Effect of gestalt play therapy on empathy in hard-of-hearing children

Abstract

Gestalt Play Therapy (GPT) is a practical form of play therapy to improve empathy in hard-of-hearing children. This study examined the effectiveness of GPT on empathy in hard-of-hearing children. Participants were recruited from the Ava rehabilitation center for mothers and hard-of-hearing children in Isfahan, Iran. The participants were 28 hard-of-hearing children who were randomly selected and divided into the control and intervention groups. The intervention group participated in 8 GPT sessions, once weekly for two months, while the control group did not participate in the program. Mothers completed the Empathy Questionnaire 2 times, at pre-test and post-test. The GPT significantly influenced empathy, prosocial actions, attention to others’ feelings, and emotional contagion in hard-of-hearing children (p <.001). The Eta square suggested that 59% of the improvement in empathy is due to participating in the research. This research highlighted the importance of GPT for empathy in hard-of-hearing children. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024.