How Pyschology Puzzles Are Used In Therapy

Many psychologists use puzzles as a way to gain a greater understanding into the mindsets and thought processes of their clients. One way to use psychology puzzles to do this is to use logic puzzles or word puzzles in order to determine how a particular client goes about solving problems. Not only will the psychologist be able to glean a better understanding of how a patient solves problems in daily life, but by moving the solution and the discussion to the relatively dispassionate sector of mind puzzles, the client is more likely to be able to see their own strategies objectively. In a psychology puzzle, the elements of the puzzle are likely to be unrelated to the issues which are arising in the client’s own life, and so the therapist is more likely to be able to discuss strategies which other people use in solving similar problems. Also, when a patient has just had a psychology puzzle presented to them, they have had little time to become invested in the particular strategy they use to solve the puzzle, and thus are less emotionally entrenched and more likely to listen to other opinions and options. Psychology puzzles also can come in handy as a method for putting people more at ease in what can be a stressful situation, especially if they are unaccustomed to spending time in a psychologist’s office. Many psychology puzzles are designed to do just that, to distract the patient so that they are more comfortable and can view the therapist as a teammate rather than an opponent. Indeed, the classic example of a psychology puzzle, the Rorschach ink blot test, is used in part just to get the patient to begin talking. It is not so much what the patient says about the ink blots that's important, but that they begin talking. The ink blots give the patient and the therapist a common ground on which to begin their conversation.