Therapeutic Jenga
submitted by Alison Jedrick of Advantage Behavioral Health Systemson July 24, 2003

Size: 2+

Equipment: 1 Wooden Jenga game on which your treatment team has written therapeutic questions. A flat, level surface

Objective: Rapport building, disclosure promotion, trust building, orientation testing
Clients will share some information about themselves and begin to feel comfortable in the therapeutic process.

Description: (Jenga is a Milton Bradley game and the original game is copyrighted. This activity, however, is not. Therapeutic Jenga Game originally created by Robert Silva, Jr., Dana Stephens-Craig, and Alison Jedrick, 2001)

To create the game:
Write with marker on each block a therapeutic question (i.e., Talk about a time when someone made you feel uncomfortable) and some lighter questions (i.e., If you were a cartoon character, who would you be and why.) Orientation questions (what day is it today?) are also handy.

To play the game:

Each player (including the therapist(s)) removes 1 block from the stack of Jenga blocks without knocking the whole thing over. S/he will read the question on the block out loud and answer and then replace the block at the top of the tower.

If a player is uncomfortable about answering any question, s/he can put the block on top
without answering, but must then take another block.

If a player pulls a block s/he has already answered, s/he must also pull another block.
If a player knocks the whole thing over, the game is finished & all other players get to ask
him/her any question.