Beyond the hype: A psychologist's take on the real impact of transformational games

As February 2 marks the International Day of Transformational Games, these tools are gaining popularity for self-knowledge and personal growth, promising insights, realizations, and even life changes, Kazinform News Agency reports.

Transformational games
Cоllage credit: Canva

But how effective are they really in altering a person's life? In an interview with Kazinform, psychologist Anna Pozdeyeva, a systemic family therapist, trauma psychologist, and business psychologist, shares her expert opinion on the nature of these games, their potential benefits, and the risks they may pose.

What are transformational games?

The organizers of such games themselves often talk about them as a powerful tool for changing lives. However, according to Anna, from a scientific point of view, their effectiveness remains questionable.

"To date, I do not know of any generally recognized scientific sources on transformational games. There are some publications, but they are more related to the game itself, with explanations of some games. But the effectiveness of the games has in no way been proven experimentally," she explains.

The psychologist emphasizes that the host in such games takes an expert position, which can create inflated expectations and increased suggestibility among the participants.

"The game cannot transform. All changes occur only in interpersonal communication. That is, in theory, the host is the transformer. The game itself cannot transform. All changes occur only in interpersonal communication," said Anna.

"The illusion of change": What really happens in the game?

One of the main effects of transformational games is called insight, described as a moment of sudden awareness. However, according to the specialist, insight does not always mean real changes.

"This is a flash of insight into consciousness that a person experiences as a wow effect. It looks something like this: ‘So, it turns out, this is how it should have been,’ or ‘It turns out, this is what I did,’ or ‘It turns out, this is how it looks from the outside.’ This is a highlighting of some action, word, phenomenon, or fact in a person’s life, which suddenly begins to play with new colors for him. This highlighting is usually accompanied by some more energy impulse. That is, the person gets energy. So, insights in the game are quite possible, but this does not mean that these insights will be directly useful. Not everything that we discovered in WOW is useful and applicable in our lives," she explained.

In other words, insight can give a feeling of awareness, but without further work, it will not lead to sustainable changes. According to the expert, the results of such games are short-term, and one should not expect deep changes from them.

"Of course, they will not be sustainable. Yes, a person will remember the insight, but the fact is that from the fact that he remembers it, or from the fact that he remembers the catharsis, how he cried there, most likely, little will change in his life. Many people are ready for some changes that they were not ready for before. For some reason, transformational games can become a kind of stimulant, a catalyst for these changes. But the changes in the transformational game itself provide," she explained.

Moreover, an unsuccessful game can cause serious harm to the human psyche.

"I remember one of my colleagues, a fairly powerful psychologist, who played a psychological game with a novice game practitioner. And then, for a good while, she fell into a classic depressive state. That is, she played with a novice game practitioner. The game practitioner could not cope with the cathartic force with which she began to give out in portions all the blocked emotions of childhood. (…) The game took her out of this state of balance and, in principle, did not give anything except traumatization," the psychologist shared.

Precautions and risks

According to the specialist, the leader plays a key role in the game process. However, not all leaders have the necessary knowledge and qualifications to work with the human psyche. The leader can consciously or unconsciously impose their attitudes on the players, which is especially dangerous for suggestible people.

"In the game, a person can spy on someone else's strategy, take it for themselves, and try it on themselves. How effective will it be for them? Most likely not. But they can fall into the illusion that it will be effective," Anna said.

Transformational games are not suitable for all people. The specialist emphasizes that it is safe to play only for those who have a stable emotional state.

However, for suggestible people, such an experience can be risky: "If the players are suggestible, all the encouragement or, conversely, frustration that comes from the leader, the player can perceive very closely. If people are in a crisis, you can't play."

In addition, minors are also not recommended to participate in such games, since their critical thinking is not yet fully formed.

Result: a game or a psychological experiment?

The specialist emphasizes that transformational games have no scientific basis, and their impact on the human psyche can be unpredictable.

"Classical psychology does not recognize them and practically does not participate in this movement," Anna emphasized.

Transformational games can be an interesting experience for emotionally stable people who perceive them as entertainment. However, one should not expect deep changes or psychological help from them.

Earlier Kazinform correspondent invited the readers to explore the impact of AI on dating, social interactions and demographics.

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