Your therapist should play D&D with you. Here's why.
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- Опубликовано: 21 фев 2023
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It might sound strange to hear about playing Dungeons & Dragons in therapy, but tabletop RPGs like DnD actually have some real healing power. By the end of this video, you'll have an even greater appreciation for this collaborative game. So grab your minifgure, character sheet, and hold onto your feelings because I'm about to delve into how game-based therapy is being used to treat all sorts of mental health conditions, like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
If you wanna watch the one-shot that I ran with other creators, you can watch that over on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/neurotransmi...
Here's the link to Dr. Megan Connell's book, "Tabletop Role-Playing Therapy: A Guide For The Clinician Game Master": a.co/d/btwFXYN
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Plot twist: this was the only way for the therapists to get a campaign where everyone showed up
and get paid. 🤫
@@oliveredensanchez sometimes you just gotta hustle for that bag. Also, how else are they supposed to pay for all those expensive minis 🤔
"What archetype will you be channelling today adventurer?" - Carl Jung, probably
Funnily enough, I am doing my dissertation on just that. Lmao
So, take Advantage on your next roll for bringing up other RPGs, and a +2 for showing the West End Games version of Star Wars.
Also, one of my players once bypassed a combat by just asking the troll why he was attacking them. I improvised and said the bad guys later in the adventure had stolen his "treasure." Instead of fighting, the group decided to help the troll recover his treasure. So they and Ludo (the troll) rolled into the dungeon, kicked the crap out of the bad guys, and reclaimed his treasure... a rock. Lol. Anyway, they invited Ludo to travel with them, eventually getting him a suit of flame-resistant armor and Ludo became the guard at the village they founded from the victims of many other adventures, and he eventually found a lady troll and created a troll family. Lol. It was a helluva ride, but it really shows the beauty of TTRPGs and the freedom they allow.
D&D therapy changed my son’s life for the better. Nothing has helped him more with his social skills.
i tried d&d once and my social anxiety noped out. but it's such a cool concept and i love that it even has the potential to help people this way
You could try playing it with one or 2 people to start, there are also books online desgined for those small groups. Solo play is also an option.
I moved to Canada 7 yrs ago and fell into a lonely depressive place. I ended up playing Playbypost DnD with some people on discord (where we play via messages whenever we're online) and even though it was a slow game because we had people in multiple timezones, we had some really beautiful moments. I will never forget dancing with the bard in the middle of the fight as they gave me inspiration. I've DMd an in person game with some friends and it's led to such bonding and laughter. I'm a therapist in training, hoping to run therapy dnd groups once Im regulated. Thank you for making this video and inspiring me!
That's so awesome to hear! Thank you for sharing your story!
You are my hero. As a mental health therapist and a dungeon master/D&D player, I love your video. I have used D&D a bit in therapy and I've used the TTRPG Magical Kitties Save the Day (cutest coolest game ever) with one of my younger clients. So much creativity and strength in these games! I'm going to look into Megan Connell's work and subscribe to this channel as well. My private practice is about to get a bit more interesting. Thank you!!!
So I am currently in my freshman year in college, looking to get my degree in general psychology. I have been struggling with it because I had had the previous cognition that therapy was very closed ended in the sense that it felt like there was no innovation or anything like that that could occur. Then I found your channel, and specifically this video, and this has already vastly changed my outlook and has put a fire inside me to pursue this passion more. So thank you so much for putting out this video. And if possible, I would love to hop on just a phone call at some point, just to pick your brain. No worries if not, but in general just thank you for all that you do and thank you for putting this out on the internet.
I’m confused why you would think this? I mean, doesn’t the fact that there are so many different psychological perspectives and types of therapy within them prove that there is ongoing innovation? Maybe I’m not understanding what you mean by closed ended.
Tabletop therapy as a topic continues to Intrigue me. I would love to see it adapted to older adults who have issues Beyond basic social anxiety. I actually have a traumatic memory from trying to participate with tabletop Gamers who were kind enough to invite me to a one-off. But I didn't know anything about tabletop culture or expectations and people at the table got really frustrated with how slow I was to pick up the basic rules. I had a panic attack before we could really even start taking turns because I can sense How Deeply impatient the other players were with my lack of knowledge. Even though they had chosen a very simple one time game just for me. There was still a huge learning curve and I didn't end up playing and they became upset at me for leaving the table and ruining their game night. I didn't know that was a social faux pas. It haunts me to this day. So now I have fantasies of joining a tabletop game where there is a very careful therapist making sure nobody feels pressured or overwhelmed and taking our time.
