Fib or Fact: A Game of Feelings Stories INTRODUCTION Fib or Fact is a humorous and revealing card game used to build rapport and develop emotional competence. Fib or Fact helps counselors gain additional information about children s environments and relationships in a way that is playful and engaging. Children will Share feelings with counselors, thereby enhancing a sense of connection and rapport Improve emotional understanding and expression Self disclose information relevant to treatment Develop empathy in thinking about others Engage in creative expression GAME RATIONALE Fib or Fact: A game of Feelings Stories serves three purposes in counseling. In the early stages of counseling, it assists in establishing rapport and gathering assessment information; in later stages of counseling, it can be used as part of an intervention to improve emotional understanding and expression. Building rapport with clients is fundamental to the counseling relationship. Indeed, research shows that the therapeutic alliance predicts clients emotional and behavioral outcomes (e.g. Kazdin, et. al., 2006; Miller & Rollnick, 2002). One study showed that two-thirds of the variance in clients outcome behaviors could be predicted by the emotional connection between therapist and client (Frank & Frank, 1991). Rapport is established through shared comfort, trust, and cooperation all of which are created in play. Fib or Fact provides these elements while adding zany and mischievous fun. Fib or Fact also helps children reveal information that they may not be comfortable revealing in traditional talk sessions. Fib or Fact facilitates communication, disclosure, and fantasy expression by inviting children to create scenarios about persons, places and feelings. In this way counselors can obtain both information from the content of the game and can make process observations about honesty, willingness to share, competitiveness and frustration tolerance. Finally, Fib or Fact helps children to recognize, understand and apply emotions to various people and situations the essence of emotional literacy/emotional intelligence/emotional competence. If children learn to be aware of feelings, they can make reasoned decisions, control impulses and be assertive in their communication. Indeed, research has shown over and over again the tremendous benefits of knowing how to deal with emotions in a positive way (e.g. Gerits, et.al., 2005; Kam et al., 2003; Kusche, 2002). PLAYERS 2 4 players, ages 7 - adult GAME MATERIALS Person cards Feeling cards Place cards Fib or Fact cards
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS NEEDED Printer Paper, OR card stock OR perforated business card stock (i.e. Avery 8373 or 8869 or 8371) Paper for keeping score Pen or pencil Scissors Optional: Glue BEFORE YOU PLAY If using regular paper: 1. Print out all of the cards (pp. 6-39 of this document) 2. Paste the fronts of the Person cards (pp. 6-10 of this document) to the backs of the Person cards (pp. 11-15 of this document). 3. Paste the fronts of the Feeling cards (pp. 16-20 of this document) to the backs of the Feeling cards (pp. 21-25 of this document). 4. Paste the fronts of the Place cards (pp. 26-30 of this document) to the backs of the Place cards (pp. 31-35 of this document). 5. Paste the fronts of the Fib or Fact cards (pp. 36-37 of this document) to the backs of the Fib or Fact cards (pp. 38-39 of this document). 6. Cut along the dotted lines of all the cards OPTIONAL: laminate prior to cutting along the dotted lines OR If using card stock: 1. Load card stock into the printer. (Make sure that none of the sheets stick together.) 2. Print out the fronts of the Person cards (pp. 6-10 of this document). 3. Reload the printed fronts of the Person cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 11-15 of this document. 4. Print out the fronts of the Feeling cards (pp. 16-20 of this document). 5. Reload the printed fronts of the Feeling cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 21-25 of this document. 6. Print out the fronts of the Place cards (pp. 26-30 of this document). 7. Reload the printed fronts of the Place cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 31-35 of this document. 8. Print out the fronts of the Fib or Fact cards (pp. 36-37 of this document). 9. Reload the printed fronts of the Fib or Fact cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 38-39 of this document. 10. Cut out all of the cards along the dotted lines. OR If using perforated business card stock (Avery 8373 or 8869 or 8371) 1. Load the printer with the business card stock sheets. 2. Print out the fronts of the Person cards (pp. 6-10 of this document). 3. Reload the printed fronts of the Person cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 11-15 of this document. 4. Print out the fronts of the Feeling cards (pp. 16-20 of this document).
