Roll initiative and bring yourself to the table.

Dice for a tabletop roleplaying game in front of a wooden cup with a carving of trees on it.

The most common reaction to the idea of group therapy is fear. It might be hard to trust a single therapist, much less a room of strangers. Now throw in play, silly voices, unpredictable challenges—for many adults, their own self-judgments show up loud and clear at just the thought. Yet group therapy, can be on of the most effective and efficient treatments for all kinds of struggles. And many find that TTRPGs (Tabletop Roleplaying Games) amp this potential up!

One of the biggest challenges in individual therapy is that so many of the challenges that exist in our real lives can’t show up in the therapeutic space. This means we have to work on them a more indirectly, talking about them after the fact, and then do the real experimenting in your actual life. TTRPG Therapy can be an intermediate space, where the challenges of other players, characters, and a limitless number of potential adventures, bring your ways of relating directly into the therapy space. We can see these patterns in action, experiment with them in a much lower stakes world, and process the results immediately.

For those of you who already love TTRPGs, I know you’ve had the experience of having stories and lessons from your games impact your regular day-to-day. A therapeutic game can take this a step further because it is tailored to challenge you in ways that help you meet your real-life goals.

If any of this sounds intriguing, please reach out and we can explore if my next TTRPG Therapy Group might be a good fit for you. Or simply try out a “One-shot” session, roll some dice with Dr. Deiss, and see how it feels!

Upcoming Group: “Engaging with the World”

Artwork for a Nordic horror roleplaying game, Vaesen, featuring a man in vintage detective attire holding a lantern and revolver, facing a large monstrous creature in a dark, eerie forest with twisted trees and a skull hanging on a branch.
Black and white illustration of a twenty-sided die with numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, and 20 visible.

There are currently openings for our next 10-week, remote group, two time slots are possibly available (Saturdays 1:30-3:00 PM and Monday 5:30-7:00 PM). The group is expected to start in mid-late October. We will focus on themes related to challenges engaging with the world including, but not limited to: social anxiety, disillusionment, uncertainty and risk tolerance, a feeling of being “different” and lack of purpose. If you’d like to explore this group as an option, please complete the Schedule an Appointment form.