|
Game Therapy Berthold Berg, PhD July 12-16, 2010 9 am - 12:15 pm |
 Register |
|
| About Game Therapy | ||
|
Home
|
Game Therapy is based on games authored by Dr. Berthold Berg and published by Western Psychological Services. The 10 games covered in the workshop address common problems among children and adolescents. The games can be used as either the predominant intervention tool or as part of a multifaceted intervention program. Game therapy combines the best features of traditional play therapy and contemporary cognitive-behavioral therapy: Application. Game therapy is appropriate for both children and adolescents. Fun. Game therapy is enjoyable and so encourages a commitment to treatment. Settings. Suitable for individual therapy, group therapy and classroom applications. Assessment. The initial choice of appropriate game cards is facilitated by the child's responses to questionnaires that accompany each game. A player's skill deficits can be further identified by inadequate response to game cards tapping those skills. The therapist may then use this information to select cards in future sessions. Integration with other methods. Games may be used in combination with other forms of treatment. Games may be used for only a portion of the scheduled session or occasionally across several sessions to supplement the primary form of treatment . Ice-breaker. Many children don't know how, or are unwilling, to discuss their feelings, thoughts and behaviors when entering therapy. Use of a game teaches children how to think about and discuss feelings, thoughts and behavior to be more comfortable doing so. Self-disclosure. Children learn to talk about feelings, thoughts and behavior by offering advice to the characters on the cards. When ready, they are encouraged to talk about their own feelings, thoughts and behaviors in situations similar to those of the card characters. Self-Instructional training. The games teach children to talk to themselves to regulate their emotions and to select the best response to problem situations. Therapists can model effective self-talk when it is their turn to select and respond to a card. By speaking out loud, therapists can also model the thinking process, e.g., weighing the pros and cons and consequences of several choices, that led to the advice given to the card character. Direction. “Stacking the deck” with the most germane game cards, the game therapist is able to exercise greater control over the goals, direction and pace of therapy. Pace. Game therapy is generally brief, completed in weeks rather than months or years. Reinforcement. Children receive praise and accumulate tokens for good responses to game cards. The player with the most chips after any designated time period wins. Evaluation. By comparing the adequacy of responses to game cards over time, the therapist can objectively assessment treatment progress and outcome.
|