Image
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Products
  • Resources
  • News
  • Blog

Archive for counseling games

Shadow’s Edge: A Mobile Game for Teens Who Struggle with Chronic Illness

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· November 30, 2018 
· No Comments

 

For young people who struggle with chronic illnesses or emotional challenge, the weight of their trauma is ever-present, yet rarely are they given the opportunity to talk about the dark or scary side of their situations, let alone have a tool to help them move through and grow from their experience.

Enter the Digging Deep Project, with the mission of empowering teens to take charge of their emotional health in fun and engaging ways.

The Project’s newest product, the recently released mobile game, Shadow’s Edge, is designed to build resilience in teens with medical or emotional challenges. Combining psychology and technology, this free app reaches teens with psycho-educational content right where they are—on their mobile devices and playing games!

Shadow’s Edge players are guided through a process of journaling and creative expression, helping these teen players come to terms with their challenges within an immersive, edgy game world.

The quest of the player is to revive Shadow’s Edge, a city that has been decimated by storm.  Through gameplay, teens learn they can rebuild their lives by trusting their feelings and finding meaning in their experience.

Teens struggling with hardship needn’t stay in an isolated or dark world—they have the power to reshape it. They can create beauty where there was once dilapidation: There can be light; There can be colour; There can be hope.

Available for free on the App Store and Google Play. For more information and blog for and by teens visit www.shadowsedge.com.  For parents and professionals, more information on www.diggingdeep.org.

No Comments
Categories : Behavior, Conflict, Depression, Feelings, Parenting, Play Therapy Games
Tags : anger, anxiety, board games, childhood stress, counseling games, family roles, feelings, games, Play Therapy, play therapy gams, teens, therapeutic games for teens, therapy games

August Play Therapy Wrap-Up

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· September 5, 2018 
· No Comments

Blog

This month, Dr. Gary shared the importance of emotional literacy. Therapists and counselors are often concerned about a child’s emotional literacy. Emotionally literate children can manage their feelings and their reactions to those feelings. They can recognize and respond to other people’s feelings, which is a significant advantage in life. Feelings are the most basic building blocks of social skills. Without the ability to recognize feelings in themselves and others, children are not able to master social interactions. Read more here.

Articles

New studies have found that toddlers as young as two years old are able to understand that their actions are being judged. They understand that their actions can render positive or negative reactions from others. This is important because it shows us that children, at a very young age, begin to understand far more than we assume. Read full article here.

As we return our loved ones back to school yards, campuses, and trusted teachers, we are too familiar with the temptations that our children face with each new school year. Social media is often an outlet to which they turn. The number of media platforms is ever-growing, however, and it may seem hopeless to a parent to monitor and supervise. Thankfully, we have found some useful tips to help you keep your loved ones safe on the web! Read full article here.

Bullying is scary. It’s a scary concept for parents that could become their child’s reality. But bullying in all forms is a sign of ignorance, and the best way to stop it is to educate your children about what bullying is, and what they should do it they see it, or become a victim. Loren Santos, a school counselor at Franklin Elementary School in Baltimore County, Maryland has six tips to help you talk about bullying with your children. Read full article here.

No Comments
Categories : Bullying, Child Development, Feelings, Monthly Wrap-Up, Parenting, Wrap Up
Tags : board games, childhood stress, counseling games, development, family roles, feelings, Play Therapy, therapeutic games for children

Identifying and Expressing Feelings

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· August 21, 2018 
· No Comments

Therapists and counselors are often concerned about a child’s emotional literacy. Emotionally literate children can manage their feelings and their reactions to those feelings. They can recognize and respond to other people’s feelings, which is a significant advantage in life. Many of our clients are not emotionally literate and our work with those children includes developing and enhancing the child’s ability to identify and express their feelings. Feelings are the most basic building blocks of social skills. Without the ability to recognize feelings in themselves and others, children are not able to master social interactions. Children adept at identifying and expressing their feelings are likely to display increased empathy which is crucial for social competence, social relatedness, and pro-social behavior.  Children with deficits in their ability to identify and express their feelings may display excessive anger and frustration, and have more troubled interpersonal relationships with peers, teachers, and family members.

Since the development of The Talking, Feeling, and Doing board game in the 70’s, there have been hundreds of games developed to promote feeling identification and expression. Below is a brief survey of six of the most popular games currently on the market.

Feeling’s Detective is a matching game and is especially helpful with children who have difficulty picking up on social cues. It is suitable for children in grades 1-6. Feelings Detective helps children understand their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. It is especially helpful for children who tend to misread social cues, including those who have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome or are at any other position on the Autism Spectrum. Specific examples help players link specific situations and thoughts with specific feelings.

The Emotions Mania Thumball is a great ice breaker for children, families, and groups.  Thumballs are a soft, stuffed ball that is safe for indoor use. Game play is simple. Simply throw, roll, pass or catch the thumball. Look under your thumb and react to the feeling word found there. Each panel has a different word. The Emotion Mania Thumball includes words such as happy, sad worried, curious, silly, proud and lonely. It is suitable for children, teens, and adults.

