Role plays in therapy

@Fleggles- havent done it in therapy- but often used this tactic with my goddaughter. I would have her switch places with myself - it helped get her unstuck and think of her problems differently.

@Fleggles

They are not helpful, just a fetish of the therapists you fall in their trap...

Role play is very useful for learning coping skills. For example, you can talk about learning how to say no for hours and learn all the steps to that skill. But that's very different from having to actually say the words out loud. 15 minutes of saying no in roleplay is more effective than a week talking about it.

RP a much more deep learning experience. Therefore, it's perfectly natural for your mind to replay these events. It usually means it's reevaluating what it thought it new and building new scripts for how to act in situations.

So challenging but powerful. Personally, I prefer a powerful technique to a less effective one.

@Fleggles Yes, I've found that role plays can be very difficult if they are badly designed.

When a role play is carefully designed for a specific purpose, then I think it can be very useful. @LuckyDucky79 has given the example of saying no as one very specific part of assertiveness training, and I think that's a good example.

But when a role play is badly designed, then I think it can feel like a trap, as @GreenAndRedBoat said. And when this happens it can definitely raise questions and insecurities that stay with you afterwards.

I also think that therapists can learn from feedback you provide about role plays and other techniques they use. If something went badly for you, then your therapist has a responsibility to support you in dealing with the fall-out, and also to be more careful next time.

Charlie

@Fleggles

Roleplays can definitely be hard! It can bring up old feelings because you have to think about a moment or relive it but it can be very healing if you're able to go through with it.