Roleplaying and Mental Health (Psychology)

[fireinthedust]

Any system design should be done around the capabilities of your subjects. If you have children with discalcula, there isn't a point hammering them with palladium numbers, for example.

I think you may want to base whatever you use on specific activities that would be helpful for children of a particular group. There isn't a point until you have a group, as having "this game helps children with (variable issue) in this way" isn't going to look good in a paper.


also: why not ask Hasbro? Tell them what you're trying to do. Be up front, and say that you honestly think it could help a vulnerable demographic. If they say no, make up your own system or try a different company's product. (Tri-stat is simple. True20 also, and may be a great help for younger children).


What is the specific field you're working in? Clinical with Adults? Young children? Autism? Depression?

And whatever you do, how can you broach it in a respectful way? If I was talking to a clinical psychiatrist, or even trying this out, I'd worry they were being condescending.

I work in a recovery home for men aged 50+, some with mental health issues. I wouldn't bother bringing this up for most of them.

However, for children as a learning game (for whom it would have a vastly different format) I would have no issue playing with them and having a great time.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Defining the group seems pretty key, I agree.

I was thinking of people of the age that usually play roleplaying games (so I guess 12+ according to WotC...though I know there are some players who start much younger than that).

I'm starting broad at this point, but likely will need to narrow things down significantly.

I suppose I could ask Hasbro...but I don't think I need to. The OGL lets me use most of what I would want for the last edition, and I wouldn't want to use fourth edition for this particular project due to its reliance on minis (not trying to go toward an edition war here, at all).

In fact, I think the use of minis is something else I need to consider, as they provide another barrier to the emotional interaction of "getting into character". That might be good or bad, but it's a factor to consider.

Generally I work with adults and older adolescents.

I'm not sure what you mean by broaching it in a respectful way. I hope I haven't been disrespectful in this thread to anyone. If I have, please let me know and I'll fix it and apologize immediately.

I'm guessing you mean something to the effect of how I might get an adult who doesn't play roleplaying games to try one as a therapeutic exercise? There are a couple of populations where this might be less of an issue, in my opinion. Both are stuck in places where they are somewhat wanting for entertainment. Inpatient mental health facilities often have group therapy. A variety of techniques are used in this venue, and I think roleplaying would work just as well as (if not better than) others. The other venue would be the prison system. I'm aware that roleplaying is popular among inmates as well. Working anger management or ethical decisions into a scenario could be a possibility.

As roleplaying is a group activity, I'm thinking that this would be applied best to group therapy of some sort. Outpatient group activity seems to be the one that you are suggesting might be the one where the most convincing would be needed...and I think also where this might not be as useful as another method of therapy that addresses the problems more directly. I can only think of this being particularly useful for individuals who need to improve socially. Potential groups would be people with Asperger's syndrome or high functioning autism, social phobia, schizoid personality disorder, and panic disorder with agorophobia (maybe...not sure about that last one).

I think it would be easiest to broach with children as you have mentioned.

Regarding the home you work in, are there structured activities (like just fun stuff to do to be entertained by)? Is there group therapy for those with mental health concerns? I ask because I wonder why specifically you'd shy away from something like this with those individuals?

 

[Aberzanzorax]

I find the World of Darkness rules fairly simple (at least the basics - there are always complex corner cases), but again you have the problem with the usage.

Perhaps the easiest is to make up your own system? Then you can make it as simple or complex as you like.
An idea would be for it to use d6's, if you want parents and other "non-gamers" to use it, without having to go out and buy a set of dice.

You also mentioned you were worried about getting lots of Luke's, Han Solo's, etc from using the Star Wars system - but you don't have to let the players know what the system is called. If you want to change it even more, throw out/change the parts that doesn't fit and use it in a fantasy setting.

Whoops, almost missed your post because of the new page.

I like the idea of d6's for the "non-gamer" set. That's a pretty important component/potential barrier if there is additional equipment required for this, and the harder to find it, the less likely it would be to be used. Even if this were ever sold, including enough dice for a whole group probably wouldn't really be an option.

Good point about filing the serial numbers off to prevent the Lukes and Han Solos.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

For those interested in reading up on some of the articles I've been finding, here are three neat places that I found:

Studies About Fantasy Role-Playing Games

Psychological Studies on Role-Playing Games

RPG Research Project Website

 

[Neubert]

Looks interesting, I will have a read later.

If you do decide to make your own system, I am sure people here would be happy to help. I'd like to give a hand at least.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Thank you Neubert.

 

[Umbran]

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.

In terms of problem-solving, both simulationist and gamist structures should work. In both cases the players use their knowledge of the rules to find a solution. The basic difference is whether those rules are designed just to be fun to play with, or to model some specific behavior for the fictional universe.

The real world is terribly complex. Good simulation akin to the real world and "simple" don't go together very well.

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.

Yes, it makes sense. But who says the characters in Once Upon a Time don't persist from game to game? You simply build the next play as the next in the series of tales about the same characters.

