LEGO-based therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Daniel LeGoff · 2004 · USA

What it is

LEGO-based therapy is a group method built on collaborative LEGO play. It was developed in the USA by Daniel LeGoff and published in his 2004 and 2006 papers. Children share one building task by taking split roles. The Engineer reads the instructions and describes pieces and steps. The Supplier…

Format

• Format
• Group: usually 3 children with 1 trained adult (a ratio of about 1:3). Six to nine children is possible with 2 facilitators in a large room. Two children is acceptable when one is absent. The trial allowed 3–6 per group.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the group format in the I-SOCIALISE Manual for Delivery of LEGO® Based Therapy (Play Brick Therapy) (Wright, Gomez de la Cuesta, Varley and LeGoff, 2017), which is an abridged school version of the LeGoff et al. (2014) manual. Where Play Included's later Brick-by-Brick® programme changes the approach, this guide marks it [Brick-by-Brick]. The full Brick-by-Brick training content is not published,…
• No regulated profession or statutory registration covers this method. It is delivered by teachers, teaching assistants, psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, play therapists and others.
• Play Included runs a Certified Facilitator course: online, about 6–8 hours, to be completed within 12 weeks. An in-person Advanced Facilitator day follows in sequence. Play Included also keeps a Register of Practitioners.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status, as the sources give it.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Home practice turning into drilling. Keep it playful.
• A child arriving dysregulated. Offer the quiet corner first.
• Distress at leaving a model unfinished. Photograph it or store it safely.
• The language demands of the Engineer role outstripping a child's ability.
• Grief or regression near the end. Plan where social contact will continue.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.