What if your child could build emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, and communication skills—inside their favorite video game?
That’s exactly what we do in my Minecraft Social Skills Group.
This virtual therapy group is designed specifically for children ages 8–11 with ADHD, AuDHD, Autism, and other neurodivergent profiles. The group meets weekly on Tuesdays using a HIPAA-compliant Google Meet video call and a private Minecraft Creative Realm—an intentionally moderated space that supports cooperative learning, social-emotional growth and has kids practicing skills in real time.
🎮 Why Minecraft?
For many neurodivergent kids, traditional therapy settings feel boring, they are overwhelmed with their own emotions and have difficulty verbalizing them making the setting less productive to process feelings. And, overall when it comes to impulsivity, talking over others, socialization, frustration and emotional regulation – these kids can’t tell you why it’s happening to make sense of it in a traditional therapy setting. But Minecraft? It’s a space they already feel confident in. It’s visual, flexible, creative, and familiar—making it the perfect setting for real-time, in-the-moment therapeutic learning. And behaviors, they’ll happen, allowing us to process them as they come up, instead of the afterthought.
Kids don’t just talk about frustration tolerance. They experience it—when a mod doesn’t work the first time, when someone accidentally builds on their structure, or when they feel misunderstood by a peer. And when those moments happen, I’m right there to guide the conversation and help them name their emotions, communicate their needs, and recover. Sure, we experience big emotions in the moment. But, unlike at school where they are asked to leave the room and their self esteem starts to tank; we’re all in it together, allowing a kiddo space to have that big emotion and space to reel it in.
🧠 Skills We Build in Group
Through guided play and structured peer interaction, we work on:
- Impulse control (especially when the urge to break a rule kicks in!)
- Emotional regulation during conflict, disappointment, or overstimulation
- Frustration tolerance when things don’t go as planned
- Collaborative communication while building shared goals
- Perspective-taking and peer empathy
- Repair and boundary setting when conflict arises
- Self-advocacy—learning how to say “I need space” or “Can you help me?”
And all of this happens in a format that mimics real-life school and social situations—except it’s so much more supportive. There’s no bullying in Minecraft group (kids are instead encouraged to talk about it). We practice setting boundaries, apologizing to each other, talking out what led to a frustration or impulsive moment.
💻 What Makes This Group Different?
- Kids are on camera the whole time. This isn’t just passive gaming—they’re practicing real communication with real faces and getting to see facial reactions.
- I’m a licensed therapist and special education teacher. I am present at every session. This isn’t a group run by an intern or a coach.
- We use the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, which means it’s accessible across most platforms (Xbox, PC, iPad, switch, etc.).
- Kids can access the realm after hours, continuing to socialize in a safe space and build friendships from the group.
- Each cohort is limited to 10 kids, so your child gets individual support and peer visibility.
- Many kids stay across multiple cohorts because the relationships and skill-building are ongoing.
📅 Current & Upcoming Cohorts
The current summer cohort ends August 12, 2025.
The next 10-week group will run from October 21, 2025 – January 6, 2026.
Groups meet Tuesdays from 4:30–5:30 PM ET on Google Meet and in our private Minecraft realm.
I often get asked about later groups. To be honest, I’m a single mom and daycare pick up is at 6pm. Group needs to stay at this time for now. I hope to be able to offer later groups and groups for teens in the future! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d be interested in being notified if a later group or older kids group popped up!
💡 Want to Join the Waitlist?
You can sign up now for the October 21st cohort using this secure Google Form:
👉 Click here to join the waitlist
Once submitted, I’ll have my biller confirm eligibility for insurance!
🏷️ Insurance Info
I’m in-network with many major insurance providers, including:
- Cigna
- Aetna
- United Healthcare & UMR
- BCBS Highmark
- BCBS PPO plans
- Independence Blue Cross Pennsylvania – Virtual National Network
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Virtual network
- Regence BlueShield of Idaho
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Nevada
- Quest Behavioral Health
- Carelon
- Optum Live & Work Well
Many families pay as little as $0–$25 per session depending on their plan.
💬 Questions?
If you’re wondering whether this group is a good fit for your child, I’d be happy to connect and walk you through the next steps.
📧 vprisco@victoriaprisco.net
🔗 Learn more: levelupwellnesshub.com/minecraft-adhd-therapy
