Roleplaying and Mental Health (Psychology)

[Aberzanzorax]

I'm abandoning my prior dissertation for clinical psychology, and I'm starting a new one.

I'd like it to be on a protocol of how to teach children (or perhaps socially impaired adults) a number of things using a roleplaying game.

These include (but are not limited to):
-social interaction skills
-problem solving
-improved math skills
-improved vocabulary
-emotional control


What game would be best for this? Factors I want to consider:
-free or licensable (or in print). I'm considering the SRD, but I also wonder if there are other games out there that would work. The SRD is helpful as I could include the actual rules in the dissertation. Are there other free systems that might work better? OSRIC, FUDGE, others?

-Easy to learn. I'd like it to be something that could be quickly picked up by the kids (adults) who may have other factors that limit their educational or intellectual levels.

-Stimulating. I'd like it to have some degrees pushing players to use intelligence, make hard choices, and become immersed in the setting/world.


As part of the protocol/dissertation, I might even include a "sample adventure" that I write as well.


Any and all information that you can provide would be wonderful. Your thoughts, any knowledge of roleplaying being used for mental health purposes, anecdotes of how it has helped people with mental illness that you've experienced or heard of, etc.

Thank you!

 

[Solodan]

What other factors do you want to consider?

For example: Setting? Would it be better to have a more modern setting, a fantasy setting, or a futuristic setting?

How complicated do you want it? Some systems have more math to consider and many things going on at the same time, others have less.

Are there other concerns, such as violence or non-violence, etc?

Off the top of my head, though, I would recommend Star Wars Saga Edition. The fantasy is 'socially acceptable' for more people, the system is clean for the most part, and you can model it with movies first if necessary.

 

[Umbran]

Not rightly a role playing game proper, and it falls down on the math skills bit, but something that might be useful for you to look at seriously in terms of getting folks to learn cooperative interaction:

Atlas Games: Charting New Realms of Imagination

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Good Questions Solodan.

Setting:
I'm thinking the setting isn't necessarily key, but I would like for it to not be modern, for a couple of reasons, though they basically all amount to one. I think it is useful to "step out of one's perspective" to get a new perspective. I'd worry that a modern setting would be too much like the real world, and I want a barrier there that's pretty obvious to all that this is a game and is not real.

One of my favorite techniques in therapy is to use metaphoric situations to guide decision making. The idea is to ask someone about how they would solve a situation that they have little or no emotional investment in and then apply that same process to their more difficult real life situation. So, either fantasy or sci fi. My personal preference is fantasy just because I like it more, but I wouldn't discount sci fi either.

Level of complication:
Well, I'd like it to be more simulationist and less gamist...I want them to work hard on characters and decisions, not to just be wargaming. I realize that this may require more complication, but also it might not.

As far as math goes, that's not too great of a concern. The less the better, BUT I'm depending on my options, I'm thinking anything that someone in junior high could handle is fine.

The biggest issue with complication is that I'd like it to be something that is easily learned. Either I could teach it in one group "session", or it could be figured out by reading it in say, an hour or so.

Violence vs nonviolence.
I'm not totally sure on this, but I think violence is ok. It's especially ok if it is relegated to violence against the supernatural. Nonviolence is also ok, but it still needs to be appealing.

Star Wars Saga Edition sounds good, except that I think it's too popularized. What I mean there is that I want the players to make characters of their own and there's a strong likelyhood that I'd see a lot of skywalkers, han solos, etc. Also Jedi are a bit of an issue there because of their moral code. I'd want players to have the flexibility to make choices as they would in the real world, without additional strictures that wouldn't apply in real life.



Umbran,
your suggestion looks like a good "one shot" game that would be really useful.

However, I'm looking for something that is more of an "immersed in a story for a while" roleplaying game, in which the players have the same characters for some time. I'm not looking for a fun "one shot" sort of game, although I do think that would be quite a possible option (I can see Og Unearthed as a very interesting and fun lesson in communication).

I'm shooting more for "growth over time" rather than a "one shot lesson plan" if that makes sense.

 

[Mallus]

Thought 1: I wonder what a trained clinical psychologist would make of my group's antics?

Thought 2: one player described all the characters as having "insane philosophies, transgressive attitudes, and a love of brutal violence".

Thought 3: wait, that player is currently working on his dissertation in clinical psychology!

Thought 4: he posts on ENWorld, I'll point out this thread.

 

[Cobblestone]

The Princes' Kingdom

I would suggest The Princes' Kingdom from CRN Games.

 

[Festivus]

I have an autistic son who has a lot of trouble with things like imaginary play, social interation, lack of empathy and general trepidation of the unknown.

I have tried doing some roleplay with him, only recently breaking through a bit with the use of hand puppets to help him immerse himself into the story. Other sorts of things I was thinking of trying were to try to introduce "quests" that he would need to enlist the aid of another to complete, or to figure out ways to integrate some of his favorite TV characters and objects (he loves to hammer things) into the stories as a bridge to other things.

Part of my challenge is my son is only 6, and I can't really expect much of him at this age. I continue to gently introduce concepts to him, even ones you might take for granted like rolling dice. We made up a game called "Jellybean Roundup", where we roll a d6, write the number down, roll another d6 and then add the two results together, then usher that many jellybeans into the corral. When the game is done, you get to eat them, so there is incentive to participate.

I'll be watching with interest what you come up with.

edit: sorry, missed my whole point. Each person with a disability like this is different, and not any one system is going to fit right in. What ever you end up going with would need to be flexible. I have looked at things like "Game of Shadows" and "Stuffed Heroes" (I think that's the name) before but they are difficult concepts for him to grasp.

 

[roguerouge]

I'm not sure why you'd care about free or licensable; you're pretty clearly fair use due to the project's educational character.

 

[Hairfoot]

I'd like to see a straight, basic data psych profile of the gaming community. All the journal research I've found so far is marred by horrendous methodology, ambiguous hypotheses and, in at least two articles, a completely blase conflation of solo offline computer gaming with group tabletop gaming, as though the two activities are essentially identical.

That doesn't answer the OP much, but it riles me to read studies claiming that TTRPers are predominantly depressed or autistic social retards, because the sample only comprised teenagers who spend days playing Neverwinter Nights alone in their bedroom.

Rant is now over.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Thought 1: I wonder what a trained clinical psychologist would make of my group's antics?

Thought 2: one player described all the characters as having "insane philosophies, transgressive attitudes, and a love of brutal violence".

Thought 3: wait, that player is currently working on his dissertation in clinical psychology!

Thought 4: he posts on ENWorld, I'll point out this thread.

That'd be GREAT! Thank you.