The effectiveness of theater therapy on the emotional skills of schizophrenic patients

Introduction: Theater therapy is one of the effective treatment methods in teaching communication skills. Due to the deficiency in verbal and non-verbal skills of the body, regulation and expression of emotions and as a result affecting the life satisfaction of people with schizophrenia, this study was conducted with the aim of the effect of theater therapy on their emotional skills. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, cases were randomly selected from patients referred to Atieh Psychiatric Occupational Therapy Center and were divided into control and experimental groups. Theatrical therapy was performed in groups for 60 minutes in an eight-session program over two weeks. Bar-On emotional intelligence questionnaires were administered before and after the intervention in both groups and the results were evaluated after normality according to Kolmogorov-Smirnov test using paired t-test. Results: In this study, 20 patients with schizophrenia including 6 females and 14 males participated. Each person was randomly divided into 10 groups of treatment and control (treatment group including 5 women and 5 men, control group 1 woman and 9 men). The data showed that there was no difference in any of these subscales of the Bar-An emotional intelligence questionnaire in the experimental group compared the control group. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be said that theater therapy in this group of patients has little effect on emotional intelligence; but it can be used as a complement to behavior change, and reducing depressive symptoms by methods such as self-presentation, role deviation, and future predictions that motivate them to talk and play with others.