When I worked in a residential program, bowling trips were the greatest days. Kids loved the game, and those who were at a point in their treatment that they could safely attend usually knew they could leave the program soon.
I have a miniature bowling set in my office, which I use for helping kids practice controlling body movement and muscles. This can help improve impulse control, and muscle awareness activities can help trauma survivors get back in touch with their bodies.
While telehealth bowling does not involve the full body in the same way, it can still tap into that self-awareness. It’s also, frankly, a lot of fun. Fun is good for rapport and therefore therapeutic.
To create a telehealth bowling game, go to the website, select the play online option (the play icon with the globe), choose a nickname, and create a room. You can play with up to six people, so this even works for small groups. To ensure only your client(s) join the game, choose a simple password. The client joins with the same link, chooses play online, selects your room, and enters the password.
Choose your player, and the game begins. Control your player with the arrow keys, and press the space bar to shoot. You can also control by tapping arrows on the screen and clicking, so clients could do this activity from a phone or tablet, though a small phone screen would make aiming difficult.
The controls are a bit of a learning curve, which grants the opportunity to practice frustration tolerance in real time. Once you get going, though, it’s a lot of fun.
The innovations from telehealth are never-ending!