Try these fresh, fun, and effective therapy activities to keep your clients learning and engaged.
What are your best memories when it comes to learning as a kid? For me, it's the “fun” times, like reviewing for our social studies test with “Jeopardy” categories, or learning about geography from an old PC version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
The cool thing is that the lessons still stuck. In fact, it was often more memorable than what we covered in traditional settings. Research backs this up, so you can feel confident that fun games still lead to serious learning (O’Neill & Holmes, 2022; Pope, 2021).
It’s no different when it comes to mental health. We can all learn better and apply therapeutic concepts in more relaxed, yet effective ways. Below are 13 creative therapy activities to help individuals and groups learn, practice, and remember important real-life skills.
To get dozens of therapy activities for individuals and groups of all ages, check out our Giant Therapy Bundle and start playing today!
Humans Against Stress Card Game
Humans Against Stress is a recently released printable card game that’s loosely inspired by games like Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity. Players take turns presenting challenges from the deck while others offer coping skills from their own hand. The player whose turn it is chooses the skill they like best, and the chosen skill’s player wins a point.
Discussion is encouraged in the game and ideally happens naturally as the cards come out. But even if there was no discussion at all, players would still get exposure to plenty of skills and ideas to deal with difficult situations.
Examples challenges include “You feel overwhelmed by the amount of news and social media content,” and “You’ve been struggling to sleep and feel exhausted at work.” Meanwhile skill choices might include relaxed breathing, CBT techniques, or creative ideas like journaling or creating art.
Working 1 on 1, via telehealth, or in a large classroom? Drop the card game bit and use the cards as prompts to discuss triggers, problems, and coping skills to tackle them. In addition to printable cards there are full-page cards included in PDF form you can scroll through and display for the group.
Jeopardy-Style Games
Da, da, da, da-da-da-daaa-da … Ready to play Jeopardy, or at least something like it? For a game that’s basically just reading off facts, it’s pretty fun for almost everyone. Fortunately, there are plenty of Jeopardy-inspired games that focus on therapeutic topics like CBT techniques, DBT skills, or self-care. Here are some you can check out (or get them in a bundle):
CBT Coping Skills Game (kid-friendly)
Coping Skills Quiz Show (great for adults)
DBT Pardy! (brilliant for teaching and reviewing DBT skills)
You can always make up your own questions, of course, or build upon games that are already created. Check out all of these game show activities!
Collaging & Vision Boards
If you need an activity that’s serene, thoughtful, and creative, look no further than collaging activities. There’s still something about flipping through and ripping up pictures and images that’s soothing and meaningful.
To put a structure around the collaging, give it a theme. You could pick something like “My Perfect Day,” or “Healthy Relationships.”
Check out this self-esteem collage activity worksheet or make a fun couples vision board.
Rolling Dice Prompts
Are you ready to roll the dice and try something new? One way to make discussion prompts more fun is to introduce dice into the mix. You can buy or download actual dice that have prompts, or use numbered dice and add your own.
Discuss a feeling, practice CBT, review DBT skills, or mix them all up with this printable set! Dice are great for individual sessions or groups. You can even assign the prompts to particular numbers so you can use online dice in telehealth.
Interactive Emotion Wheels
Most emotion wheels have a list of dozens of feelings, allowing you or a client to browse them and find the right one. If you’ve been unsure what or why you’re feeling something, it can be a helpful “aha” moment to identify it.
This particular emotion wheel takes the process a step further. It starts with a more narrow set of common emotions, then branches out into the physical sensations of each feeling and finally coping skills you might use to deal with them. It helps clients to integrate both somatic healing and cognitive coping skills.
The worksheet set by The Counseling Palette has completed wheels as well as blank options for clients to customize it to their own experiences. It can also be used as a more direct coping skills activity. Take if for a spin!
Therapy Flashcards
If worksheets aren’t your style, you can get just as much benefit from interactive flashcards. Cards might include emotions, challenges, or coping skills. If you work with kids (or kids at heart) you can try these fantasy-based unicorn and dragon cards, either as discussion prompts or as games.
Within a broad set of coping skills flashcards are feelings game variations of Match Game (Emotions Match), Old Maid (Happy Dragon), and “Go Fish! (Go Feel!)” It’s perfect for younger kids that aren’t quite ready for more complicated coping skills discussion.
You can also separate the coping skills cards from card games like Humans Against Stress or Coping Shuffle and use those as flashcards and prompts.
Drawing & Charades
Did you ever watch the game Win, Lose, or Draw, or do you still play Pictionary at family get-togethers? How about Cranium? If so you can easily pick up therapy games that integrate drawing a guessing, like the Feel, Act, & Draw game. This printable therapy game has drawing, charades, and discussion prompts to keep the group moving and involved.
