Therapeutic Dungeons & Dragons
for Therapeutic Healers
Have you forgotten the power of play?
Step out of the therapy world and enter a fantasy one!
No experience necessary!
What Is Dungeons and Dragons?
Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D, is a popular tabletop roleplaying game. It was invented by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, so it’s been around for a while and has built up a large following of devoted players. We have seen in increase in interest since wonderful tv shows such as Community and Stranger Things highlighted the game! Players in D&D take on the role of a character in a fantasy world, and they collaborate with other players to pursue a goal, collect treasure, or defeat bad guys. Unlike most other games, there is no set path to take, and characters don’t just progress along spaces on a board. What makes D&D and other roleplaying games unique is that the players improvise to create a story together, and their choices affect what happens next.
The game is facilitated by a lead player, called the Dungeon Master, who describes situations for the players and asks them how they’d like to proceed. Then, it’s up to the players to decide how their character would act in a given situation. To add an element of chance to the game, players then have to roll a die to see how well their plan works. It’s not competitive, and there are no winners or losers: everyone works together toward a common goal. This can lead to surprising, funny, and even touching moments during game play that could never have been planed in advance.
What Are the Mental Health Benefits of D&D?
Play of all kinds has mental health benefits—it’s why play therapy has been used to help kids since psychology was a new and emerging field. Play helps us to assimilate information we’ve learned, test new ways of behaving before using them in real life, hone our social skills, and boost our creative problem-solving abilities.
Although we might think of play as something reserved for little kids, the truth is that older children, teens, and even adults benefit from having playful experiences in life. Unfortunately, the older we get, the harder it is to find socially acceptable ways to play. D&D is an awesome, age-appropriate way for adults to recapture that playful childhood feeling and reap some of the same benefits that play has for younger kids.
Some of the possible mental health benefits of D&D for healers include:
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Expand skills in managing anxiety
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Increasing happiness and decreasing stress through play
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Increased self-esteem and self-confidence
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Stronger creative thinking and problem-solving skills
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Building a support network of others in our field
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Slaying dragons and releasing tension in a playful way
What will I need to participate?
The willingness to have fun and be playful! Otherwise, not much! We will provide you with a set of dice to keep and a notebook to use during your journeys. A tablet or laptop can be helpful at times but not necessary.
Who can participate?
This group is specifically designed for therapeutic healers such as therapists, counselors, social workers, and those in our mental health field. This is not a group that is open to the public.
What is the cost?
$10 per session - this fee covers the cost of materials and resources needed by our therapeutic Dungeon Master.
I'm interested! What's next?
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Participants must attend our free D&D 101 orientation workshop before you can join our campaign. This session as this will cover the basics of D&D, making a character, and how to use D&D beyond. This is especially important as you will be expected to have a character made to the requirements of the group and ready to go for our first session.
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While this campaign is an open group, meaning you are welcome to join us as you can, this campaign is limited to 6 participants for each session. You will sign up for each date individually, so please do not sign up for dates that you are unable to attend - this allows someone else to join for that session.
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Check your availability for our current campaign dates - see below!
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Have questions? Ask our DM! You can email Zac at zac@anewhopetc.org
