Introduction - Part 2
According to Winnicot, [10] “games are therapy, a creative experience in the space-time continuum always on the theoretical line between the subjective and that which is objectively perceived” and it therefore constitutes fertile ground for sprouting the seeds of better coping skills in the face of those emotional issues the game takes on. This game provides a transitional space in which the child can struggle with his experience through his grappling vicariously through the experience of the game hero.
Wealder claims that the value of the game lies in its being a medium for the fulfillment of desires and in its enabling a struggle with traumatic events through desensitization and identification. [11]
Games accompanied by a therapist and used as a therapeutic tool can add further dimensions to the use of the game.
According to Gardner, [12] this is an opportunity to decrease guilt, to suggest therapeutic alternatives, and to encourage desensitization through multiple repetitions.
As stated, Earthquake in Zipland is an adventure Quest-style computer game.
The reason for our choice of this particular genre is that Quest games demand a high level of creative thinking (more so than with common shooting or driving games) and a high tolerance for lack of clarity and for uncertainty.
Lack of clarity and uncertainty, together with anxiety and despair, are also typical of the divorce experience.
One of the best techniques for coping with uncertainty is to develop one’s sense of creativity. [13]
Winnicot formulated this well – “it is creative apperception more than anything else that makes the individual feel that life is worth living. Contrasted with this is a relationship to external reality which is one of compliance.” [14]
A further principle of an adventure game - quest style - is the use of humor – sharp, witty, sometimes cynical, sarcastic and paradoxical but sometimes funny and amusing, in order to maintain the players’ alertness and create the motivation to continue playing. This element also served our purposes because laughter has the ability to release tensions and change perspectives [15] and can be used an excellent therapeutic tool.
Another reason for choosing a Quest game is the ability to integrate interactive dialogues between the characters – while allowing the child playing to decide where he would like to lead the conversation.
The game can also be used in bibliotherapy. [16] The story itself has a therapeutic component inasmuch as it also evokes identification, empathy, resistance, opposition and disclosure of many confusing emotions. In reading a story, one uses the sense of sight to recognize and identify the “right word” or phrase. The remaining senses are activated to the extent that the reader is able to use and develop his own imagination.
In watching a movie, two senses are used concurrently; sight and hearing. Both enable the viewer to enter a world of imagination and metaphor, into a story adventure with its unconscious impact.
A computer game offers an added dimension. It is multi-sensory, involving a three-dimensional visual experience; hearing and listening to music, and a kinesthetic “hands-on” interaction. In addition, it offers active involvement in the plot process versus passive viewing. Thus, it is multi-functional, affecting more areas of the brain, including the unconscious [17] and therefore has a more powerful impact.
The game-creating process was fascinating and challenging and required the creation of a new genre within the medium of computer games. The challenge was to successfully produce a game that would be interesting and fun while fulfilling the other rules of the Quest, in order to cause children to want to play it and, at the same time, would fill the needs for coping with divorce as psychological teachware.
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[10] Winnicot, D.W.(1971).Playing and Reality, Penguin Books
[11] Gardner, R.A. (1992). The Psychotherapeutic Techniques of Richard Gardner. (p. 40).New Jersey: Creative Therapeutics
[12] Gardner, R.A. (1992). The Psychotherapeutic Techniques of Richard Gardner. (p. 40).New Jersey: Creative Therapeutics
[13] Ayalon, O. & Flasher. (1999). Children & Divorce Chain Reaction. Tel Aviv: Nord
[14] Winnicot, D.W.(1971). Playing and Reality Penguin Books
[15]Madness, C. (1981). Strategic Family Therapy. New York: Jossy Bass
[16] idem. (pp.400-415)
[17] Brandler and Grinder (1979). Frog into Princess. Real People Press.
