Therapeutic Roleplaying Groups: Next Cycle Starting Summer 2024
Playing as someone else can teach you something about yourself…
This Fall I'm facilitating a six-session online therapeutic roleplaying group for young people aged 13 to 19 dealing with issues related to depression, anxiety, or difference. In concert with me (the therapist/GM), each group member will identify an issue they want to work on in the game and develop a character to play that will help them explore that issue over the course of the group campaign.
Who is the group for?
This group is ideal for teenagers who love roleplaying or storytelling, or who get frustrated sometimes while engaging in traditional talk therapy process around their issues. It is a therapy group as well as a game, so participants will need to share attention, work collaboratively, and tolerate challenges — individually and collectively. This group is not a replacement for individual therapy for adolescents needing that support.
The group will be capped at six members in order to provide adequate time for each member to engage in the creation process and in the play.
Details
Technical. Participants will need to have internet access and a device that allows them to meet online for video chat via Zoom. Partcipants will need a free membership on the gaming site Roll 20.
For a shared system, we will use Monsterhearts, a game designed with the understanding that teenagers (and all of us, really) are monsters at heart. The game rules (in PDF form) costs less than $10.
Scheduling. From now until mid-October, group candidates will be screened by the facilitator. Group members will design characters during two individual meetings with the facilitator.
Group sessions are two hours and will run on six weekday evenings from October through December. Exact dates and times will be determined with the assembled group.
Financial. To secure a place in the group requires a $250 deposit.
Two payments of $375 will be due on November first and December first while the group is meeting.
In support of #BlackLivesMatter, partial scholarships for Black adolescents who wish to join are available this campaign.
Get rolling. To apply for a place in the group, or if you have any other questions, please contact me at: adamreynoldsLCSW@gmail.com
Geek Cred. Adam (the therapist/GM) has been a gamer far longer than he has been a therapist. He usually rolls cleric, but, like most drama therapists, he considers himself a bard.
Art Cred. All character artwork on this page was created by Agata Zebrowska.
