Video games and children's imagination

Abstract

This paper explores the meaning of video games from a psychotherapeutic perspective, addressing the technical problem of whether or not this type of play activity favours the development of the infantile transference. Clinical material drawn from intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy with two children forms the basis for description of the different meanings the video game may assume during the course of the therapeutic process. Particular attention will be paid to the countertransference experience and to the changes in the therapeutic attitude that are necessary in order to facilitate the use of the video game as a tool for communication. The hope is that a description of the internal processes that appear inside the consulting room when children play with video games may offer some insight to all those who deal with childhood - parents, psychologists, psychiatrists and teachers - into the ways in which video games present an opportunity for development of the child's imagination, powers of judgement and ethical sense.

Keywords:

• Video Games
• Imagination
• Infantile Transference