Roll for Growth: The Benefits of Therapeutically Applied Tabletop Role-Play
Our very own Allison Battles is hosting a brand new therapy group for our clients. Roll for Growth is a tabletop role-playing experience that focuses on the players developing new skills and learning about themselves while they play. Allison uses modified Dungeons and Dragons rules to give a platform for her clients to collaboratively create a beautiful and fun story together. If you don’t know much about tabletop role-play games (TTRPG), then you might only have a limited understanding or perception. You might be wondering, what are the benefits to playing a game of pretend? Let’s dive in and explain how it all works!
What is the premise and purpose of this group therapy?
These sessions are essentially storytelling games that use dice rolls as a chance-based method of determining success or failure in the story. The better your character’s skills and the better the die roll, the better are your chances for success!
The Game Master/Therapist is your lead storyteller who describes to you what your character sees and role-plays all the other non-player characters in the world. You can interact with these other characters and your surroundings just as you would in a RPG video game, but through speaking and improvising. This type of gameplay allows for infinitely varied actions, outcomes, and possibilities.
Characters (and their players) will be able to role-play through great arcs of growth through their respective successes, failures, and adventuring. They will work with other members of their adventure party to learn from each other and support one another in their agreed upon end goal.
How does this help with social/emotional and mental health?
The players/clients build social skills and emotional resilience by roleplaying out complex situations. Collaboration and supporting others are fundamental aspects of the game. Unlike video games, where progress is often individual, players earn experience points through teamwork and reaching key milestones together. By stepping into the role of a character, young players can explore their own identities while engaging with peers and making meaningful choices in a safe, structured setting. Research has even shown that fantasy roleplaying games can enhance empathy!
Through collaborate storytelling, players develop empathy, communication, and self-expression in a safe, structured environment. Role-playing helps individuals process emotions, build confidence, and explore different perspectives, making it a valuable tool for personal growth. Studies suggest that TTRPGs can be particularly beneficial for individuals with anxiety, depression, or neurodivergent traits, providing a supportive space for social learning and self-discovery.
How does this help with problem solving?
You can find creative solutions using discussion, teamwork, logic and imagination! TTRPGs involve more than just rolling dice. At their heart, they are about making decisions. Players navigate their world, learning to ask insightful questions that guide their choices. Not every decision will be perfect, and that’s part of the experience! What better way to develop problem-solving skills and resilience than by making mistakes and growing from them? Fortunately, young players are part of a team, and sometimes the best solution is simply knowing when to ask for help. Additionally, the game’s problem-solving nature promotes cognitive flexibility and reduces stress by allowing players to navigate challenges in a low-risk setting.
Roll for Growth can also help with literacy!
This is a space for clients/players to practice reading, writing, statistics, and math. Being immersed in a story makes it easier to recognize elements like plot structure and foreshadowing. Role-playing games provide a learning experience that feels natural rather than instructional. Through storytelling, young players enhance their emotional and media literacy, developing skills such as interviewing and understanding human motivations.
And let’s not forget the math! Keeping track of stats and rolling dice reinforces addition and subtraction - even adult game masters find themselves improving their mental math through play.
Have more questions?
We highly encourage you to reach out to Allison Battles and ask her about Roll for Growth. If you’d like to sign your child up, you can fill out our group therapy form. We hope to see you, and we hope to help your kiddos through the art of storytelling!
If you’d like to learn more about role-playing games and how they fit into the therapeutic setting, you can check out our resources for this article for further reading!
