Social Work

There are countless occasions in social work where it can be difficult to get a conversation going.

The images on the Gefühlsmonster cards invite people to look at them more closely and thus trigger memories or situations that happened that can then become the subject of a conversation. (For professionals: trauma therapists have reported to us that the risk of triggering a flashback is no greater with the Gefühlsmonster images than with words.)

Numerous social institutions use the Gefühlsmonster cards and find that they make their work easier. To give just a few examples, they are used in working with offenders, in housing groups and by youth welfare services, in grief counselling, in hospices, in nursing care for those affected and their relatives, in church organisations, sports groups and in the intercultural context.

The situations shown on the cards can help people to start a conversation without having to name specific feelings.

 

Example: That is how others did it

 

The ifgg (Institute for gender-oriented trainings) Berlin has developed PrefixR, a coaching programme especially for imprisoned parents in Berlin and Brandenburg

Mrs. Zschüttig, pedagogical-therapeutic staff member of ifgg, told us about her work:

“The Gefühlsmonster cards are an integral part of the work with the inmates. Whether as a bridge for opening a conversation, as help in verbalising emotional states and sensitivities, as part of coaching with the children and relatives, or to conclude a conversation. The “monsters” are accepted positively by the inmates throughout.

In my experience, this is partly due to the fact that, compared to other photorealistic picture cards, the drawn representations are perceived as less intrusive and are also intuitively understood by clients with a less pronounced ability to associate. In addition, the differentiated nature of the Gefühlsmonster cards helps to support the client’s own ability to verbalize feelings.

On the other hand working with the cards is also a sensual, haptic experience, “something to touch and hold”. This gives many parents in custody security in their conversations and a comprehensible structure. The pictures themselves often provide a first occasion for a conversation. The “monsters” quickly become a ritual that the clients ask for explicitly.

Sometimes there are difficulties with the fact that the cards have no ready-made meanings. Especially inmates, who have a certain amount of experience with psychological and psychiatric evaluations, sometimes suspect that the cards are another instrument with which coaches want to “see through” the clients. This occasional mistrust of the cards is countered in coaching by patiently explaining the fundamentally liberating nature of the cards and an open attitude on the part of the coaches.

At the end of the coaching sessions, clients often receive a postcard with one of their favourite monsters – something very special! In this way, the Gefühlsmonsters can perhaps also contribute a little bit to reminding and anchoring what has been learned in the aftercare.

 

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