BlockJam Counselling: A Q&A With MindJam

Summary

Therapeutic work designed for alternative communication needs, learn more about how it works in this Q&A with MindJam.

Many autistic and neurodivergent young people find it difficult to talk about their emotions directly. Not because they lack emotional understanding, but because traditional counselling relies heavily on verbal processing, eye contact, and face‑to‑face conversation, all of which can feel overwhelming or inaccessible.

For some young people, communication works better through interests, choices, or creative expression rather than spoken explanation. For many SEND learners, their strongest communication channel is their special interest, the thing they know inside out, feel confident in, and can use to express themselves more freely.

At SEND Tutoring, we regularly use young people’s passions whether that’s gaming, trains, animals, art, football, or even a specific TV series, as a bridge into learning. When a child’s special interest becomes the starting point, engagement increases, anxiety decreases, and communication becomes far more natural. It’s an evidence‑based way to meet young people where they already are.

This is exactly why MindJam’s work stands out to us. They apply the same principle in a therapeutic context. Instead of expecting young people to communicate through traditional talking‑based methods, they meet them in a space they already understand and feel confident in. We regularly recommend MindJam to families looking for mentorship or extracurricular SEND clubs built around video games. We recently met with Adam Rowe from MindJam, who talked us through their amazing BlockJam programme, and we’re pleased to share this Q&A with Emily Chalder, MindJam’s Lead Counsellor.

What Is BlockJam?

BlockJam counselling is such a strong option for children who love video games like Minecraft and benefit from alternative communication methods. It is MindJam’s own therapeutic approach, designed specifically for young people who struggle with traditional talking‑based support. The sessions take place online, inside a curated Minecraft world, giving the young person a familiar, low‑pressure environment where they can express themselves through building, exploring, and interacting, rather than being expected to talk on demand.

BlockJam is not a Minecraft product and has no affiliation with Microsoft or Mojang. It is a MindJam‑designed programme that simply uses the Minecraft platform because it is a space many young people already understand and feel comfortable in.

MindJam explains their approach clearly in this short video:

Our Conversation With Adam Rowe at MindJam

Adam explained that BlockJam sessions aren’t random gameplay. They’re guided through curated worlds designed to spark expression. A child choosing a certain area, building a particular structure or returning to the same space again and again can tell a counsellor far more than a direct question ever could. It’s emotional work happening through movement, creativity and choice, not pressure.

Hearing Adam talk about the way young people open up in these sessions made it clear why BlockJam has become such a powerful tool for neurodivergent young people.

Q&A with Emily Chalder, Lead Counsellor at MindJam

How does BlockJam counselling work in practice, and what makes it such a powerful tool for emotional support?

“BlockJam counselling is counselling in a specially curated Minecraft world. These sessions work really well because it gives the young person and counsellor a shared space to do something together, rather than asking a young person to sit down and talk before they feel ready. The counsellor and young person can build, explore, create and interact in a world that already feels familiar to many of them. A big part of our approach is that we also use specially curated worlds. These are worlds we have designed around different emotional needs, with areas and builds that help represent feelings, coping strategies, management tools and safe spaces. That means a young person can use creativity and exploration to describe what is going on for them, rather than feeling they have to explain everything directly. For some young people that makes all the difference. It lowers the pressure, gives them more control, and allows emotional work to happen in a way that feels much more manageable.”

What kinds of activities or conversations naturally emerge when working together inside a Minecraft world?

“It can be all sorts really. Sometimes it is building a safe space, creating a world together, going on a journey, solving a challenge, or just exploring side by side. Sometimes it is using one of our curated worlds and seeing which are as the young person connects with. Quite often emotional themes come out through the activity itself. A young person might choose a space that feels calm, or create something that reflects how overwhelmed they feel, or start talking about safety, frustration, confidence or worries while they are focused on building. That is one of the reasons Minecraft works so well. The conversation does not always have to start with a direct question. Sometimes it comes from what the young person is doing in the world.”

What breakthroughs do you see in BlockJam sessions that might not happen in traditional talking-based support?

“One of the biggest things is that young people can express quite a lot without having to sit and explain it all face to face. They might show it through a build, through the way they play, through the areas they are drawn to in a curated world, or through the themes that keep appearing in what they create. We also often see young people engage in Minecraft who might have been very resistant to more traditional support. Once that pressure is reduced, trust can start to grow, and then communication often grows with it. Sometimes the breakthrough is not dramatic. It might just be that they keep showing up, or they share an idea they would not usually share, or they manage to represent an emotion in the game that they could not yet put into words. Those moments matter a lot.”

