STP 179 | Making Hard Conversations Easier: Games for Grief, Feelings, and Connection

Podcast Link - https://www.coursecreationstudio.com/... Make Hard Conversations Easier: Games for Grief, Feelings, and Connection What do you do when a child, teen, or client answers every question with “fine” or “okay”? In this episode of the Scaling Therapist Podcast, James talks with Krista Smith-Larson, founder of Winning Communications, about using games to make difficult conversations feel safer. Krista shares how her own family experiences with divorce, blended families, grief, anxiety, depression, and trauma led her to create games that help people talk about feelings without making the conversation feel forced. If you work with kids, families, or clients who have a hard time finding the words for what they are feeling, this episode will give you some new ideas to try. 3 Reasons to Listen Help kids get past “fine.” Learn why games can lower the pressure and help kids start talking without feeling like they are being questioned. Make hard topics easier to approach. Hear how Krista uses games to talk about grief, divorce, anxiety, trauma, relationships, and other big feelings. Add something practical to your sessions. Discover simple game ideas therapists, parents, churches, and family ministries can use to build trust and start better conversations. Timestamps 00:00 Why games can help people open up 00:23 HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop with Dr. Natasha Guess 01:15 Meet Krista Smith-Larson of Winning Communications 02:00 Why Krista and James both love games 04:00 How games take some of the pressure out of conversation 05:15 Using games with kids, adults, grief groups, and DivorceCare 06:00 Krista’s story of divorce, blended family life, and helping her kids communicate 08:00 How her first communication game was born 09:15 Turning grief and loss into a way to help others 10:30 Getting past “fine” and “okay” with kids 11:20 The Slippery Slope game and why Grace Cards matter 14:00 Adapting games for children, teens, and adults 16:00 Why parents do not always need to have the right answer 17:00 Who can use these communication games? 18:00 Why games can help therapists build trust faster 18:45 Krista walks through several of her games 20:30 Connect Blocks for divorce, grief, anxiety, trauma, and more 22:45 Helping kids connect words with feelings 24:00 Krista’s favorite go-to game 24:40 Where to find Winning Communications 25:40 Scaling Therapist Services sponsors and resources 26:30 Final HIPAA workshop reminder HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop If a HIPAA issue happened tomorrow, would your practice know what to do? Join Dr. Natasha Guess for The HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop on Friday, September 18 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. This is a virtual workshop designed to help you apply the toolkit to your practice, work through your questions, and turn scattered policies into a system you can actually use. Go to CourseCreationStudio.com for workshop information and registration. Resources Winning Communications Learn more about Krista Smith-Larson’s communication and play therapy games at: WinningCommunicationsMN.com Scaling Therapist Services Looking for businesses that can help you work through a therapy practice bottleneck? ScalingTherapistServices.com Course Creation Studio CourseCreationStudio.com