Why use video games in therapy?
Research has proven that video games are more than entertainment—they can be powerful therapeutic tools when used intentionally in counseling sessions. The video games can become an effective barrier to emotions where they can be talked on with minimal struggle expressing them.
Goals Supported by Gaming in Therapy
✔ Coping skills practice
✔ Social skills development
✔ Anger management
✔ Stress reduction
✔ Teamwork and communication
✔ Improving frustration tolerance
All ages can opt to game in session. Minors need parents consent to game.
There are benefits to utilizing video games in sessions
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Builds comfort and supports emotional regulation
Many people, especially children, teens, and young adults, feel more at ease in therapy when using a familiar activity like gaming.
It reduces anxiety and creates a non-threatening environment for opening up about feelings.
Games often require players to manage frustration, disappointment, and excitement—skills that translate to real-life coping strategies.
Therapists can guide clients to practice mindfulness, patience, and self-control during play.
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Improves social, communication, and cognitive skills
Multiplayer or co-op games encourage teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.
Great for family therapy, group sessions, or individual clients working on social interaction.
Many games promote planning, critical thinking, and decision-making.
Useful for clients with ADHD, executive function challenges, or developmental delays.
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Assists in therapeutic processing
In-game challenges and successes can mirror real-life struggles and victories.
Therapists can use these moments for metaphor-based discussion (e.g., resilience, persistence, dealing with failure).
Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Increase motivation and engagement in therapy.
Support skills training for emotional regulation and problem-solving
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Empowers Veterans, First Responders & Tactical Professionals
Allows clients to introduce and teach their preferred games to the therapist, reversing traditional dynamics to build rapid trust and rapport.
Engaging in familiar gameplay lowers defense mechanisms, easing operational stress so traumatic or difficult topics can be processed naturally.
Highlights communication styles, problem-solving, and frustration tolerance under pressure in a safe, low-stakes setting.
How are these types of sessions conducted?
Virtual/Telehealth
Use online multiplayer games with screen-sharing for remote sessions.
Therapist and client play games together with video on
No chat/audio in-game will be used, only video/audio from session link
Play a specific game or mode for mindfulness.
Every session ends with a moment of reflection to bridge the gap between the game and real life. We ask:
The Emotional Check: What emotions did you notice while playing today?
The Challenge: How did you handle moments of frustration or failure?
The Level Up: What skill from this game can you 'equip' in your real life this week?
Therapeutic Gaming Platforms & Applications
Minecraft (Bedrock or Java)
Recommended Age Range: Ages 6 to Adult (Children, Teens & Adults)
Clinical Focus: Executive Functioning, Spatial Planning & Emotional Metaphors
How It Works: Minecraft functions as a digital sandbox. Clients practice resource management, building, and problem-solving, creating a visual medium to discuss personal boundaries, persistence, and coping strategies.
Epic Games (Fortnite)
Recommended Age Range: Ages 12 to Adult (Teens & Adults)
Clinical Focus: Frustration Tolerance & Distress Tolerance
How It Works: High-engagement gameplay offers real-time opportunities to practice emotional regulation under pressure. Sessions focus on identifying stress triggers and applying immediate coping mechanisms.
Veterans, First Responders & Tactical Professionals
Recommended Age Range: Adults (Active Duty, Veterans, First Responders & First Responder Families)
Clinical Focus: Stress Recovery, Emotional Grounding, Subverting Hypervigilance & Mutual Trust
How It Works: Clients are invited to play games they already enjoy—whether tactical, simulation, or casual multiplayer titles. In these sessions, the client can teach the therapist how to play. This shifts the dynamic to an empowering, collaborative partnership where the client holds the expertise.
What This Reveals in Session:
Reverses traditional power dynamics to build rapid trust and psychological safety.
Lowers defense mechanisms, easing hypervigilance so operational stress and trauma can be discussed naturally.
Highlights real-time stress responses, leadership styles, communication under pressure, and frustration tolerance in a low-stakes environment.
Hopscotch Play
Recommended Age Range: Ages 4–10 (Early Childhood to Elementary)
Clinical Focus: Non-Verbal Expression, Social Skill Building & Emotional Safety
How It Works: Hopscotch Play provides simple, highly visual interactive mini-games for younger children to express feelings without requiring complex gaming literacy.
Parent Interaction: Parents can join sessions directly or co-play guided games at home to observe emotional cues and use game prompts to discuss feelings, turn-taking, and cooperation.
Roblox
Recommended Age Range: Ages 7–16 (Children & Young Teens)
Clinical Focus: Social Communication, Group Dynamics & Shared Focus
How It Works: Using age-appropriate, curated games, Roblox provides a controlled social environment to practice turn-taking, active communication, team collaboration, and navigating peer interaction.
Steam Games (PC)
Recommended Age Range: Ages 10 to Adult (Pre-Teens, Teens & Adults)
Clinical Focus: Problem-Solving, Stress Reduction, Narrative Processing & Rapport
How It Works: Utilizing curated, age-appropriate free or indie PC games on Steam, clients engage in shared problem-solving. These titles allow older clients and adults to practice cognitive flexibility and work through complex emotional themes using game narratives.