In what ways does Minecraft help reduce the pressure or intensity that some young people feel in face-to-face conversations?

“It takes away that feeling of being sat in front of someone with all the attention on you. Instead, you are doing something together. You have a shared focus, and that alone can make things feel much less intense. It also gives young people more control. They can move around, build, pause, communicate in different ways, and take things at their own pace. That sense of agency is really important. The curated worlds help with this too, because they give young people a way into emotional topics without having to go straight into direct conversation. They can explore feelings and coping in a more creative and indirect way, which often feels much safer.”

How do you explain the therapeutic value of gaming to parents who may be unsure about screen-based support?

“We completely understand why some parents are unsure at first. A lot of families have only ever seen gaming in the context of downtime, arguments about screen time, or worries about too much time online. So it makes sense that they would want to understand the difference. What we explain is that the value is not just in the screen. It is in the relationship and in the way the game is used. In this setting, gaming becomes a shared language. It helps the young person feel comfortable enough to engage, connect and express themselves. With Minecraft especially, we can show that this is not just open-ended play. We use specially designed worlds, prompts and activities to help young people explore emotions, coping strategies, communication and self-understanding. It is purposeful, guided and therapeutic, not passive screen time.”

How do you help young people transfer the confidence or skills they develop in Minecraft into real-world situations?

“A lot of it starts with noticing and naming what they are already doing. In Minecraft they may be planning, solving problems, persevering, coping with frustration, working collaboratively or expressing ideas creatively. Those are real strengths, and sometimes young people need help seeing that. Our curated worlds can also help young people understand their own emotional needs and what helps them manage. Once they start recognising that in the game, it becomes easier to talk about how that applies outside it too. From there, we help them link those strengths back to real life. Sometimes that is through conversation, sometimes through reflection, and sometimes through small practical steps. But often the biggest change is in how they see themselves. When a young person starts to think of themselves as capable, creative or resilient, that can carry into lots of other areas.”

Are there particular Minecraft activities that consistently spark meaningful conversations or emotional breakthroughs?

“Building is often really powerful, because it gives young people a way to show things rather than just say them. Safe places, hidden spaces, challenge areas, journeys, all of those can open the door to meaningful conversations. The curated worlds are also really useful for this, because they contain spaces linked to emotional needs, coping and self-expression. A young person might respond strongly to a certain area, or use it as a starting point to talk about what life feels like for them, what helps, or what they wish other people understood. Collaborative tasks can also be brilliant because they naturally bring in communication, planning, frustration and shared success. There is not one fixed activity that works every time, but certain kinds of play definitely create good openings.”

What kinds of in-game scenarios or challenges do counsellors create to support problem-solving, resilience, or communication skills?

“It depends on the young person, but it could be collaborative builds, challenges that need planning and persistence, or story-based tasks where they have to make decisions and work things out together. We also use specially designed spaces within our curated worlds that are centred around emotional themes, coping strategies and understanding needs. Those can help young people explore things like resilience, regulation and communication in a way that feels much more accessible than a direct conversation sometimes would. What is useful is that Minecraft lets young people practise these skills in a low-pressure environment. They can try things, get stuck, change approach, repair mistakes and keep going, all within a space that feels safe enough to experiment in.”

Why This Approach Works

BlockJam succeeds because it removes the pressure that so many neurodivergent young people feel in traditional talking‑based support. Instead of being asked to explain emotions on demand, they can express themselves inside a world that already feels safe and familiar. This gives counsellors a far clearer window into what a child is experiencing, while giving the child control over how and when they communicate. It’s an approach that respects their pace, their interests and their natural communication style, which is exactly why it resonates with so many families.

What struck us most, after speaking with Adam and Emily, is how deeply this approach honours the way neurodivergent young people naturally communicate. So many of the children we work with have rich inner worlds, vivid imaginations and a huge amount to say, but only when they feel safe enough to say it. BlockJam creates that safety in a way that feels effortless to them. For families who have watched their child shut down in traditional settings, or who feel like they’ve run out of ways to help them open up, this can be a turning point. It shows that support doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or overwhelming. It can be playful. It can be gentle. It can be built around the things your child already loves.

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Ella Jones

If you’re looking for support for a child or young person with special educational needs or a disability, book a free call with us today and find out how we can help.