“There are decades of science demonstrating the evidence of drama therapy in managing psychological trauma,” explains Dr Colman. Providing vulnerable people the space to have fun is a worthy cause in itself, but Game Therapy has found that a science-based approach can help create a method with real tangible impact. It was easier to get them together to talk about how a fictional character might feel than to get them to talk about their feelings around other boys. That group, Game Therapy, now works to promote roleplaying as a valuable tool for clinical practitioners. From discovering the work others were doing, he set out to improve the standard of these games and create a support network to help RPGs become a real tool for practitioners. “Research into game therapy has been done before, but not on any scale in the UK,” says Dr Colman. People working within mental health, in prisons and with people with educational needs across the country were already using roleplay as an informal therapy practice.ĭriven by the passion of those running the groups, the first acts of therapeutic gaming were informal: done without any set structures, outcomes or methodology behind them. Image: Steve Best/Rupert Greyling from The Goblin's ChestĪs Dr Colman began to explore using RPGs with his clients, he found that others in similar fields had also begun to discover the therapeutic benefits. Using roleplaying in a therapeutic setting builds upon decades of research highlighting the benefits of drama therapy. I work one day a week as a GP providing end-of-life care to homeless people in London and initially I was curious if any studies had been done with this group”. “I was aware that in the US there was a lot of work being done on therapeutic gaming. “I’ve been playing since the late 1970s,” he says (though he doesn’t look it). Working with everyone from prisoners to people affected by homelessness, these specialists are using RPGs as a new tool for exploring a host of themes with those they work with.ĭr Gary Colman is one of them, a clinical practitioner with a long history with RPGs. But at a recent opening for an indie RPG press in South London I met another person with the same telltale tired eyes and well-worn lanyard.Īcross the UK a network of support workers are joining together to highlight the power of tabletop roleplaying. “So what’s it like working with victims of human trafficking?” they might ask, desperately hoping I don’t actually tell them. Dozens of times someone has excitedly explained their upcoming Kickstarter to me, only for me to respond with the joy-killing reveal of my day job. Maddie recommends some wholesome RPGs for chill roleplaying sessionsĪs a support worker that sometimes dabbles in board games I don’t often fit in at industry networking events. External links may also contain similar content. Some might call it je ne sais quoi or the even more embarrassing “Power of Imagination” but some have a more serious word for it: therapeutic.Ĭontent warning: This article touches on discussions of grief, homelessness, addiction and trauma. They can be joyful, silly, tragic and sincere. Tabletop RPGs have a certain quality that appeals to many of us in a way that is hard to put into words. I know at least one person who has spent most of a therapy session unpacking the tragic death of their half-elf ranger Horseshoes Dingleberry. No matter how silly and surreal these characters may be at first, it’s difficult not to feel a real connection with them. A huge part of this sensation is the very real feelings many of us experience while we live inside these characters. Tabletop RPGs are a rare opportunity to explore what it might feel like to be a teenager searching for their missing friend, a sword-wielding femme fatale duelling their lover or a squirrel doctor that knows which flowers cure gout.Īnyone who has played RPGs for a while has a story of that one character they remember vividly. Within these games players can explore what it feels to inhabit another character for a short time living, thinking and feeling as their new persona. Much like the players that love them, tabletop roleplaying games come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
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