I know it sounds weird gushing about this topic. I'm in my forties already and I'm just incredibly envious of all my friends who finally got to play D&D. It was forbidden in our house for satanic reasons and because my mother felt it was a gendered activity. By the time games like this Resurgence in popularity with people my own age, I didn't have the same experience they had been having and just couldn't catch up to their skill level and didn't feel particularly comfortable joining public campaigns at game stores because they were mostly young people under 18 or under 20 and again I would feel weird being a forty-year-old woman in that group. I feel the safest thing for me would be to have a group of brand-new players who are in middle age who are non-binary or female
Aw man, that sounds like such a terrible experience! It sounds like that group wasn't really prepared to bring in someone new and had unrealistic expectations about what that would look like. I will say that the culture around D&D has really evolved a lot over the years, particularly in how the player base has become far more diverse and in the willingness to cater to new and casual players. I hope you would have a better experience next time and I think it makes sense to play with other folks who make you feel safe and welcome!
@@neurotransmissions they definitely weren't prepared although i think they started with the best of intentions to make it newbie friendly, there was a miscalculation somehow. I'd love to apply the lesson from this difficulty to a tabletop therapy model somehow but i have to talk to my own therapist about it first! Ultimately I think the issue was that group was far more invested in having a game night at all and they became more frustrated with my lack of prior context than they assumed I guess. And I didn't have the jargon language to be able to tell them just how unfamiliar with the general concept, much less that specific game.
Something i find really interesting is that by playing for years with the same group, with a lot of different parties an scenarios, is that we can see a pattern in the characters that each of our friends likes to play with and the way they act in game. It brings a lot of insights in our personalities and how we handle with situations. Its pretty interesting and rpg helped me a lot dealing with difficult times in my life, and brought confort, helped me to understand what was going on inside, reflecting the troubles i was going trough at that point with the situation my characters was in. It also helps that my friend who is the Master knows all of us pretty well and creates some details the adventure around this too. It really is an amazing tool for therapy, even if it is just between a group of friends, is an incredible exemple of how we can communicate, understand and help each other.
👏👏🙌🙌 My kids love D&D! My oldest is a burgeoning artist and designs characters for his friends. They all take turns creating “campaigns”. It has blown open their creativity, and given them outlets to hone their social skills.
11:50 This series was my first experience with TTRPG as a possible venue for therapy. Watching it was way more intense than I ever expected.
I have been a DM/GM for 40 years and can attest to the therapeutic aspect of the game, I have seen my friends and even myself grow from the experience. I survived the Satanic scare, just fine.
Also, World Anvil is totally awesome. I have been moving my very large campaign setting to World Anvil for several months now. Down to 1 file drawer to move now.
I started really playing DND during the pandemic as a means to stay socially connected in a time that we couldn't be together in person. I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with the worldbuilding and exploration. I ended up doing a speech in my college course about this exact subject and how much it helped keep myself and my wife from completely losing touch with our loved ones in a time that was so up in the air and confusing. I'm glad more people are starting to explore this as an option in clinical situations because it has really seemed to help people with self discovery, connection, and healing in my experience.
If you are interested in seeing the one-shot adventure that I created and ran with other RUclipsrs, check that out here: nebula.tv/videos/neurotransmissions-a-therapeutic-dungeons-dragons-oneshot
I'd like a notification :)
I'd love a notification too, thank you 😊
Thank you very much.
Would love a notification!
@palvirsihota813 Here's the link to it! nebula.tv/videos/neurotransmissions-a-therapeutic-dungeons-dragons-oneshot
This is finally the video I’ve been looking for to help explain to a friend about DnD and therapy. Thanks for putting it together. I appreciate your explanation of what am rpg is, it makes the video much more “shareable”.
After I joined a regular D&D group, my loneliness and depression decreased a lot. I am a bit different and it was nice to have me celebrated for who I am. Also probably helped my social skills as I am on the spectrum
Fascinating stuff, as always. Thanks Micah. Unfortunately, I never had any friends who were into TTRPGs. I was in a band for quite a few years and we'd often play board games to wind down after a show. We'd play Risk from about 2-3am until the sun was well and truly up. I have fond memories of those times, so I can definitely see the appeal of RPGs.
Yeah, the best games of Risk are long and brutal. It’s a real test of how strong your friendships are haha. Well hey, if you ever get the desire to play a TTRPG, it’s easier than ever to find a group online or in person!
The story at the beginning about 80s panic and the investigation around James Dallas Egbert |||'s disappearance was in the podcast "Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Demonizing Dungeons & Dragons". That also ended with asking the same questions about "Who really was having trouble differentiating fantasy from reality here?" Interesting story. Recommended.
D&D definitely feels like a viable method of trauma exploration, caleb widogast from crit role comes to mind. Without going into spoilers, I know abuse survivors have resonated with him and felt catharsis from his storyline. Its a double edged sword however, dealing with heavy topics always is, in my case I found out I have ptsd through something that happened in our game but now I'm aware of it I can work to overcomes that.
