Using therapeutic board games to promote child mental health

Abstract

This article focuses on group work with children using a board game format. Combining the principles of group work and board games helps to engage and motivate children and adolescents to address and work through their difficulties. Lifegames are a series of six therapeutic board games developed for group work with children and adolescents who encounter adversity in their life as a consequence of bereavement, family break up, poor relationships, bullying, chronic illness or obesity. The games facilitate the understanding and disclosure of the complex feelings experienced by children and young people when they are confronted with traumatic life events. The games encourage and assist the participants to obtain and maintain behavioural change. Lifegames are a means to assist professionals in their group work with children and adolescents.

Evaluating ‘FREDA Challenge’: A Coproduced Human Rights Board Game in Services for People With Intellectual Disabilities

“…Previous research (Neistadt et al . ; Streng ; Pon ; Collins & Griess ) has used board games to elicit learning, emotional regulation and attitude change, but not in an intellectual disability or HR context. As such, the results are unique in the HR research arena.…”

“…Previous researchers (Neistadt et al . ; Streng ; Pon ; Collins & Griess ) have also suggested that board games may be useful for educational purposes, encouraging self‐reflection and discovery (Caballero‐Coulon et al . ), expressing emotions about a topic, discussing issues and concerns, facilitating understanding and disclosure, and ultimately positively changing attitudes and beliefs about sensitive topics (Van der Stege et al .…”

Playing for Resilience in a Pandemic; Exploring the Role of an Online Board Game in Recognising Resources

“…Whilst, surprisingly, limited research on adult play has been conducted (Vleet & Feeney, 2015 ) several studies exist which explore the use of ‘serious play’ - a term originally coined by researchers using LEGO for learning (Roos et al, 2004 ). Board games have been used in some serious play studies, (Boghian et al, 2019 ; Gauthier et al, 2019 ; Lennon & Coombs, 2007 ; Streng, 2009 ; Struwig et al, 2014 ; Uy, 2019 ) and show potential to stimulate positive emotions and foster connection, factors which are negatively affected by the experience of lockdown. Group play has also been shown to facilitate self-disclosure (Betcher, 1981 ), which in adult learning environments can help facilitate synthesis of learning – a process Baker et al describe as “conversational learning” ( 2005 , p.412).…”