The Magic Shop: a Psychodrama Values Trade Game
A shop that sells courage, calm and hope. The price is something of yours. Pick a jar, trade from your pockets until the scale balances, and leave with a receipt.
Low risk.
More
Keep trades about the client's own habits and feelings, not other people. If a client offers something unsafe to give up (medication, support people), stop the game and talk about it.
How to play
How to play- Tap a jar on the shelf: the quality you want more of.
- Choose how much you'd like. More costs more.
- Trade from your pockets: things of yours, and how hard each is to give up.
- When the scale balances, shake on it.
- Say the first thing you'll do with it, then keep your receipt.
About the technique
About the techniqueThe magic shop is an action game from psychodrama, the group method founded by J. L. Moreno, to whom the magic shop is traditionally attributed (Verhofstadt-Denève, 2000). A shopkeeper offers qualities such as courage, calm or hope, but they cannot be bought with money. The client pays with something of their own, such as a habit, a fear or a familiar way of coping. The bargaining turns a vague wish into a concrete question about what change would cost and what the client is willing to give up.
Psychodramatists have refined the technique over the decades, including a version built as a sequence of scenes that explore what the client really wants and what stands in the way (Verhofstadt-Denève, 2000), and a Brazilian adaptation for clinical work with children (Rodrigues & Yukimitsu, 2014). It works as a warm-up or a main action in groups and adapts to individual sessions. The exchange surfaces ambivalence: a client who wants confidence but will not trade avoidance has said something useful about where the work lies. Psychodramatic techniques as a family show medium to large effects in a meta-analysis (Kipper & Ritchie, 2003), but the magic shop has not been tested on its own, so its evidence is practice-based.
It is low risk and suits children, teens, adults and groups. Keep the trades about the client’s own habits and feelings rather than other people. If a client offers to give up something they need, such as medication, sleep or the people who support them, stop the game and talk about it.
For therapists: how to run it
For therapists: how to run itGoal
Name what you want more of, find what you'd give up for it, and commit to a first use.
In session
- On video: press Play together and send the link. The client shops on their own device while you play the shopkeeper with the line buttons and Raise the price.
- In person: turn the screen to the client and speak the shopkeeper's lines yourself, in character.
- Haggle gently. Ask what they'd miss about each item, and whether the price feels fair.
- Close on the first use: what will they do with their new courage this week?
As homework
- Open the link and pick the jar you want most. The shopkeeper will ask you questions.
- Trade until the scale balances, shake on it, and write the first thing you'll do with it.
- Tap Copy for my therapist, then paste it into your therapist's secure messaging (client portal) or bring it to your next session. Nothing you type is saved, so copy before closing.
With a group
- Press Play together and share the link. You are the shopkeeper; one member shops at a time while the others watch on their own screens.
- Invite the group to suggest prices, or to say what they would trade for the same jar.
- Close with a round: one word for what each person would buy.
Exercises like this can lead to disclosures of abuse, neglect or risk. Know your reporting duties before you start, and pause if one comes up.
The magic shop is a classic psychodrama game. The shopkeeper sells qualities, not things, and the price is always something personal: a habit, a comfort, a grudge. Haggling over the price brings out what change will cost and what the client is ready to give up, which makes it useful for ambivalence and motivation. Played alone, a scripted shopkeeper asks the questions; played together, the therapist is the shopkeeper. With children, any activity can lead to a disclosure of abuse or neglect. Know your mandated-reporting duty before you start, and pause the activity if one comes up.
Worksheets that pair with this tool
Values Clarification Worksheet
A core-values ranking list, a reflection and action plan, a circles-of-influence sheet, and an ACT bull's-eye exercise.
Strengths List Worksheet
A word-bank list for clients who go blank, and an open reflection sheet on strengths and qualities.
ACT Values Worksheet
Six life domains from relationships to community, with questions that end by testing your daily actions.Sources & credibility
- Method
- The magic shop (psychodrama exchange game)
- Developed by
- J. L. Moreno; later adapted by others, including for children
- First described
- 1930s–1940s
- Approach
- Psychodrama
- Evidence
- Practice-based (limited trials)A classic psychodrama warm-up and action game described in clinical writing. Psychodrama techniques have meta-analytic support as a group, but the magic shop has not been tested on its own.
References
- Rodrigues, R. & Yukimitsu, R. O. (2014). O jogo da loja mágica: uma leitura brasileira e ampliação para uso clínico com crianças. Revista Brasileira de Psicodrama, 22(1). Source
- Kipper, D. A. & Ritchie, T. D. (2003). The effectiveness of psychodramatic techniques: a meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(1), 13–25. Source
- Verhofstadt-Denève, L. M. F. (2000). The "magic shop" technique in psychodrama: an existential-dialectical view. Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama & Sociometry, 53(1), 3–15. Source
How it was made
Built by the Mentalyc team from the original method and the published sources listed here. Nothing you enter is stored.
Questions people ask
Questions people askWhat is the magic shop in psychodrama?
The Magic Shop is a classic psychodrama warm-up where a shopkeeper offers qualities like courage or peace, and the buyer must pay with something of their own. Deciding what to trade brings values and priorities into focus.
What is an example of a psychodrama?
In psychodrama, a person acts out a scene from their life, such as a conversation they never had, with the group or therapist playing other roles. Techniques include role reversal, doubling and warm-ups like the Magic Shop.
Is psychodrama legit?
Psychodrama is an established group therapy method founded by J. L. Moreno, with training standards and a growing research base. Its deeper techniques should be led by a trained practitioner.
How do you run the magic shop technique in a group?
The director sets up a shop that sells qualities like courage or calm, and a protagonist asks for one. The shopkeeper asks what they will trade for it and how much they need, which brings values and costs to the surface; the group shares afterward.
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Children should use this with a parent, therapist or teacher, not on their own.
Educational practice aid, not a medical device. Not a substitute for therapy, diagnosis or emergency care.