Prompts are compatible with CBT concepts, and you can adapt the game by choosing cards that apply to the concepts you’re working on. Or, just add your own!
Family Pursuit Game
What if trivia night included not just “trivia” but also prompts to discuss your likes and dislikes, how you feel about family dynamics, and ways you can say thanks or compliment family members? (Noda, S., et al., 2019).
One fun therapy game, Family Pursuit, is loosely inspired by Trivial Pursuit, but incorporates discussion to help family members open up, share, and identify positives about each other.
Families and therapists who’ve used the game say it helps more reserved family members feel comfortable sharing. Plus, if the prompt is from a game then a player can feel empowered to talk about things they may not otherwise bring up. You can check out all of the prompts in the printable Family Pursuit.
Couples Journaling
It might be cool if it was the norm for couples to take a relationship course, like we might take a parenting class or driver’s license test. Structured couples journals can help those in a relationship get to know each other better, discuss common topics, and learn about their partner’s goals and ways of thinking.
Couples journaling can also help you identify common goals and learn to work as a team to tackle whatever may come your way. There are many ways to journal as a couple, including a shared Google doc that helps with prompts focused on basic skills from Gottman Method or Emotionally Focused Therapy.
This couples activity set includes an organized Google doc with evidence-based prompts, a fun vision board activity, and a fun discussion and prompt gamed called Couples Pursuit.
Bingo-Style Games
If “Bingo” brings up visions of giant cafeterias or musty halls, not to worry. You can play therapeutic Bingo anytime, anywhere – even via Zoom. This Bingo-style game is created for clinicians and clients who have some familiarity with CBT.
If your clients are pros, play the game at a faster pace. If you or your clients are newer to CBT, slow it down and use the prompts as a way to teach various concepts. Or, if you like you can skip some of the prompts and just play for fun, absorbing CBT concepts via osmosis.
With this version of the game, there are individual cards that differ from each other, so players can actually compete. You can even email/share individual PDFs so clients can play different cards over Zoom or other telehealth platforms.
Learn more about CBT “Lingo”!
Tumbling Blocks with Prompts
“Nope, not that one,” and “Oops, watch out!” might not be the ideal phrases to hear in most therapy sessions, but in the case of therapy Jenga-style activities they’re perfectly normal. Adding a tactile activity like tumbling blocks game can enhance the cognitive aspects of discussion prompts.
One popular way to play is to attach prompt stickers to tumbling block games like Jenga, so players can answer prompts as they play. Many people also adapt this option, playing with regular blocks but drawing prompts from a pile as they play.
For easy play, print these prompts on sticker paper (or use tape) and attach them to your blocks!
Zoom Whiteboards
One of the most common questions I get asked is how to use activities like prompts and worksheets in telehealth sessions. You can always e-mail PDFs to students, or display your screen on Zoom and similar platforms.
Another way is to check and see if your telehealth platform, such as Zoom, has a digital whiteboard option. (Most do.) If so, you can add the worksheet (or other PDF Activity) so that you and your clients can actually write and draw on it on-screen.
I find it’s particularly helpful for younger clients and even adults who have trouble interacting or focusing via screen. Suddenly it becomes much more interactive.
Expressive Arts
A great way to teach new concepts is to discuss them first, and then reinforce them with a fun activity. For example, in this self-esteem worksheet bundle, clients start by answering prompts about their thoughts or beliefs and then complete a related vision board, playlist, or journal response.
Not only does the activity enhance the lesson, it makes it more memorable. You might not be able to recall the cognitive distortion you were challenging a month ago, but you will probably remember the motivational playlist you made to counter it.
Need a more complete set of therapy activities you can use with all ages, including teens, kids, and adults? Check out our Giant Therapy Bundle!
Sources
Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The Effectiveness of Intervention with Board Games: A Systematic Review. BioPsychoSocial medicine, 13, 22.
O'Neill, D. K., & Holmes, P. E. (2022). The Power of Board Games for Multidomain Learning in Young Children. American Journal of Play, 14(1), 58-98.
Pope, L. (2021). Board Games as Educational Tools Leading to Climate Change Action: A Literature Review. Journal of Sustainability Education.
About the Author
Jennie Lannette Bedsworth is a licensed therapist and the creator of The Counseling Palette, a trusted source for therapy games, group therapy activities, and printables. With two decades of experience in the mental health field, Jennie designs resources that make therapy engaging, effective, and accessible for all ages. Ready to transform your sessions? Explore our collection of therapy tools at The Counseling Palette.
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