Game therapy

It's no secret that children sometimes need psychological help. They, just like adults, face emotional problems, suffer from stress, suffer from fears. But the therapist with children is more difficult to work with. After all, they need a special approach.

Gaming therapy is becoming more common in working with young adults. The game helps children to throw out all the aggression that "eats away" from the inside, reflects fears, jealousy towards younger brothers or sisters, a sense of insecurity or insecurity. Watching the game, an adult can determine what difficulties, verbal complaints, not expressed verbally, the child experiences.

Methods of game therapy

In modern centers of psychology, specialists use methods of play therapy in their work with children. You can safely say that the motto of this method is "Do not manage, but understand." Its goal is not to change the child, but to assert his own "I".

Types of game therapy

Currently, game therapy is classified as:

  1. Ego-analytic therapy (therapists, during the game, offer the child various interpretations in order to help him understand and accept the emotional conflicts that he was forced out or denied).
  2. Therapy, which focuses on the theory of social learning (the psychologist focuses on teaching the child to play with others, and not on the affectivity of the content of children's games).
  3. Non-directive game therapy (in most cases, the therapist is passive and the child supports with reflexive judgments, helping them express their personal conflicts by finding their solution.) This is described in detail in GL Landrett's book "Game therapy: the art of relationships".

Game therapy - exercises

To conduct game therapy at home, you can use these games:

  1. "Acquaintance". Arrange the kids a funny acquaintance. Break them into pairs, help them to name them and also let them ask the name of their neighbor.
  2. "Birthday". Thanks to this game, every child will feel the center of attention. Assign alternately birthday. Help me to say congratulations and wishes. It should be noted that children with aggression need games that help to throw out negative emotions, as well as those games that teach correctly express their emotions and feelings.
  3. "A toy". Give one of the pairs a beautiful toy, and then help the second child to ask her right, at the same time, if necessary, he needs to offer an exchange.

Do not forget that children are special individuals and they need a special approach. After all, the adult's life habits are laid down in childhood.