Play Therapy Game to Use in Play Therapy: (Feelings Chess Game)

(Play Therapy Student)

On the left side of my play therapy game chess board, I picked the two not so positive words that described what was going on with me. I felt drained and sick as I was in the midst of recovering from a sinus infection. I picked a robot to depict the drained feeling as I felt like I was on auto pilot. I pit Igor, a character from Winnie the Pooh, to represent my feeling of being sick because I was considering hosting a pity party for myself because of the enormous tasks that I had to complete. On the right side I listed my positive feelings which included peaceful and encouraged. I used a sea shell to represent peaceful because I am most at peace when I am near water. I used a fish to represent encouraged because I love the line in “Finding Nemo” where Dory says, “Just keep swimming.” I drew a heart at the center of my board because I believe that in order for me to achieve harmony with these conflicting emotions and feelings I need to center myself. I often use mindful meditation and practice self love. The arrows I drew represents the path to getting back centered.

When I was first introduced to the play therapy game exercise, I found it hard to grasp the concept. It took me a moment to figure out how to make the game useful in a session. I am very linear in my thinking, so I decided to use the two column approach. This technique was good because I got to see if the not so positive feelings outweighed my positive feelings. From there I was able to have some internal dialogue about what I needed to do to get back centered and focus. I decided not host the pity party but rather practice self care by taking my medication and retiring to bed a bit earlier so my body can refuel. I let go of my long to do list and picked the top 3 pressing items.

I will definitely used this play therapy game with the variation I mentioned with my adult clientele. It is a great way to unpack the emotions, weigh the positive versus the negative and develop a treatment plan to get them back balanced and whole.

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