Ecosystemic Play Therapy: Emotional Awareness and Social Competence in Deaf Adolescents

Ecosystemic Play Therapy (EPT) can be considered one of the best approaches for deaf adolescents who have social and emotional problems. The present research aimed to the effect EPT on emotional awareness and social competence of deaf adolescents. This research was a quasi-randomised controlled trial design. Twenty-two deaf adolescents aged 11–14 years were randomly selected from two Schools for the Deaf in Yazd, Iran. They were randomly replaced to treatment (n = 11) or control (n = 11) groups. The treatment group participated twice a week, group 60–70-min sessions of EPT over 5 weeks, while the control group did not participate in this treatment. Both groups completed the Emotional Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ) and Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ) before and after receiving EPT treatment. Data were analysed using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) test. Results revealed that the treatment significantly and positively influenced the emotional awareness (F = 11.04, p = .004), and social competence of deaf adolescents (F = 30.47, p = .001). Our findings have important implications for psychologists and teachers in supporting deaf children to develop their social and emotional skills.