Touching the Loss and Creating a New Sense of Being in Clay Field Therapy: A Longitudinal Phenomenological Research

This longitudinal phenomenological study explores the experiences of individuals undergoing Clay Field Therapy to process complex grief. Clay Field Therapy is a sensorimotor art therapy rooted in haptic perception. The combination of three fundamental materials creates Clay Field: a rectangular wooden box, filled with smooth clay and warm water. It emphasizes the tactile relationship between the individual and materials providing a non-verbal avenue for a deep therapeutic processing. Five participants, all women aged 30-45, suffering from complicated grief. The study employs Longitudinal Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (LIPA) to examine how participants attributed meaning to their experiences. Data was collected through participant-led, in-depth, process oriented and semi- structured interviews conducted after the first and twelfth Clay Field sessions of each participants. Four superordinate themes emerged from the longitudinal phenomenological analysis of data: beyond words, from nothingness towards existence, from tangible experiences towards a transformative spiritual experience, and a comprehensive sense of being. The findings suggest that Clay Field Therapy facilitates not only grief resolution but also profound existential and spiritual growth, offering individuals a renewed sense of life meaning through haptic engagement and “embodied reflection”.