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Minecraft as Therapy

A unique approach to building social and emotional regulation skills

Minecraft is a popular online game where players build and create three-dimensional worlds with various kinds of 3D blocks. It allows players to interact, work together to build, make decisions as well as communicate and cooperate to solve problems.

 

Minecraft has different types of game modes, including creative mode (for building and being creative in a safe space) and survival mode (which presents more challenges in the game). Activities that are included in Minecraft range from exploring and building within a virtual 3D world to working together in survival mode, which encourages players to strategise how best to acquire and use resources.

 

In recent years many therapists have adopted Minecraft as a tool to help build important skills in children. This is because Minecraft has shown to be an effective means to build social, cognitive skills and emotional regulation skills in children with autism. The children often are very engaged in the session as they find the experience very fun but also leave the session learning so much.

Are you finding it difficult to get your child to therapy sessions? 

Does your child not want to talk about their feelings or the problems they are experiencing?

Telehealth or in-clinic sessions using Minecraft may be a great way for your child to engage in therapy.

Hi, there My name is Anthony Nguyen,

I am currently a provisionally registered Psychologist under the supervision of Sara Balmer.

I work with kids and young people to help with social skills, social problem solving, and emotional regulation. I love working with kids using play-based therapies to engage them in important learning. Prior to starting my internship. I worked as a junior Applied Behavioural Analyst, which included delivering behavioural therapy to children on the autism spectrum to help them with their daily functioning, socialisation and quality of life.

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Get in Touch

If you would like to inquire about Minecraft Therapy for your child, please complete the contact sheet and we will be in touch soon.

 

Alternatively, please call

02 9477 1600 to register your interest.

Rest assured your information will be kept securely and will only be used for the purpose of providing Psychology services to you and your child.

Thank you for your contact. You will hear from us soon.

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RESOURCES AND RESEARCH ABOUT MINECRAFT THERAPY:
 

Videos about using Minecraft to teach social and other skills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPQbnfZdDGU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJqyzmISLFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lnqbgjs_PI (6 mins 06)

 

Examples of social emotional programs developed for children on Minecraft:

 

https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/resources/social-emotional-subject-kit

 

Peer-reviewed research into the use of 

Minecraft in therapy sessions:

 

Improving cognitive skills:

• Clemenson, G. D., Stark, S. M., Rutledge, S. M., & Stark, C. E. (2020). Enriching hippocampal memory function in older adults through video games. Behavioural Brain Research, 112667.

• Clemenson, G. D., Henningfield, C. M., & Stark, C. (2019). Improving hippocampal memory through the experience of a rich Minecraft environment. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 13, 57.

Improving social skills:

• Ringland, K. E., Wolf, C. T., Faucett, H., Dombrowski, L., & Hayes, G. R. (2016, May). " Will I always be not social?" ReConceptualizing Sociality in the Context of a Minecraft Community for Autism. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1256-1269).

• Ringland, K. E., Wolf, C. T., Boyd, L. E., Baldwin, M. S., & Hayes, G. R. (2016, October). Would you be mine: Appropriating Minecraft as an assistive technology for youth with autism. In Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 33-41).

• Zolyomi, A., & Schmalz, M. (2017). Mining for social skills: Minecraft in home and therapy for neurodiverse youth

• Schifter, C., & Cipollone, M. (2013, March). Minecraft as a teaching tool: One case study. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2951-2955). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

 

Improving emotional skills:

• Robinson, M. J., & Knobloch-Westerwick, S. (2016). Mood Management through Selective Media Use for Health and Well-Being. The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being: International Perspectives on Theory and Research on Positive Media Effects.

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