue worth exploring. Four out of the five studies in the review found a beneficial effect but London art therapist Anna Maratos who was the lead author of the study warned that "we will only be able to be confident about the effectiveness of music therapy once some high quality trials have been conducted".

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/01/23/music-therapy-beneficial-for-depression/1823.html