it's finally published 😳😳
my 40,000 word thesis on therapeutically applied ttrpgs ... featuring 82 sources with research on ttrpgs, linguistics, psychology, and more
introductions to major concepts in roleplay like bleed and immersion
a study with 109 participants showing how long term tabletop roleplay fosters emotional resilience
an analysis of the therapeutic efficacy of 5 different ttrpgs (dnd 5e, new world of darkness, apocalypse keys, wanderhome, & songs for the dusk)
a discussion of the psychology of ttrpgs and how events and characters in-universe really impact us
an exploration of how the linguistics of ttrpgs mirror our "real lives"
an exploration of what a ttrpg made to help people heal from complex trauma would look like, complete with a sample player character and theoretical session
also it's open access, so anyone can read it for free!!
you can find it published on proquest here
and if anyones interested in finding out more about spiritkeep, i've posted about it here and there's a spiritkeep page on my website here!!
This thesis aimed to further research on a growing method of play therapy, therapeutically applied tabletop role-playing games, and examine its users as a discourse community with shared but unmet needs. Several methods were taken to accomplish this goal. A literature review explored the current state of the research. Then, a study with 109 participants was conducted to deduce the connection between tabletop role-play and emotional resilience. Finally, five popular texts in the tabletop role-playing game genre were analyzed against seven criteria, synthesized from therapeutically applied role-playing game community experts, to determine if currently available texts fulfilled the needs of this community. The texts included Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, New World of Darkness, Apocalypse Keys, Wanderhome, and Songs for the Dusk. This research found that the benefits of tabletop role-playing games are shared between clinical use and home use, but that currently available texts are not ideal for fulfilling therapeutic purposes. Therefore, the thesis includes the foundations of a new text that is designed to be perfectly suited to the requirements of this genre: a game called Spiritkeep, designed to help players heal from complex trauma through long-term play. As the therapeutically applied role-playing field is growing in use by experts as well as in popular attention, the development of this new text has the potential for great impact in the role-playing community.
blakekathryn
janainaart
tangentwithtanner
germansingergirl
kaledo-art
