At the Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre in Shellharbour, recovery isn’t limited to counselling rooms. Sometimes, it happens around a table, with dice in hand, and with laughter shared over a board game.
It might seem like a simple pastime, but the Centre’s board games group is a space for healing.
This approach is grounded in emerging research, including findings from a 2019 review published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Public Health, highlighting the mental and emotional benefits of board games.
The report outlines how traditional and specially designed board games can reduce depressive symptoms, enhance cognitive function, and improve interpersonal skills.
For women recovering from trauma, these effects are vital. Trauma often isolates survivors and disrupts their sense of trust, safety, and play.
Through their structured yet playful nature, board games offer a safe way to rebuild those social and emotional muscles.
“Many of the women we work with have had their ability to play, to connect safely with others, taken from them,” says Alex Mlodziejewski, the Centre’s Social and Creative Expression Coordinator.
“Board games provide a healthy, low-pressure way to reconnect – with joy, strategy, and each other.”
The review found that games can foster social interaction and help regulate emotions by requiring players to manage stress, solve problems, and communicate. Additionally, board games’ tactile, turn-based nature helps engage cognitive processes that might otherwise be neglected in traditional talk therapy alone.
At the Centre, board games are part of a broader holistic approach that includes services and groups like art, music, self-care, and walking groups. These activities are designed to empower women to take control of their recovery on their terms.
You can join our board games group, run by Malika Reese, every Monday from noon. Contact us to find out more.
