Game therapy: concept, types, methods and means, examples

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

What is play therapy? Games used for psychotherapeutic influence on adults and children. This concept includes various methods. But all of them are united by the recognition that the game can have a strong influence on the processes of personality development. After all, it is a unique phenomenon of universal human culture, standing at its origins and towering at its peak. From the very beginning of the existence of civilization, the game has been a kind of control measure of the most important characteristics of the individual. The fact is that in any of the existing activities a person is not able to demonstrate so much self-forgetfulness. And only in the game there is an exposure of all those intellectual resources that an individual possesses. Take, for example, hockey and football. In these well-established game models, both adults and children act exactly as they would in various extreme situations, being at the limit of their strength and capabilities in overcoming difficulties.

Game therapy in modern psychology is stillrelatively young industry. The main work in this direction is carried out, as a rule, with children.

Game therapy arose in the depths of psychoanalysis in the first half of the 20th century. But as a practical technique, it was voiced and implemented only in 1992

Method of psychological correction

Therapy with a game is a way of influencing a personality, which is based on the principles of the dynamics of its mental development. This method is designed to alleviate the emotional stress of a person using a variety of tools that give people of different ages food for imagination.

Such therapy for adults is used in the form of a wide variety of tasks, exercises and trainings on non-verbal communication. Also, a psychologist can offer his patients to play out various situations, etc. During the game, a close relationship develops between its participants. This allows you to relieve anxiety, tension and fear of those who surround a person. This increases his self-esteem. This provides an opportunity for an individual to test himself in certain situations of communication and remove the danger of consequences that are socially significant.

For a child, play is a form of self-therapy. Thanks to her, a growing person learns to respond correctly to various troubles and conflicts. Very often play therapy is the only way for a child to get help. This becomes clear when clarifying the general indications for the application of this technique. Among them is isolation and infantilism,phobic reactions and lack of sociability, over-obedience and over-conformity, bad habits and behavioral disorders, and for boys and inadequate gender-role identification.

Objectives of play therapy

What are the goals of this method of psychological correction? Among the main tasks of play therapy, which is one of the types of art therapy, are:

• relieve the psychological suffering of the child;
• development in a small patient of a sense of self-esteem and strengthening of his own "I" in him;
• restoring trust in peers and adults with the optimization of relationships with them;
• development of the ability to emotional self-regulation;
• prevention and correction of various deformations in the formation of the "I-concept";
• prevention and correction of deviations in behavior.

Feature of play therapy

Psychocorrectional classes conducted according to this method can produce a positive effect due to the fact that a positive emotional connection is established between adults and children in the process of their implementation. At the same time, such a feature of the game as its two-dimensional nature, which determines the developmental impact, is taken into account. The purpose of such a correction is to organize assistance in asserting a sense of self-worth, one's "I".

Every child is unique. Like any person, he has his own internal sources of self-development. With the help of the game, fears and negative emotions, as well as self-doubt, are suppressed. At the same time, children expand their ability to communicate and significantlyincrease the range of actions available to them with items.

Game therapy also has certain non-specific effects that can have a positive impact on the child's mental development. They appear when emotional stress is relieved, which allows children to more adequately and fully realize their abilities.

With well-conducted classes, the child is able to understand his feelings and decide how best to behave in a given situation.

Functions of play therapy

Activities to correct the psychological state of the child are necessary for:

1. Diagnostics. When conducting play therapy, the characteristics of the personality of a small patient, as well as his relationship with people and the outside world, are clarified. If you try to just start a conversation with a child, then he will most likely withdraw into himself for one reason or another. This will not allow an adult to get answers to his questions. The situation develops quite differently in the presence of an informal setting. In this case, the baby will show everything that he has experienced at the sensorimotor level. Making spontaneous actions, the child is completely arbitrary, but at the same time most fully expresses himself.
2. Training. Already one or several sessions of the method will allow the child to broaden his horizons and acquire the ability to rebuild relationships. Thanks to play therapy, the baby is able to completely painlessly go through the process of socialization and readaptation, as well as learn about the organization that the environment around him has.peace.
3. Therapeutic function. At an early age, the result of the game is not yet interesting for a small patient. More important for him is the process itself, which allows him to express his fears and feelings, the awkwardness experienced in communicating with people, while finding a solution to problems and conflicts. As a result, the child develops and significantly strengthens the necessary mental processes with the gradual formation of tolerance and an adequate response to what is happening around.

