comparison of the effectiveness of Narrative therapy (cognitive-behavioral) and Psychodrama on Social self- empowerment and Alexithymia in female students with specific learning disorder

The present study intended to compare the effectiveness of narrative therapy and psychodrama on the social self-empowerment and alexithymia of female students with specific learning disorders (SLD). A quasi-experimental research design with pretest, posttest, and a control group was employed. The sample included 48 sixth-grade female students with SLD identified by Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) and the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire in 2017-2018. Using simple random sampling, the sample was selected and randomly assigned to three groups (two experimental groups and one control group). After completing the Social Self-Empowerment Questionnaire and Alexithymia Questionnaire, the first experimental group received narrative therapy for 10 sessions of 1.5 hours, and the second experimental group received psychodrama for eight sessions of two hours. The results demonstrated a significant difference between the experimental groups in terms of social self-empowerment and alexithymia. Comparing the differences between mean scores of the two experimental groups, narrative therapy and psychodrama showed the highest effect on increasing social self-empowerment and decreasing alexithymia, respectively. Narrative therapy and psychodrama can be utilized as complementary interventions for ameliorating the psychological problems of female students with SLD.