Clay Therapy in Schizophrenia Patients

January 29, 2026 updated by: Esra Karabulut, Kutahya Health Sciences University

The Effect of Clay Therapy on Functional Improvement and Individual and Social Performance in Schizophrenic Patients

In recent years, art therapies have been discussed for their positive effects on mental disorders. One such therapy, clay therapy, is being studied to examine its effect on the functional recovery and individual and social performance of schizophrenia patients undergoing pharmacological treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Schizophrenia is a chronic illness that can manifest in various forms, ranging from symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations to functional impairments, and is often characterised by relapses.

The care of people with schizophrenia concerns all sectors of society, including families, healthcare professionals, and organisations providing psychosocial support. The treatment of schizophrenia is of great importance due to its potential for early onset and its status as one of the most common psychiatric disorders leading to functional impairment.

While pharmacological treatments support a large part of the treatment process, the effect of art therapy on preventing disability and treatment compliance and disease awareness is the subject of current studies. Clay therapy, a component of art therapy, has been used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, especially in recent years. Studies have highlighted the therapeutic aspects of clay. When examining the therapeutic properties of clay, it is seen to provide benefits in the following areas:

  • Facilitating the expression of emotions,
  • Bringing unconscious material to the surface,
  • Facilitating rich and deep expression,
  • Facilitating verbal communication,
  • Concretisation and symbolisation. This study aims to examine the effect of clay therapy on the functional recovery and individual and social performance of schizophrenia patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

17

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having been diagnosed with schizophrenia,
  • Being aged 18 or over,
  • Having completed at least primary school education,
  • Having achieved treatment compliance,
  • Currently undergoing pharmacological treatment,
  • Being in remission,
  • Having attended the Community Mental Health Centre regularly over the past year,
  • Having agreed to participate in the study
  • Scoring 20 points or higher on the Mini Mental State Examination

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Being under 18 years of age,
  • Not having an education,
  • Not having a diagnosis of schizophrenia,
  • Not adhering to treatment,
  • Not taking pharmacological treatment regularly,
  • Being in an acute attack/active phase,
  • Lacking insight

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Clay therapy group
The experimental group will receive clay therapy sessions in addition to routine therapies.
Other: Clay therapy
Experimental: Clay therapy group
No Intervention: Routine treatment group
Routine therapies will continue to be administered to the control group, but clay therapy will not be administered.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Functional Recovery Scale for Schizophrenia Patients
Time Frame: 12 weeks
This is a 5-point Likert-type scale consisting of 19 items that assesses improvements in functionality independent of the symptoms of the disease. Level 1 (absent) indicates the lowest level of improvement, while Level 5 (present to a high degree) corresponds to the 'ideal' level of function. Level 2 (partially present), Level 3 (sufficiently present) and Level 4 (almost completely present) are also included. When two levels are between, the lower level is selected. The maximum score that can be obtained from the scale is 95, and the minimum score is 19. The scale, which consists of subscales for daily living skills, social functioning, and health and treatment, measures functional improvement in three separate areas.
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Individual and Social Performance Scale
Time Frame: 12 weeks
This scale, scored from 1 to 100, is conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the level of functionality is determined through a sequential assessment across four dimensions: socially beneficial activities, individual and social relationships, self-care, and disruptive and aggressive behaviours. After each dimension is assessed, it is scored between 0 and 10 points based on the degree of impairment in that dimension.
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Kutahya Health Sciences University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 20, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KSHU-SBF-EK-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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