Go Fish: Fishing for Feelings teaches the skills needed to successfully deal with feelings, recognize feelings in others, and identify appropriate feelings. Players practice talking about their feelings in a non-threatening way. Players answer open-ended questions before receiving a requested card. Each question prompts a discussion about successfully dealing with feelings, recognizing other people’s feelings, or identifying appropriate feelings. The game plays like classic Go Fish. There are two decks of 50 cards in each game. One for children ages 5 to 8 years old, and the other for children ages 8 to 11 years old.

 

Emotional Bingo for Children (Spanish & English) is a great game for groups, class rooms, and individual sessions. In this bingo game players identify feelings rather than numbers on their Bingo cards. Emotional Bingo helps children learn to recognize various feelings and make empathetic responses. The game rules provide opportunities for children to discuss their own feelings and to respond with empathy to the feelings of others. The children’s version is suitable for children ages 6-12 and there is a version available for Teens.

 

The Yes I Can! Talk About Feelings cards are designed to facilitate conversation, insight, expressive skills, and increase an individual’s feeling word vocabulary. It is suitable for families, classrooms, counselors, & therapists and improves feeling identification and the expression of emotions. The Yes I Can Talk About Feelings game is great for enhancing self-awareness and the impact of one’s behavior. The instructions include several fun activities and suggestions for using the cards. This game is suitable for ages 5 and up, 2-6 players.

No Comments
Categories : Asperger's, Autism, Behavior, Child Development, Communication, Feelings, Play Therapy, Play Therapy Games
Tags : board games, child development, child therapy, counseling games, feelings, Play Therapy, play therapy gams, therapeutic games for children, therapeutic games for teens, therapy games, thumball

July Play Therapy Wrap-Up

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· August 7, 2018 
· No Comments

Blog

This month produced a treasure trove of info and advice. Donna Hammontree outlined the differences between Rights, Responsibilities, Privileges, and Rewards. Knowing the difference between them is important to helping children and teens regulate their behavior. Donna cautions to be consistent when coaching your children/clients, and use positive reinforcement rather than negative. Read more here.

Articles

According to the University of Michigan, there is no correlation between pressuring you children to eat food they don’t want to eat, and positive results of any kind. Researchers say that picky eaters’ weight is unrelated to how hard their parents push them to eat “healthy” foods. likewise, their attitude towards those foods did not improved. You might just be fighting an uphill battle for no reason! Read full article here.

Living in the present has many advantages for children and adults alike. It can sometimes be easy to let worry and fear for what has been, or what could be, turn your day upside down. Rabbi Sam Frenkel’s mission is to use play therapy to help children overcome those worries by living in the present and focusing on today. Read full article here.

It can sometimes be hard to release the reins that keep a parent feeling in control of their children. But as a parent, your role is not to make your child’s decisions for them, but to teach them to make the right choices on their own. This can be exceptionally difficult because a parents first instinct will always be to ensure their child’s safety and happiness. Nancy Buck discusses how you can achieve that without being a helicopter parent. Read full article here.

No Comments
Categories : Anxiety, Feelings, Monthly Wrap-Up, Parenting, Play Therapy, Wrap Up
Tags : child development, childhood stress, counseling games, development, family roles, feelings, parenting, Play Therapy, play therapy intervention, therapy intervention

Trauma Reaction Cards

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· May 14, 2018 
· No Comments

The Trauma Reaction Cards are a therapeutic tool to assist children and adolescents in understanding and identifying their reactions to traumatic or stressful life experiences. These colorful and illustrated cards are categorized into the four domains of trauma reactions: Behavior Reactions, Body Reactions, Brain & Thinking Reactions, and Feelings Reactions.

To be used by qualified professionals only.**

No Comments
Categories : Product of the Month
Tags : Child Abuse, child therapy, child therapy toys, childhood stress, counseling games, feelings, Play Therapy, play therapy gams, therapeutic games for children

March Play Therapy Wrap-Up

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· April 2, 2018 
· No Comments

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglas

Blog

The internet can be a wonderful source of information and learning for young students, but it can also be a scary place for teens, and a difficult place for parents to monitor.  Fortunately, there are tools to help parents and adolescents.  In this blog about teen cyber-safety, we outline some on the problem areas on the internet, as well as the tools to educate young teens on the dangers of the internet and how to stay safe. Read more here!

Articles

A new study from the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at McGill University in Montreal, Canada suggests that autistic children benefit from being bilingual. “In the first study of its kind, scientists show that bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders can switch mental gears more easily than those who can only speak one language.” It’s common that autistic children have difficulty transitioning between tasks, and studies shows that being bilingual improves executive functioning. Researchers set out to find if being bilingual could help executive flexibility in children with ASD. Read full article here.

