Increasing engagement using gamified resources

One of the most important aspects of our work with young clients is ensuring their engagement throughout the therapeutic process. Traditional worksheets and handouts that prioritise information dissemination over design elements often fail to facilitate this. At worst these can become barriers to effective engagement—prescriptive instruments which serve as reminders of educational curriculum and associated pressures. At best these offer slabs of information accompanied by loosely associated images, falling short of what we hope to provide.

Engaging tools help to foster a stronger therapeutic alliance, and support clients to develop resilience and self-care practices which serve them throughout life. Creating resources which achieve these requires understanding both the psychological principles behind communication and design thinking. 

What is a gamified resource and why do they work?

Gamified tools tap into the same psychological principles that make video games, apps, and other digital media so engaging. The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM) as one example details how motivation, ability, and triggers need to align for a behaviour to occur:

1. Motivation: Establishing clear goals and rewards helps clients to engage in and complete tasks. Elements of story, points, levels, and attributes offer extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Associating rewards with relevant, quantifiable improvements improves motivation to grow.   
2. Ability: Breaking down tasks into manageable steps and simplifying complex concepts makes it easier for young clients to succeed. The use of progress indicators, such as levels or points, also makes success feel more attainable.
3. Triggers: Gamified resources offer timely reminders which can reinforce motivation and encourage continued engagement. These rely on resources having both clear triggers, and being held on to between sessions in order to keep clients on track and replenish motivation.

Identifying resources that will connect with & support young clients.

When considering resources that are most likely to hit home, look for tools that feature certain key elements:

• Visually Stimulating: Resources that incorporate stories, engaging elements of design and/or character portrayal can make therapeutic concepts more relatable and appealing. Narratives and characters foster emotional connections and provide context that aids comprehension. They can also activate the amygdala and hippocampus, strengthening memory formation (Phelps, 2004). 
• Game-like Elements: Tools with points, levels, and skill attributes encourage tracking progress and offer motivation through rewards and improvements (Harari, Kiovisto & Sarsa, 2014). Blending intrinsic and extrinsic motivation like this according to Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) enhances participant engagement.
• Accessible Language: Ensure the content is clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. Complex jargon can alienate young clients, and motivation is enhanced when learners feel competent in their tasks (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Simple, accessible language can also help form emotional connections with the material. 
• Universal Appeal: Avoid gendered or culturally specific visuals and content. Instead, choose resources that focus on inclusive, more neutral language and character portrayals that any young client can relate to. Those which embody principles of normativity such as binary gender constructs present engagement barriers for many and can contribute toward experiences of othering. 
• Actionable Tasks: Tools that break down complex behaviour into smaller, manageable steps make the therapeutic process feel less overwhelming. Research by Locke & Latham (2019) emphasizes the role of setting specific, challenging goals and breaking them into sub-goals as key to boosting motivation and performance.

Feeels Co. Sleep Hygiene Session Kit: Activity Sheet

How do Feeels Session Kits embody these principles?

You don’t have to hunt far to find resources designed with these ideas at their core. Each of our session kits are formulated with these principles in mind. Here’s how they align with the psychological concepts mentioned above:

• Increased Motivation: With elements like levels, skills, and points, our session kits help clients track their progress. This incremental reinforcement enhances intrinsic motivation, making young clients more likely to engage with tasks. Evocative story and character elements improve motivation by connecting psychological theories to central humanistic themes. 
• Improved Ability: Complex therapeutic concepts are simplified, with clear instructions and manageable steps. Visual representations support different learning styles, enable faster information processing, and can lead to better comprehension and engagement. 
• Increased Retention: Studies show that people tend to remember information better when it is presented visually (Mayer, 2009), enabling the effective and efficient dissemination of psychoeducation and other therapeutic information.  .
• Effective Triggers: Our gamified handouts provide gentle reminders and cues, keeping clients on track and reinforcing any strategies which have been provided in session.
• Inclusivity: Our resources are free from gendered or socioeconomic stereotypes, ensuring they resonate with a diverse range of clients. The fantasy world we’ve created offers a neutral space where clients can immerse themselves, without feeling alienated.
• Visual Appeal: Humanism and existentialism as core themes underscore psychological theories using fantasy and sci-fi elements. Using these, we create an environment that feels familiar to young clients and encourages them to engage emotionally with the content.

Building your therapy toolkit

To build a toolkit that leverages the power of gamification, focus on finding resources that are engaging, motivating, and emotionally relevant to your young clients. Prioritise tools that align with principles from game design, such as:

• Clear, incremental rewards
• Visually stimulating and inclusive designs
• Simplified tasks and actionable steps
• Accessible, client-friendly language

By incorporating these resources into your practice, you’ll help clients engage more effectively with their therapy and increase motivation to complete tasks, which likely leads to better outcomes. Collect a variety of styles and types and see what resonates with your particular style of practice, and the teenage or young clients you spend your time engaging with. Gamified tools are more than just fun—they’re a powerful way to make therapeutic work feel engaging and impactful for young clients.

Want to try one for free? 

Try out the activity sheet from our Cognitive Distortions Session Kit here.

Disclaimer:

Please note that all content in our blogs is meant for entertainment and educational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for clinical judgment. Practitioners should always rely on their professional expertise when making therapeutic decisions.

 

References

Anderson, C. A., & Rainie, L. (2014). The future of gamification in education. Pew Research Center.
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627–668.
Fogg, B. J. (2009). A behavior model for persuasive design. Proceedings of the 4th international conference on persuasive technology, 40.
Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work?--a literature review of empirical studies on gamification. 2014 47th Hawaii international conference on system sciences, 3025-3034.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2019). The development of goal setting theory: A half century of research. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(5), 747–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619870048
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Phelps, E. A. (2004). Emotion and cognition: Insights from studies of the human amygdala. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), 27-53.
Pew Research Center. (2020). Teens' views of gender are changing. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org
Trevor Project. (2020). The 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.thetrevorproject.org