| Summary: | The changed appearance as a result of burns for a child in middle childhood years has several implications in terms of its physical, emotional, and social development. It seems that the burnt child in middle childhood years can benefit from therapeutic assistance, and specifically, empowerment. As far as the researcher could determine, Gestalt play therapy has not yet been utilized for this purpose nor has there been research done in connection to this. For the purpose of this study, the value of the Gestalt play therapy process, as described by Oaklander, in empowering the burn victim in the middle childhood years is explored and described.
Consultations with experts as well as a literature review was undertaken in order to obtain background information about the Gestalt play therapy process, with specific reference to the empowerment aspect as well as the implications of the burn wounds and burn marks on the burn victim in the middle childhood years. The literature studied produced a theoretical framework within which this study was performed. Following the literature review, an empirical investigation into Gestalt play therapy was used, with the focus on empowerment. A qualitative study was conducted with a single case study as data collection method.
For the duration of the empirical study, 17 therapeutic sessions were conducted with the participant, within the framework of qualitative research investigation. Data collected was described, analysed, and verified through a literature study. This study came to the conclusion that the Gestalt play therapy process is valuable in the empowerment of a burn victim in middle childhood years. It was particularly the therapeutic relationship and the elements that focused on the strengthening of the self, which was valuable in empowering the participant.
The information is described in an article according to the guidelines for the Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk journal entitled: “Empowerment of a burn victim through the Gestalt play therapy process”. Various elements are discussed respectively as used in the case study to empower the child.
Section A provides an introduction and explanation of the study, which includes the rationale and problem statement for the study and research methodology. The article that followed, is discussed in Section B. Conclusions and recommendations that arose from this study are discussed in Section C. Section D contains the compiled bibliography, and appendices are in Section E. === Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.
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