5. Reload the printed fronts of the Feeling cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 21-25 of this document. 6. Print out the fronts of the Place cards (pp. 26-30 of this document). 7. Reload the printed fronts of the Place cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 31-35 of this document. 8. Print out the fronts of the Fib or Fact cards (pp. 36-37 of this document). 9. Reload the printed fronts of the Fib or Fact cards into your printer so that the backs can be printed. Make sure that the card stock is facing the right direction. Print pp. 38-39 of this document. 10. Cut out all of the cards along the dotted lines. OBJECT OF THE GAME The object of the game is to be the first person to earn fifteen (15) or more points by accurately guessing if other players stories are FIB or FACT. RULES Distribute one Fib card and one Fact card to each player. Then shuffle the Person, Feeling and Place cards separately in three (3) decks. Give each player three (3) cards from each of the three (3) decks. (Each player should have a total of eleven cards - three Person cards, three Feeling cards, three Place cards, one Fib card, and one Fact card.) Place the remaining Person, Feeling and Place cards in three (3) stacks in the playing area. The youngest player goes first and play continues counter clockwise. Play begins when the first player takes from her/his hand one card from each Person, Feeling and Place category (a total of three cards) and places them face-up in the middle of the playing area so that all players can see them. S/he reads the three cards in the order of Person, Feeling and Place and then completes the sentence by describing a story. (For example, if s/he sets down the mother Person card, the felt happy Feeling card and the in the kitchen Place card, s/he might state, My mother felt happy in the kitchen when everyone told her that her dinner was delicious. ) The player then places either her/his Fib card or her/his Fact card face-down in the playing area (depending on whether the statement is a fib or a fact). The other players then try to decide if the story is a fib or a fact by placing either their Fib card or their Fact card face down in the playing area. After all players have placed their Fib of Fact cards face down in the playing area, players turn over their cards to see if they match the story teller s card. Any players who have guessed correctly receive two points and the story teller receives one point. NOTE: If no one guesses correctly, no one receives points, including the story teller. The player then discards the Person card, Feeling card, and Place card that were played and draws new cards. Play continues with the next player. The game ends when one of players reaches fifteen (15) points. REFERENCES Frank, J.D. & Frank, J.B. (1991). Persuasion and healing: A comparative study of psychotherapy (3 rd ed.). Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Gerits, L., Derksen, J. J. L., Verbruggen, A. B., & Katzko, M. (2005). Emotional intelligence profiles of nurses caring for people with severe behaviour problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 38(1) 33 43. Kam, C. M., Greenberg, M. T., & Walls, C. T. (2003). Examining the role of implementation quality in
school-based prevention using the PATHS curriculum (Promoting Alternative THinking Skills curriculum). Prevention Science, 4, 55 63. Kazdin, A.E., Whitley, M., & Marciano, P.L. (2006), Child-therapist and parent-therapist alliance and therapeutic change in the treatment of children referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47(5), 436-45. Kusche, C. A. (2002). Psychoanalysis as prevention: Using PATHS to enhance ego development, object relationships, and cortical integration in children. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4, 283 301. Miller, W. & Rollnick, S. (2002). Motivational Interviewing (2 nd ed.). N.Y.:N.Y. Guilford Press.
My friend My friend My mother My mother My father My father My stepmother My stepmother
My stepfather My stepfather My grandmother My grandmother My grandfather My grandfather My brother My brother
My sister My sister My aunt My aunt My uncle My uncle My cousin My cousin
My neighbor My neighbor My stepbrother My stepbrother My stepsister My stepsister I I
I I My teacher My teacher My classmate My classmate My parent s friend My parent s friend
felt happy felt happy felt sad felt sad felt angry felt angry felt scared felt scared
felt proud felt proud felt worried felt worried felt nervous felt nervous felt excited felt excited
felt calm felt calm felt frustrated felt frustrated felt glad felt glad felt disappointed felt disappointed
felt embarrassed felt embarrassed felt guilty felt guilty felt silly felt silly felt peaceful felt peaceful
felt stupid felt stupid felt smart felt smart felt lonely felt lonely felt confused felt confused
in the kitchen in the kitchen in the living room in the living room outside outside in the classroom in the classroom
at the store at the store at a restaurant at a restaurant in the car in the car in the bedroom in the bedroom
in the bathroom in the bathroom at the park at the park at work at work on the playground on the playground
in the kitchen in the kitchen in the living room in the living room outside outside in the classroom in the classroom
at the store at the store at a restaurant at a restaurant in the car in the car in the bedroom in the bedroom
FIB FIB FIB FIB FIB FIB FIB FIB
FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT FACT