Here’s the third in a series of interesting intervention ideas from reader Katie Robinson. Ms. Robinson earned a gift certificate to childtherapytoys.com for her submission. Learn how you can do the same!
Length of group: 50 minutes
Number of sessions: 4 over one month, clients can come in and out as they are discharged, this specific session may work more functionally if it is not the first session of the set.
General goal: To increase self-awareness as well as interpersonal relatedness to others.
Outcomes measured: Likert scale survey at first meeting and at last meeting as well as self-report.
Warm up: Can you think of any character from a TV show, movie, book, video game, comic book, etc. that has dealt with something similar to you or that you relate to in some way? Picture that character in your mind and if you feel comfortable, let yourself become that character – walk around the room if you’d like, walk and talk like that person, and see what it feels like to see the world through their eyes.
Enactment: Character interviews: (The therapist can do this, or if there is a client who isn’t willing to participate in this activity as a character, they could do it) Each character is asked a set of interview questions.
Examples: Who are you? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What is currently happening in your life? What frustrates you most? What is your favorite food? What scares you? Who is your best friend? What do you look forward to most? What do you day dream about?
Closure: At the end of the interviews, all the clients are de-rolled from their characters and asked to come back to the room and give feedback on their experience. What is it that you relate to with this character? Why are they important? What do they/can they give you?