Mental Health Trivia: A Quiz Show Game for Groups

A game-show board for groups: teams pick a category and points, answer psychoeducation questions, and learn something from every answer.

AdultsGroupsThoughts & skillsCBTGames
20–40 minutesIn person and on video
Free interactive tool
Designed by Michael Thompson, MSc

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If someone is hurting you or you don’t feel safe, tell a teacher, a doctor or another grown-up you trust. Childhelp (US and Canada): call or text 1-800-422-4453. In danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. Outside the US and Canada, a grown-up can help you find a helpline in your country. Teens and adults in crisis: call or text 988 (US and Canada) or your local crisis line.
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The healthy-relationships questions can bring up unsafe relationships: follow up privately, and share local domestic-violence and crisis resources where needed.

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How to play

  1. Split into two to four teams (board and round are in Settings).
  2. On your team's turn, pick a category and a point value.
  3. Answer the question. Right answers score the points; every answer shows the idea behind it.
  4. Talk-about-it tiles have no wrong answers: share to score.
  5. Try the Common answers round, then end the game to see the questions and ideas you covered.

About the technique

A category-board quiz game is a common way to review psychoeducation in groups: teams pick a category and point value, answer a question, and the facilitator uses each answer as a starting point for discussion. There is no single originator. It is widely used in school counseling, intensive outpatient programs and skills groups, and its value depends on the accuracy of what it teaches.

The content here draws on established sources. Skills questions follow dialectical behavior therapy skills training, such as distress tolerance and emotion regulation (Linehan, 2014), and child cognitive-behavioral coping steps of the kind tested in Kendall’s Coping Cat trial (Kendall, 1994). Questions about naming feelings reflect research showing that putting a feeling into words can reduce the brain’s alarm response to it (Lieberman et al., 2007). Facts about how common mental illness is should come from a current official source; in 2022, about 23% of U.S. adults lived with a mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The quiz format itself has not been studied, so it is a practice-based delivery method.

It suits teens, adults, children and mixed groups, and works best as review after skills have been taught. Keep scoring light, let teams confer so no one is singled out, and treat wrong answers as useful material rather than mistakes. Questions about healthy relationships can bring up unsafe ones; follow up privately, and have local domestic violence and crisis resources ready.

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For therapists: how to run it

Goal

Review coping, feelings and relationship skills in a fun group format and leave with a short list of ideas to use.

In session

  1. Share your screen and play host: you read the question, the client or family answers aloud and you tap.
  2. Pick the For kids or Teens & adults board in Settings.
  3. After each answer, read the idea in the box and ask: has this ever happened to you?
  4. End the game to get a printable list of the ideas you covered.

As homework

Not given as self-guided homework. Use it together in session.

With a group

  1. Choose 2–4 teams in Settings. On video, press Play together and share the link: each person joins a team on their own device. When anyone picks a tile, the question opens on every screen, and only the team on turn can answer.
  2. In a room, project the board and let teams call their tile.
  3. Use Give points for a good answer generously: the aim is learning, not winning.
Mandated reporting

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.

Good to know

Two boards: one for kids (feelings, calm-down, friends, body clues, problem solving, with short answers for early readers), picked automatically when you browse tools for a child, and one for teens and adults (coping skills, feelings, DBT skills, anxiety facts, healthy relationships). Wrong answers are never shamed: the tool shows the idea and the facilitator can still give points for a good answer. The Common answers round ranks everyday answers from practice; it is not a survey. The DBT items describe Marsha Linehan's skills in plain words. 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

Healthy vs Unhealthy Coping Worksheet

Healthy vs Unhealthy Coping Worksheet

Sort twenty coping strategies into helpful and harmful, then name the ones you use.Adults and teensCoping skillsStress and burnoutSubstance useBehavioralCBTPsychoeducational+4Free PDF 2 pagesBasic Emotions Reference Worksheet

Basic Emotions Reference Worksheet

Two pages defining six core emotions with examples and the physical sensations that go with each.Adults and teensAnxietyDepressionEmotionsCBTPsychoeducational+3Free PDF 2 pagesAnger Coping Skills

Anger Coping Skills

Eight steps over two pages, from naming triggers and body signs to 4-4-4 breathing and a written coping plan.Adults and teensAngerCoping skillsBehavioralCBTPsychoeducational+3Free PDF 2 pages

Sources & credibility

Method
Psychoeducation quiz game for groups (category board with point values)
Developed by
No single originator; common in school counseling, IOP and DBT skills groups
Approach
CBT / DBT psychoeducation
Evidence
Practice-based (limited trials)Quiz games are a popular way to review skills in groups, but the format itself has not been tested. The content reflects established CBT and DBT teaching.

References

  1. Linehan M. M. (2014). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford.
  2. Kendall P. C. (1994). Treating anxiety disorders in children: results of a randomized clinical trial (the Coping Cat program). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(1), 100–110. Source
  3. Lieberman M. D. et al. (2007). Putting feelings into words: affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18(5), 421–428. Source
  4. National Institute of Mental Health. Mental illness statistics (prevalence of any mental illness among U.S. adults, 2022). 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

What are some fun facts about mental health?

Mental health conditions are common: more than one in five US adults (23% in 2022, according to the National Institute of Mental Health) live with one, and many are very treatable. Small habits like sleep, movement and connection also make a real difference.

What are good activities to teach coping skills to a group?

Quiz games, coping skills bingo and charades make learning active and social. Follow-up questions like 'When have you used this?' help skills stick.

How do you make psychoeducation engaging in a group?

Turn review into a team quiz: categories for coping skills, feelings and healthy relationships, with point values and a short discussion after each answer. Keep questions about skills, not personal disclosures, so everyone can take part safely.

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Your game designer
Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson, MSc

Michael's background combines doctoral training in clinical psychology with research on motivation, learning, and emotional regulation.

More about Michael Thompson, MSc →

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Table Of Contents
  1. About the technique
  2. For therapists: how to run it
  3. Worksheets that pair with this tool
  4. Sources & credibility
  5. Questions people ask
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Made for use in therapy: a licensed mental health professional decides whether a tool suits their client and guides its use.

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.