Healing Trauma through Cultural Wisdom: The Development of Javanese Traditional Play Therapy for Students in Surakarta

This study aimed to develop a traditional Javanese play therapy model as an effective and culturally resonant approach to help students overcome trauma. The research employed a Research and Development (R&D) design using the Alessi and Trollip model, involving students, teachers, counselors, and therapy experts as subjects. Data were gathered through observations, interviews, and questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results indicate that this therapy model successfully enhanced student engagement in the healing process, with 87% of students feeling more comfortable and able to express their emotions through traditional games, such as engklek, gobak sodor, and jamuran. Expert validation and field testing further confirmed the effectiveness of the therapy, with an average score of 88%, demonstrating its feasibility for school implementation. In conclusion, traditional Javanese play therapy offers an effective and culturally relevant approach to support students’ trauma recovery, with the potential for broader application across schools in Indonesia.