By Desiree Ducharme, LCPC | New Hope Counseling Group
Welcome to a world where therapy and skills-building meet imagination and play! Step into our realm and learn what geek therapy can do for you!
Here at New Hope, we understand the importance of feeling included and validated as a person in both the general world and in your therapeutic relationship. One area that can be impactful when accepted and included in therapy is "geek culture" and related interests.
To meet this need, our new program, Critical Healing: Geek Therapy & Therapeutic TTRPG Groups, intends to meet this need. Critical Healing will be a table-top role-playing game (TTRPG) group. These groups utilize TTRPGs, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Starfinder, etc., as a medium for therapy and intervention to facilitate therapeutic growth and help meet treatment goals. TTRPG involves role-playing, collaborative storytelling, and immersive adventures (campaigns) in a fantasy world, where the players engage in exploration, interaction, conflict, problem-solving situations, solving puzzles, and practicing tolerance and resilience as they move through the narrative of the world. They are guided by a Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM), who directs the narrative and movements through the fantasy world and guides them towards the end of the campaign.
Our resident Therapeutic Game Master, Desiree Ducharme, LCPC, a fully licensed therapist with 15 years of experience playing TTRPGs and 2 years of experience as a GM, and her co-facilitator will utilize TTRPGs, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Starfinder, etc., as an intervention to facilitate therapeutic growth and help meet treatment goals.
Benefits of Geek Therapy:
Engagement and Motivation – utilizing interests in sessions can enhance and increase engagement in therapy and motivation to use skills learned outside of therapy.
Social and Communication Skills Development – many geek culture activities encourage and thrive in group and social environments, which helps develop, practice, and maintain social and communication skills.
Creativity and Imagination – engaging and immersing oneself into fictional worlds and characters fosters creativity and provides a safe environment for self-exploration and expression.
Stress Relief – a geek therapist can assist with developing stress management strategies that are within “geek interests,” as utilizing pleasurable activities such as playing a favorite video game or reading a favorite comic book can increase feelings of joy and lower feelings of anxiety and stress.
This form of therapeutic approach and intervention lends itself well to group therapy, as aspects of geek culture inherently create a sense of community and belonging that can be reinforced in group therapy.
Benefits of Therapeutic TTRPG Groups:
Communication Skills – the collaborative nature of TTRPG requires effective communication skills and provides a safe space to practice them.
Social Skills and Peer Connection – TTRPGs are inherently social and allow individuals to increase social skills and foster connections with peers.
Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking – players are expected to think critically about their actions and solve complex problems during gameplay.
Conflict Resolution and Emotional Expression – player characters sometimes engage in activities that lead to conflict between each other within the game, which then requires them to practice collaboration to resolve the conflicts and effectively communicate emotions and thoughts.
Frustration and Distress Tolerance – many TTRPG mechanics rely on character stats and rolling of dice to determine if an action is successful or not, which provides a space for individuals to actively practice frustration tolerance when getting a “bad” roll. It also provides space to practice accepting situations and coping with distress during combat and encounters with other non-player characters.
Empathy and Perspective-Taking – role-playing a character allows players to engage with and perceive the world from different viewpoints and increase empathy for others and their situations.
Belonging – the collaborative and social nature of TTRPG fosters feelings of belongingness and acceptance.
Who Benefits from Therapeutic TTRPG Groups?
Everyone can! There is no age requirement or limit when playing TTRPG. The GM adapts the campaign to fit the group's needs and be accessible to all.
Are you interested in exploring the benefits of geek therapy and therapeutic TTRPG groups?
Join us for an adventure that not only entertains but also heals. Our sessions are led by our resident Therapeutic Game Master, trained to integrate therapeutic techniques into engaging gameplay. Our therapeutic TTRPG groups will begin in late summer.
We are currently accepting referrals for intakes and establishing active group members. These groups will be self-pay only, at $60 a session, or an upfront cost of $780
More information can be found on our Geek Therapy landing page HERE.
If you or a loved one are interested in this service, please contact us to schedule a consultation call.
Embrace your inner geek and embark on a journey of self-discovery and healing!
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