Video gaming among children and adolescents is a much debated topic. Can a person become addicted to gaming? Nancy Petry, a professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and editor of the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors explains gaming disorder, how to identify it, and how to seek help. While gaming disorder effects a very small number of people, gaming as become a very popular pass-time for all ages of players, and it’s important to be aware of potential problems.  Read full article here.

Studies have shown that adolescents who perform non-fatal self-harm are 26.7 times more likely to commit suicide within the next year. Though self-harm is not always performed with suicidal intent, the risks of repeat self-harm and possibly eventually suicide are related and high.  In this article, Molly Walker of MedPage Today highlights studies and statistics on who is more commonly at risk, and what preventative measures can be taken. Self-harm is never simply a cry for attention and should be taken very seriously. Read full article here. 

 

 

No Comments
Categories : Autism, Behavior, Depression, Executive Functioning, Monthly Wrap-Up, Parenting, Wrap Up
Tags : child play therapy toys, child therapy toys, childhood stress, counseling games, family roles, feelings, mental health disorders, Play Therapy, play therapy intervention, teens, therapy toys

October Play Therapy Wrap-Up

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· November 2, 2017 
· No Comments

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning”

-Diane Ackerman

Blog

Dr. Gary talked this month about  how cooperative and non-competitive games are a great resource for play therapy. Because there is no individual winner or loser, these games can be used with children who can’t tolerate losing, have cooperation difficulties, or need to work on their communication skills. Both cooperative and non-competitive games facilitate therapy by becoming the place where therapist and client interact with each other. Non-competitive games typically involve more discussion and disclosure, while cooperative games require social skills and effective communication to achieve success. Find more info and great examples here!

Articles

According to the Washington University in St. Louis, research has found that a key brain structure involved in regulating emotions and decision-making is smaller in kids who have lived through three or more adverse experiences before the age of 8, compared with kids whose lives were more stable.  These children were found more likely to develop depression in their early teen years, and more likely to have more physical health issues. Read full article here.

The American Psychological Association has offered resources for coping with and understanding gun violence following the mass shooting in Las Vegas, NV. These resources included tips for talking to children about violent behavior, gun violence, and understanding the difference between mental illness and those in “extreme situational crisis.” Read full article here. 

A new type of self-harm is gaining awareness. Physical self-harm has been seen as a cry for help from teens and adolescents, one that has been known to lead to suicide. A study has been conducted on self-harm that involves teens posting anonymous, but damaging things about themselves online. Results of the study show that nearly 6 percent of the teens reported that they had anonymously posted something mean about themselves online. Among these, about half (51.3 percent) said they did it just once, about one-third (35.5 percent) said they did it a few times, while 13.2 percent said they had done it many times. Read the full article here.

No Comments
Categories : Monthly Wrap-Up, Wrap Up
Tags : board games, counseling games, games, Play Therapy, play therapy intervention, play therapy toys, therapeutic games for children, therapy games

June Play Therapy Wrap-Up

Posted by Gary Yorke 
· July 6, 2017 
· No Comments

 

“Deep meaning lies often in childish play.”

– Johann Friedrich von Schille (German poet 1759–1805)

Blog

Dr. Gary’s play room is stacked to the ceiling with therapeutic games for children -literally! We got a peak at a few of those games, what they do, and where to get them! “As the president of the largest US publisher of therapeutic and counseling games, I have a lot more options than most child clinicians when it comes to acquiring games and selecting the ones I want to use in my sessions. Most of the time I try to be prescriptive. That is, I select games and activities most appropriate to the client I’m meeting with. Despite taking this approach I find myself gravitating to some therapy games much more than others.” Read more here!

Articles

Many clinicians will agree, the earlier you begin treatment for an illness or disability, the better the outcome is. Jan Ference, program director for Pathways to Healing, especially agrees that it is important to recognize and being treating serious neurological and behavioural issues as early as possible. The program diagnosis and treats children up to the age of six. “Finally the systems are starting to understand that if you put your money in early intervention, you actually will save buckets of money down the road and the outcomes for kids and families can be permanently changed, as opposed to the Band-Aid approach,” said Ference. Read more here!

There is a shortage of mental health professionals for children and teens in America. Oftentimes the school ends up being a child’s only resource for support and intervention. When a child needs more help than the school can provide, is can be hard for parents to navigate through their options for services, and then there is usually a wait-list involved in the scheduling processes. Without the proper support, children drop out of school, or worse, hurt themselves or others. How can we ensure that children and teens are getting all the support they need? Read more here.

“According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide 10-20% of children and adolescents experience mental illness. Half of all mental illnesses begin by the age of 14 and three-quarters by the mid-20s.” Yet mental illness is met with indifference that often leaves people feeling ashamed. It is important to spread awareness of mental illness so that people of all ages feel supported and can get the help they need. Read more here!

No Comments
Categories : Monthly Wrap-Up, Wrap Up
Tags : board games, child therapy, child therapy toys, counseling games, Play Therapy, play therapy intervention, therapeutic games for children, therapy games
PlayTherapyPage
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
iThemes Builder by iThemes
Powered by WordPress