The thing of identity exploration is very true too, I recently got my tiefling a bracelet with alter self that allows them to adopt a more masculine appearance at will. Having a lot of fun with that :')
People on the autism spectrum apparently like games like this. Maybe it helps them to form social interactions. The ones with ADHD need to find ways to pass the time until it's their turn again. I could see storytellers and creative people being drawn to it. I watch art channels and ADHD channels and they're both into role playing games.
Pretty much every single one of my friends has ADHD and can wait their turn for a game just fine. I don't understand why you're getting this impression.
Well I am having problem with waiting for my turn as ADHD person. But I just started to program while waiting instead.
I have ADHD and have always loved D&D and similar games. Honestly I don't have any trouble with keeping attention during the game, unless it's combat. I do find the combat to be pretty tedious unless it is directly relevant to the plot/story, and what I like about D&D tends to be more the creative play, puzzles, traps, story, and characters. But I tend to prefer playing spellcasters of some type or another, so when there's combat and it's not my turn, I usually pass the time by looking over my notes on what spells I have at my disposal to decide what I want to do when it is my turn. The only downside is I do sometimes miss things other people did during that time. People are usually nice about answering any questions I have about what's going on and where people are located if there's any question though. But overall, combat is the main thing that I've found to be affected by my ADHD.
I've never actually played one of these games, most likely because I wasn't ever Invited. I think it would have been fun to try. My sister got into painting some tiny models. I've always liked miniatures.
And the role-play community, model trains, and dollhouse enthusiasts all share some things: terrain, stone, brick, wood and aging them, or making them look real in different scales.
I don't enjoy small talk. Or going to a party for no reason, but if there is an activity like a Tupperware party or a card game, or fundraiser. Coastal cleanup, then conversations about the task at hand can spring up organically. I suggested dancing lessons to my husband when he refused to try marriage counseling. If we took lessons, we'd have something to do together each week, we'd have to communicate, develop trust. All things that marriage counseling works on. But he wouldn't do that either
This is the best tabletop therapy description I have seen. Really wonderful. I am inspired to start my first TTRPG group therapy session very soon!
I can see some kids acting out scenes from d&d and hurting eachother.
At my school the hunger games was banned for a while.
My class was obsessed with it (6th grade) and we kept hitting eachother with sticks. We became too violent to eachother in playing hunger games.
This was obviously in a time where we had good Internet access. RUclips. We played a lot of minecraft. The boys played call of duty and stuff.
But the thing that made us somewhat violent was a damn book.
Yeah, I suppose that's another benefit of doing it in a therapy context. My brother talked about this briefly in the video, but you can craft the campaign to dissuade violence if that has become a problem among the children or adults you're working with. It's a great tool, though you definitely need to be smart about how you're using it!
This is quite fascinating. I do believe this can be very helpful and build character in people. When I saw this video, I did not believe it was real. But lo and behold, here it is. For this cause of interest, this video will not only get a like but this channel just got another subscriber 😁😁
It's cool you and you're brother have a career overlap like you do.
While I was researching narcissism, I came across stuff that implied I should study Game Theory, and Object Relations Theory, And Quantum Theory. I'd be interested in more on game theory.
"I put on my robe and wizard hat"... "The townspeople are confused"... Nice Easter egg there LMAO!
Shadowrun lore tingled my delusional thoughts
Neuro: 9:18
Me: True. XD
How is this one of your least viewed videos?!
Man it's weird watching a half hour of a therapist calmly talk about his experiences using DnD in therapy, with tranquil music, basic backgrounds drawing attention to the topic and long static shots carefully building an atmosphere of trust and thoughtfulness, and then hard cut into a sponsor read. What an efficient way to extract value from that parasocial relationship. On the other hand of course, sponsors are the reason creators can spend so much time and effort creating such incredible content as this video, so I don't really mind at the end of the day. Very interesting ideas here though, letting people step outside of themselves and their egos for a moment and practice their theory of mind by acting out fictional characters is sure to lead to learning and growth for a wide variety of people...
Google Hawke Robinson RPG research. He is a rec therapist who has developed a therapy model.
I used to play old school runescape
Hell yeah, so did I! I fondly remember my first time trying to trade and being lured into the wilderness by a high-level player who then killed me and tool all my stuff. Oh the nostalgia!
What is nowadays that role playing is unconventional?
I certainly had it in my childhood social skills training stuff in primary school in the 00's.
It sucked. And didn't do shit. As we were told very specific rules for how you had to behave. The other kids that were bullying you obviously didn't.
Yo
Hey
You didn't actually SAY that you were casting Magic Missile. So now there's ogres. OK‽ And your 50 minutes are up anyway, so you lose. Besides, it's an online session, so you're not there! You're getting drunk!
Genuine lol
DND IS NOT GROUP THERAPY
You want to say more, hon?
@@Genisischarm I don't need to and don't talj down to me. D&D is not Group Therapy, D&D is a dice throwing imagination game.
If I ever wanted to completely give up reality for fantasy I would become a Conservative Christian Republican.