Admittedly, this doesn't have the characters *defined* on a sheet, with limitations on what they can do. That is either a detriment, or a bonus, depending on your group. Using a sheet of numbers to describe a person is a fairly abstract thing.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

In terms of problem-solving, both simulationist and gamist structures should work. In both cases the players use their knowledge of the rules to find a solution. The basic difference is whether those rules are designed just to be fun to play with, or to model some specific behavior for the fictional universe.

The real world is terribly complex. Good simulation akin to the real world and "simple" don't go together very well.

That's absolutely true that both work for problem solving. In fact gamist might work better if that is the sole goal (as the balance and cohesiveness of rules is usually better in a gamist situation).

Maybe simulationist is the wrong term. I don't want rules for every little thing...I want it to be immersive...more of a focus on characters with less of "feel" of playing a game to a degree. I'm starting to think a rules light system might be best.

Yes, it makes sense. But who says the characters in Once Upon a Time don't persist from game to game? You simply build the next play as the next in the series of tales about the same characters.

Admittedly, this doesn't have the characters *defined* on a sheet, with limitations on what they can do. That is either a detriment, or a bonus, depending on your group. Using a sheet of numbers to describe a person is a fairly abstract thing.

Good point. I'll think further on that. And as I research more, you're right about it being a detriment or a bonus. It'll depend on population, really.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

General Update:

Yesterday I did a majority of the "research crawl" through the databases.

I think I have just about all, or very close to all of the references (abstracts) for academic arcticles involving roleplaying games. (Right now that number is 99 if anyone is curious).


The next step is to read through all of them and write up that literature review. That should answer some of the questions that you all, and myself, have had about who this is targeted for, what system/style makes the most sense etc.


Thank you to everyone who has helped me out so far, and please keep comments coming. It's really helpful to be able to discuss this with a knowledgable roleplaying community, as I'm fairly positive that none of my academic advisors will be able to help much with the roleplaying aspect of the project.

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Hi Aberzanzorax,
I'm the guy Mallus talked about. I'm finishing my doctoral dissertation in clinical psychology, and I've been a gamer for most of my life, so I'll give you whatever feedback I can. My training and experience has been with adults and adolescents, not children, so there may be considerations specific to child therapy that I'm not familiar with.

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

That way lies madness. Speaking from personal experience.

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

My first impression about this is that you might be trying to do too much. Don't try to make a general "make children better" treatment, make a focused treatment for a focused goal. Otherwise the treatment will be diffuse, and it'll be more difficult to make into a manualized protocol. IMO RPGs probably lend themselves best to teaching problem solving, as well as social interaction skills if you run it right. Be careful though, because the highly structured and ritualized interactions of playing an RPG may not transfer much to outside-world social interactions.

As for the system, I would recommend a system that's quite transparent, that fades into the background while you roleplay and talk. Games like D&D (especially 4e) draw attention to the game mechanics, distracting the players from what you're trying to teach, and socially anxious players might withdraw into them. If people are thinking in terms of game-mechanical tactics, they'll be spending less effort on the real-world problem-solving and interaction. Something like Fudge (or Fate) could work well IMO, as would Unisystem Light (used in the Buffy RPG).

I wouldn't worry too much about the game system at first, if I were you. First get a concrete idea of what you want to teach, and what sorts of stories or scenarios the game will revolve around. Knowing the sorts of scenarios is key. For example, a lot of problem-solving training involves teaching people to identify the problem and any underlying contributing factors, to brainstorm possible solutions, to break down overarching goals and actions into a succession of achievable sub-steps, and evaluate which of the possible actions will best satisfy the various goals and challenges. If you're making a game to teach that sort of problem-solving, what sort of game scenario would encourage the use of those skills? The first that comes to my mind is the modern "heist" story, like Ocean's 11 or any number of other movies. It starts with an overarching goal, and will necessarily involve a lot of breaking down the big problem into little ones, and thinking of creative solutions to those problems. Then, the players will need to go through and execute the plan, which will involve learning to deal with complications on the fly. It would also involve social skills at time as they try to gather information, persuade people, and deal with unexpected circumstances.

Mind you, I'm not sure how accepting the psychology community would be of a treatment that involves teaching people how to be con-artists and criminals.

I'm not saying that this example is what you should be doing. But IMO you'd be best off to focus your attention on the specific things you'll want to achieve therapeutically, and the scenarios and game system will emerge naturally from that.

The setting should also stem from that consideration. When it comes to any sort of learning or emotional conditioning, the more similar the model experience is to the real-world experience, the better the learned skills will transfer, generally. I personally would avoid fantasy and sci-fi settings for that reason, and use a setting more grounded in the real world, akin to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, modern action movies, or various cyberpunk and near-future settings. But again, it depends on what you're doing with it (I hope I'm not sounding like a broken record about that. ).

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

Definitely a good idea. The most clearly-understandable and useful textbooks I've read had lots of examples of how to do the treatment.

Good luck with this. I'm very curious about what you'll develop.