Types and forms of classes

There are many criteria according to which the methods of play therapy are classified. So, depending on the position that adults take during classes, it happens:

1. Directory. Such play therapy is a directed process. In it, an adult is an organizer for a child. At the same time, ready-made solutions to the proposed problem are offered to the small patient. In the process of playing, the child independently comes to understand his own conflicts and himself.
2. Non-directive. This play therapy is non-directional. During it, the task of an adult is to try not to interfere in the lesson, while creating a warm and cozy atmosphere of trust and reliability around the little patient.

Game therapy is also distinguished by the structure that the materials for its implementation have. At the same time, classes are:

1. Structured. These games are used while working with children whose age ranges from 4 to 12 years. All actionsat the same time, they are a provocation of an open expression of aggression (when using toy weapons), an expression of immediate desire (when using human figures), a way to develop communication skills (in the form of fun with cars, trains and a telephone).
2. Unstructured. Such play in therapy for preschoolers can be sports exercises and outdoor activities, work with plasticine, clay, water, sand, etc. All this allows the child to indirectly express his feelings, which gives the baby a sense of freedom.

Different types of game therapy are distinguished according to the form that was used in organizing the process. This list contains classes:

• group;
• customized.

Which type of play therapy is best for psychologists to use?

The one that will allow you to find the best way to solve the tasks and achieve the necessary goals facing the specialists.

Group activities

In order to determine the necessary type of play therapy, the teacher in each case must analyze the need for children to communicate. In the event that it has not yet been formed, the lessons should be individual. If this is all right, then the most preferred form of play therapy will be group therapy. It will allow children to calmly communicate with each other and most fully open up at the same time.

Game therapy for children in a group,will allow a preschooler to raise self-esteem, begin to realize himself as a person, respond correctly to the occurrence of negative internal emotions, reduce feelings of anxiety, guilt and anxiety levels. In this process, the kids observe each other and tend to try out some role in the game themselves. In this case, the goal of the specialist’s work is not the whole group, but each of its participants individually. The optimal number of players in this case is 1 adult and 5 children. Preschoolers must all be the same age, no more than 1 year apart.

When using play therapy, each child in the group develops:

• positive "I"-concept;
• responsibility for actions;
• self-control skills;
• ability to make independent decisions;
• belief in one's own "I".

Over time, structured play therapy replaces unstructured play therapy. This type of activity allows preschoolers to begin to express their feelings and worries more freely, up to the most aggressive ones. This will allow the psychologist to more easily track and correct them.

Employment tools

The play therapy room should be equipped with tables with wooden tops. It would be nice if slides with drawers were installed in it, on the surface of which it would be possible to draw, and then erase the images.

Also in the room for such therapy, the following toys and materials are required:

1. Dolls, transportfunds, houses, puppets, cash registers, etc. All of them will allow you to convey the reality of the world.
2. Paints with music stand, cubes, water, sand, clay. These materials are necessary for the weakening of emotions and self-expression of the child in creativity.
3. Rubber knife, soldiers, predatory animals, guns. These toys will give you the opportunity to respond to aggression.

Let's look at examples of games for preschoolers.

Sand Therapy

Psychologists began to apply this method in the 20s of the 20th century. The author of this method of personality correction was Dora Kalff, a Jungian analyst. Games in sand therapy are used to work with psychologically disadvantaged children. They contribute to the development of the child's spatial imagination, teach him logical thinking and develop fine motor skills. Sand therapy while playing with sand allows the child to calm down. That is why this area of psycho-correctional work is especially indicated for preschoolers with hyperactivity.

Sand therapy (playing with sand) contains hand gymnastics, acting, fantasies and much more that positively affects the child, develops his sensitive skills and stimulates cognitive processes. In addition, this direction allows the baby to correlate his actions with real life, eliminate muscle tension, improve vision, learn letters, develop hearing, acquire reading and writing skills.

Sand therapy games are not necessary at allspend in the office of a psychologist. A beach, a children's sandbox, or just a pile of sand brought for construction is perfect for them. A box with this natural material can also be installed in an apartment. For sand play, sand therapy will also require real-world symbols. These can be figures of animals, fairy-tale characters and people, cars and houses, natural materials and plants, etc. After preparing for classes, the child must be given complete freedom of creativity. Adults should not interfere with the baby with their advice, except when he asks for it himself.

