HOW DOES COUNSELLING USING MINECRAFT WORK?

WHAT IS MINECRAFT?

• Minecraft was created in 2009 and is one of the world’s most popular computer games.
  

• Minecraft is a computer game where you can mine materials and build whatever you can think of; houses, cities, boats.

• You share the world with a number of animals and creatures. You can play it on your own or with other people.

• In survival mode you need to work to find materials to build a safe home to protect you at night from creatures like zombies and skeletons and you need to make sure you have food to stay alive.

• In creative mode you can’t die, and you can fly! And in creative mode you already have all the materials in your inventory that you need to build whatever you want.

WHY USE MINECRAFT IN COUNSELLING?

• Games like Minecraft can be positive social environments where children and young people can learn social and emotional skills.
  

• Minecraft is like Lego or a sandtray – creative resources that would often be used by counsellors in face-to-face counselling.

• Minecraft offers the same therapeutic benefits as traditional counselling resources, but it’s online so your child can have counselling in the comfort of your own home in a familiar online environment.

• As we play, I learn about how your child responds to different situations, how they problem solve, how they collaborate, how they react to challenging situations, and we can find ways together to overcome hurdles in the game.

• And we can also find ways for those skills your child has developed in the game to be used by them in real life.

WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE?

• We will use Zoom to talk with each other whilst we play Minecraft.
  

• We can see and hear each other over Zoom and can play together in Minecraft at the same time.

• Your child will have their own unique world which is theirs to do whatever they want to do in it during their therapy sessions. We might build together, farm, go on an adventure, go swimming, find hidden caves… the opportunities are endless.            

• NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT PRODUCT. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG