Fib or Fact - The Counselor`s Cabinet

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
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•
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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
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Person cards
Feeling cards
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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 (3rd
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 (2nd 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