THOUGHT BUBBLES
Bringing Thoughts to Life!
A card game like no other, Thought Bubbles was created by psychologists to help kids and adults notice and choose their thoughts in a fun and light-hearted way. Its versatility is limited only by your imagination! An excellent resource for therapists and counsellors and a great way for friends and family to bond, this game offers a wonderful platform for growth and learning at all ages.
THE CONCEPT
As psychologists, we recognize that thoughts are closely tied to the way we feel, act and respond to the situations that occur in our lives.
There are many types of helpful and unhelpful thoughts but in our line of work, we have found that the Worrier, Victim, Controller and Judge thoughts are especially salient in conditions of stress, anxiety, depression and anger, and often lead to poor self-confidence and low self-esteem.
When helping people cope with difficult situations and the thoughts and feelings that come with them, psychologists use a range of interventions and approaches.
Some of these interventions include stepping away from the situation, noticing thoughts and feelings with an open mind, considering different ways to see and approach the problem, acceptance and letting go, being kind to self and others, and viewing experiences as opportunities for learning and growth. These ideas and techniques are embodied in the Observer, Problem Solver and Healer thought profiles.
Controller
The Controller wants things to be a certain way and experiences distress when people or situations do not meet expectations.
HOW TO USE THE CARDS
Below are more suggestions on how to use the cards, but feel free to come up with your own ideas!
PICK A THOUGHT
The aim of this activity is to explore different types of thoughts and how they affect our responses.
1. Separate the cards into 2 decks: helpful thoughts (Observer, Problem Solver and Healer) and unhelpful thoughts (Worrier, Victim, Controller, Judge). Shuffle the 2 decks separately.
2. Pick a card randomly from the unhelpful thoughts card deck.
3. Read the thought.
4. Talk about a time when you had that thought. What was the situation, how did you feel, how did your body respond, what did you do?
5. Choose a preferred thought from the helpful thoughts card deck. How would it be different if you had this thought instead?
HOLD THAT THOUGHT
The aim of this activity is to recognise the thoughts that arise from a personal experience and to be empowered to choose different thoughts.
1. Talk about the worst thing that happened to you this week.
2. From the pile of cards, pick one or more thoughts that popped into your mind when this happened. Hold them in your hand.
3. Which thoughts would you want to keep? Which thoughts would you want to discard? Why?
4. Choose one or more thoughts that you would prefer to have. Take them from the pile of cards and keep them in your hand. How would they change things for you?
KNOW MY THOUGHTS
The aim of this activity is to be more aware of your current helpful and unhelpful thoughts - how they impact your life, where they may have come from, and to consider if change may be helpful.
From the pile of cards, pick 5 that best represents how you view the world.
Have a discussion with someone you trust on any of the following – (i) how these thoughts have impacted the way you deal with the world; (ii) how these thoughts came about; and (iii) to consider the possibility of substituting 1 card with another, to cope with the world in a more helpful way.
You can keep a representation of that card with you and notice if it impacts the way you deal with the world.
4. The other players have to guess what the thought is.
5. The person whose guess is the closest to the thought gets to keep the card. This card is placed on the table in front of the player.
6. The game ends when all players have used all their cards.
7. The winner is the player who accumulates the most cards on the table.
GUESS THAT THOUGHT
The aim of this game is to accumulate the most cards.
1. Shuffle all the cards.
2. Deal out 7 cards to each player. Put the rest in a deck at the centre of the table.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts by picking a card from her hand and telling a story that is related to the thought.
4. The other players have to guess what the thought is.
5. The person whose guess is the closest to the thought gets to keep the card. This card is placed on the table in front of the player.
6. The game ends when all players have used all their cards.
7. The winner is the player who accumulates the most cards on the table.
CHANGE THAT THOUGHT
The aim of this game is to be the first to clear all the cards in your hand.
1. Separate the cards into 2 decks: helpful thoughts (Observer, Problem Solver and Healer) and unhelpful thoughts (Worrier, Victim, Controller, Judge). Shuffle the 2 decks separately.
2. Deal out all the helpful thought cards to the players. Put the deck with unhelpful thought cards at the centre of the table.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts by picking a card from the unhelpful thought deck and placing it face up on the table.
4. The other players compete to see who is the fastest to put down a helpful thought card that can counter the unhelpful thought. The fastest player has to explain how this thought is helpful in countering the unhelpful thought. If all the other players agree that the thought is suitable, the player gets to keep the helpful and unhelpful card pair and leave it on the table in front of him.
5. The game ends when one player has used up all the helpful cards in his hand. This player is also the winner of the game.
SPARE A THOUGHT
The aim of this game is to be the first to clear all the cards in your hand.
1. Shuffle all the cards.
2. Deal out 7 cards to each player. Put the rest in a deck in the centre of the table.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts by putting down a card. The next player puts down another card that is in a different thought profile. Subsequent players have to put down cards that are not in the same thought profiles as the ones already on the table. If a player does not have a suitable card, he has to take a card from the deck and keep it in his hand.
4. Once thoughts from all 7 profiles have been placed on the table, the set is put aside and a new set starts.
5. The winner is the first player who clears all the cards in his hand.
TESTIMONIALS
How does an adorable card game manage to be so confronting and affirming at the same time? As someone who's navigating a rewarding but demanding career and still relatively new at married life, I found Thought Bubbles to be a wonderful tool, helping me to take an aerial view of how I (and others) see myself – but also a close look at what these perceptions mean and how they can shift and change over time. It's easy to play but throws up deep questions along the way. I can't wait to share this with more of my friends and family.
Corrie Tan, Writer and Researcher
WHERE TO PURCHASE
KI PSYCHOLOGY
08-03A Orchard Shopping Centre
321 Orchard Road
Singapore 238866
Contact: 94367978 (Tue-Fri 10am-6pm)
RELATIONAL RESOURCES
16-06 OG Albert Complex
60 Albert Street
Singapore 189969
Contact: 63375153/91264281
Contact us for more information at:
thoughtbubblesgame@gmail.com
The Thought Bubbles therapy cards were created in 2017 by psychologists Gan Chee York, Kenny Liew, Fiona Tan, Desiree Zou, Carolyn Kee and digital artist Renee Tan.