Let's consider games and exercises in art therapy using sand. Among them are those that allow you to develop general and fine motor skills. During such a game, the child must stand. This will allow him to use the main part of the muscles, form the correct posture, strengthen the musculoskeletal system and develop coordination of movements. When using sand therapy in a game for preschoolers, a child and an adult need to leave prints of the palm and its back on a flat surface of natural material. After that, they need to share their feelings.

Further, it is recommended to feel the sand with your fingertips. It can also be sprinkled on top of the palm of your hand. In this case, the child must explain whether it is pleasant for him or not. Such an exercise is designed to teach a child to explore a given object with his hands and listen to his own feelings. To relieve emotional stress, games should be played in a calm environment. This will also allow the little patient to concentrateattention.

If necessary, you can include in the workshop on sand therapy and play with sand to remove aggression. All actions in this case should end with positive emotions and the victory of good over evil. In order to eliminate the aggressive state of the baby, a sand shower can be arranged. At first, let it be a fine rain, fitting on one palm. Further, the volume of sand will need to be increased. It can be scooped up with a children's bucket or two palms. It is important for the child to feel that he is involved in this rain. Only in this case, he will be able to calm down and perceive further communication less aggressively.

Board Games

Classes with children can be not only mobile. It is also possible to use board games. As art therapy, they contribute to the development of the child's abilities and his personal qualities. In addition, they combine play with learning. That is why conducting such activities can be a wonderful educational tool for preschoolers.

Board game therapy develops a child's attention and visual memory, logic and quick wit, imaginative thinking and imagination. As a rule, several people should take part in such classes at once. In this case, art therapy games contribute to the interaction of children with each other. Obeying the proposed rules, preschoolers learn how to properly communicate with each other, patience, waiting for the turn to make a move, empathy with their rivals, as well as accepting with dignity not only victories, but also defeats. Thus, board games in art therapy allow you to correctly form the personal qualities of the child.

Among the main advantages of such activities is the absence of the need for playgrounds and complex equipment. They only need a table and all the necessary items (dice, chips, cards, etc.). Such games have the following advantages:

• teach preschoolers to recognize and then memorize a variety of phenomena and objects, develop the child's attention and expand vocabulary, doing it in an interesting and colorful way;
• prepare the baby for life, offering him certain problems, solving which the baby develops his skills, gaining life experience;
• helps improve reaction speed, agility, coordination and eye sight.

For example, the board game "Shopping Therapy". It is intended for girls. Its goal is to make as many purchases as possible while spending as little money as possible. During the game, the participants have to take turns making moves. This will allow them to get into the boutiques of the mall. It has two floors. At the first of them, it is proposed to buy various outfits, as well as pick up accessories for them. The second floor is the entertainment area. You can get here when you go to the "elevator" field. The participant who ended up on the second floor must skip one lap. Here, when she enters the fields of restaurants and bars, she will have to pay a certain amount. The one who is lucky is on the field of luck. Here you can win a certain amount of prize money. She winsThe member who managed to buy the most items with the least amount of money.

Thus, "Shopping Therapy" is a game that is an interesting and exciting entertainment. Here, each of the participants will feel as if she was in a real shopping center, where she is offered to buy everything she wants for money.

The game package includes the playing field itself, as well as 60 red and 24 yellow tokens. They come with 4 passports, 60 banknotes, a dice for moves, 72 cards, and 20 Excursion cards. Present in the kit and the rules of the game

Art therapy and computer

Modern man lives in the world of the latest digital technologies. That is why computers have become an integral part of our everyday life.

According to experts, today's children grow up much faster than it was, say, 10 years ago. They get acquainted with technology from a very early age, perfectly managing tablets and laptops better than their grandparents.

The computer today is an integral part of learning. And this applies not only to education received at the institute and at school. Gadgets are also used for those children who attend preschool educational institutions. The developers have created many computer games that promote the development of memory and attention, helping the child learn to count and learn letters. The PC is also used in psycho-correctional work with children.

For example, in the game "Intensive Care", a child is asked to help a young Android heroine who is undergoing an internship in a hospital cope with various difficulties that are encounteredShe is on her way to meet and make friends with new people. The girl has to find her love. The new job opens up unlimited opportunities for the heroine to communicate with patients and colleagues. The player's task is to find solutions in unusual situations and in conversations, the choice of which will further determine the development of the plot, as well as the relationships that the heroine will have with other people.