A Therapist’s Guide to Using BioGraffs in Counseling Sessions
As a therapist, you’re a master of guiding people through profound transformations, and helped your clients find clarity, heal, and grow. But sometimes people still get stuck and caught up in the words that are the main tools of most talk therapy.
That’s where BioGraffs comes in: a unique tool that allows clients to create visual stories using cubes to represent their inner experiences. Here’s some ways BioGraffs can add to your therapeutic toolbox:
1. Add an Experiential Element to Therapy
BioGraffs transforms counseling sessions from purely verbal exchanges into full-body experiences. By arranging and interacting with physical cubes, clients engage multiple senses, which can open new pathways to understanding. This hands-on process allows clients to tap into spatial metaphors, often uncovering hidden feelings and insights. Moving cubes around, placing them in relation to one another, and physically constructing their perspectives helps clients see and feel connections that may have remained hidden in a traditional conversation.
Example: A client might arrange cubes to represent parts of a conflict, instinctively placing certain emotions or memories close together or farther apart. This spatial exploration can reveal previously unrecognized patterns or underlying emotions, allowing them to approach their issue with new clarity.
2. Strengthen Active Listening and Understanding in Couples Therapy
In couples counseling, communication breakdowns often stem from each partner feeling misunderstood. BioGraffs creates a structured way for both partners to express their viewpoints visually, giving each person the chance to fully share their perspective before the other responds. This visual storytelling process encourages active listening, empathy, and helps both partners see the dynamics of their relationship in a new light.
Example: One partner might use BioGraffs to depict a stressful experience, and the other partner has time to absorb the visual story before sharing their own response. This helps reduce defensiveness and supports a collaborative approach to resolving issues.
3. Help Clients Track Progress in Addiction Recovery
For clients in addiction recovery, visualizing progress and setbacks can provide valuable perspective and motivation. BioGraffs allows clients to build a visual timeline of their recovery journey, marking key milestones, moments of strength, and times of struggle. These visual timelines make it easier for clients to recognize patterns and celebrate their progress.
Example: Clients might use BioGraffs to create a timeline of moments when they were tempted to relapse and times when they felt strong. By analyzing the timeline together, clients can identify triggers, celebrate achievements, and understand their progress in a concrete, visual way.
4. Address Self-Criticism and Build Self-Compassion
Many clients struggle with an internal critic that keeps them stuck in cycles of shame or self-doubt. BioGraffs can help clients externalize and confront this inner critic by creating a “mosaic” of their self-perceptions. Clients can place cubes representing positive traits alongside cubes representing critical self-thoughts, giving them a balanced view of their strengths and areas for growth.
Example: A client might build a “self-portrait” using cubes to represent different qualities and beliefs. Visualizing their positive attributes alongside their self-criticisms can provide a fuller picture of who they are and encourage self-compassion.
5. Create a Safe Space for Sensitive Topics
Talking about deeply personal issues can be intimidating, especially when words feel inadequate. BioGraffs provides a gentle, non-verbal way for clients to express sensitive subjects, allowing them to reveal things at their own pace. For clients who feel uncomfortable discussing certain topics, this tool offers a way to share indirectly, through cubes that symbolize complex feelings and experiences.
Example: Clients dealing with trauma might find it easier to begin processing their experiences through BioGraffs. They can build a visual story that symbolizes their experience, without needing to dive into explicit detail before they’re ready.
Using BioGraffs in Your Practice
BioGraffs opens the door to innovative, flexible approaches for therapists, adding a creative and introspective layer to traditional counseling. Whether you’re working with individuals, couples, or groups, BioGraffs can help clients gain clarity, find compassion, and build connections. Here are some prompts to get started:
“What Does My Inner Critic Say?” – Encourage clients to externalize self-doubt or negative thoughts.
“A Timeline of a Moment of Strength” – Help clients visualize moments when they overcame obstacles.
“What I Get From My Addiction” – A tool for clients in recovery to explore underlying motivations and patterns.
“My Strengths and My Struggles” – Guide clients to build a balanced picture of themselves.
Using BioGraffs can make complex emotions and experiences tangible, empowering clients to express themselves in ways that go beyond traditional talk therapy. Try incorporating BioGraffs into your sessions and see how it can open up new perspectives on issues.
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