Can the Mario Bros. help? Nintendo games as an adjunct in psychotherapy with children.

Videogames as Therapy

“…Lawrence (1986) advocates that videogames can be used in the treatment of psychological problemsduringtherapy.Inanoverview,hereportedthattherehadbeenapproximatelytwodozen effortsinthepublishedliteraturetodelivercounselingorotherpsychologicalinterventionservicesby computer.Althoughnotconcentratingonvideogamesspecifically,hedidrefertogames,computeraidedinstruction,biofeedback,andbehaviortherapy.Heconcludedthatcomputers(includinggames) couldmakemeaningfulcontributionstothetreatmentofpsychologicalproblems. Gardner (1991) claimed that the use of videogames in his psychotherapy sessions provided commongroundbetweenhimselfandhischildclients,andprovidedexcellentbehavioralobservation opportunities.AccordingtoGardnersuchobservationsallowedhimtoobserve: More recent research (Ducharme et al, 2012) reported the case of a 16-year-old girl who underwentAcceptanceandCommitmentTherapy(ACT)usingaRAGE-Controlinterventiondesigned toincreaseemotioncontrolabilitiesbymonitoringandcontrollingphysiologicalarousalwhilstfaced withstressinavirtualrealityenvironment.ThistreatmentusedfiveCBTtechniquestogetherwith avideogameusingactivebiofeedback.Theaimwastoimprovetheindividual'sself-regulation,and wasimplementedonadailybasisoverfiveconsecutivedays.Theresultsofthisstudyshowedthat thepatient'sstateandtraitangerscoresdecreasedsignificantlyfollowingtreatment,suggestingboth herangerandaggressionlevelsbenefittedfromthisvideogametherapyelement.Additionalbenefits included increased control over physiological arousal (i.e., heart rate). Although this study only providesevidencefromoneperson,theresultsshowedpromiseregardingreductionsofbothanger andaggressionandincreasesinself-control,andshouldbereplicatedinlargersamples.…”

Video games in therapy: a therapist's perspective

“…An example of the last category, dating back almost two decades, is the use of the Super Mario Bros and Zelda games in addition to the regular psychotherapy program to assess and assist various abilities of children, such as problem solving strategies and means of dealing with success and failure [6].…”

Violent computer games and their effects on state hostility and physiological arousal

“…Based on this theory, some authors claimed that playing electronic games with violent content, instead of Violent Computer Games 7 instigating aggressive behaviour, may have a positive effect on the players insofar, as it allows and encourages the discharge of latent aggressiveness in a socially acceptable way [Cunningham 1995;Gardner 1991;Graybill and others 1985;Hull 1985]. However, this hypothesis has not been supported by studies of exposure to film violence [Geen and Quantly 1977;Zillmann 1998], nor by research concerning electronic games .…”