Importance Of Verbal Games In Child Development

I reviewed Weil and Pascal’s (1990) article, The Place of Verbal Games in the Framework of In-patient Group Psychotherapy with Late Adolescents which was published in the Journal of Group Psychotherapy. This article focused the importance of games for the social and emotional development of children and adults. The article expounds on the significance of group therapy that contains the use of verbal games in a psychiatric setting with late adolescents who suffer from instability in their environments. The authors described each game that was used in group therapy along with the significance of the game as a therapeutic and a diagnostic tool (Weil & Pascal, 1990). There are clear limitations of this research that provide for an argument for

According to Weil and Pascal (1990), “games are educational instruments through which preparation for life is brought about by imitation of the adult world and the acquisition of such socializing characteristics as integration in a social framework, acceptance of instructions, and postponement of gratification” (p. 128). Games are a multifaceted tool in therapy according to Weil and Pascal (1990), through facilitating establishment of contact, reducing resistance, inducing spontaneity, catharsis and help the therapist to get acquainted with the issues that the client faces in a social setting. I concur that games can be a very useful tool in establishing cohesion, universality and catharsis. The adolescent can uncover parts of their personality and behavior that may not be exposed in individual therapy through role playing and games in group therapy. In my opinion, play and games are important to a child’s development as it is a child’s form of work. Children learn from their environment and those around them. I feel that children learn social skills through how others react to their ideas and games. The article explained that the clientele that this study observed were adolescents with instability in their environments. I feel that using games and play for adolescents with unstable environments permit the adolescents to

After reading through the material presented, I found myself seeing the value of games in group therapy. The article points out the games promote “achievement of catharsis with the liberation of emotional reactions that were previously repressed, stimulate a freer emotional manifestation, and may enlarge the inventory of forms of comments or criticism” (Weil & Pascal, 1990, p. 128). In my opinion, games can release tension and make a stressful and anxious experience that comes from going to group therapy. While working on my undergraduate work I was able to lead a group of freshmen is mock counseling group. My co-leader and I created the structure of the group to include the use of games as ice-breakers in the beginning of each group meeting. This allowed for our group to feel comfortable and open up to one another again before more serious material was discussed. Games were useful tools that could have been used for even deeper discussion of the dynamics that occurred during the games. The article explains that games allow clients to feel more relaxed and reduces resistance to self-disclosure (Weil & Pascal, 1990). Through play and games individuals can act out feelings and characteristics in a safe and constructive environment. Group is a safe way to see how other reaction to emotions and