If you’re a parent going through a tough divorce with custody and parenting time issues and you believe that your children are suffering from stress caused by the fighting, consider a new resource I learned about just today.
Check out a new interactive video game called Earthquake in Zipland on the game’s web site. Developed by a social worker, Earthquake in Zipland is intended to unblock a child’s hidden conflicts and emotional distress and to facilitate healthy dialogue between the child (or children) and the parent.
This is a research-based video game designed to help school-age children cope with divorce. According to a recent American Bar Association article, the game features a superhero named Moose who must repair his country after an earthquake has caused upheaval and chaos. The game encourages children, as they play, to perform certain tasks in order to keep moving to a higher level. One of those tasks is writing in an online journal. The earthquake becomes a metaphor for the chaos that a contentious divorce produces in children and families. The goal is to help children understand and accept that “even a superhero can’t put everything together exactly the way it was before.”
If you’re not a parent trying to guide your children through the emotional pitfalls of a difficult divorce, but are a family lawyer with many high-conflict custody cases, consider doing what Raleigh, North Carolina family lawyer Lee Rosen did. He ordered a number of the games. He sends them out to clients whose children may well benefit from the experience.
Or, you might be a family counselor. There is a professional version of the game available and it may well be a wonderful tool for family therapists working with troubled families.
You can read the ABA Journal article here. It's Game on for Family Lawyers
You can access the game’s website here, where the game may be downloaded or ordered to arrive on a disk. A free demo may also be downloaded so that you can try it out prior to ordering.
Do you need help with a divorce or custody case? Find a Michigan Family Lawyer near you.
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