The Effectiveness of Play Therapy Combined With a Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Trauma Symptoms and the Loneliness Feeling

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of play therapy combined with a traumatic cognitive-behavioral approach on the symptoms of trauma and the feeling of loneliness of the victims of sexual abuse. Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population comprised all sexually-abused Afghan girls. Of whom 20 individuals were selected using the available sampling method. To conduct the questionnaire, the experimental and control group participants were examined before and after the experiment. Data were collected using Asher and Wheeler’s child trauma symptoms scale and the child loneliness scale presented by Foa et al. The assessment program consisted of 14 sessions for the treatment group, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results: By controlling the effect of the pre-test, a significant difference was observed between the mean scores of participants’ trauma symptoms and the mean scores of participants’ loneliness in terms of group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results revealed that the play therapy combined with the cognitive-behavioral trauma-oriented treatment resulted in reduced trauma symptoms but not loneliness in these children.