Although it may appear to be a routine game of Buckaroo!, for me it serves as a therapeutic tool. For children who have experienced things such as a traumatic experience or living within an environment of domestic abuse, their nervous systems can become fixed on high alert. They are stuck in a state of heightened anxiety, always ready for high stress both emotionally and physically. Never in a position for either their anxiety or state of constant alertness to decrease. Not knowing what physiological or psychological safety feels like.
That is why jump scare games are so good within the therapeutic environment. They serve as an effective strategy for children to experience a build-up of tension, to experience anticipatory anxiety, the sudden surprise of the donkey kicking off the items, followed by the relief and calmness of realising that they are safe, and that the feelings they experience are okay and don’t have to last for ever.
This tool is a necessity and a resource you will find in my session bag 😊