GAMES FOR DEPRESSED COUPLES – GAME 5: SEXUAL BATTLE (PART 3)

This game can be played again and again. It can be a fun game, with the participants making faces and using various other means (kissing, fondling, talking dirty) to hasten their partner’s “defeat.” However, there are no real winners or losers here—only two people who are putting authenticity and fun back into their sex and rekindling their desire.

“Sexual Battle,” as with all other games described so far, will be successful to the degree that a couple can play it with sincerity. This goes without saying about any endeavor—you cannot cook a good meal without sincerity. However, when one is dealing with sex, people’s resistances multiply, and there is a natural tendency to be critical and perhaps derisive. Depressed people may want to negate this game (and all other games in this book), finding them silly or too complicated or too simple. I have found that I have had to give my own clients lengthy pep talks to properly orient them to the games. Because these are not miracle-workers, but only devices to help couples get closer, they are only as effective as the couples who play them allow them to be.