Last updated: June 10, 2025
About this Page
I am a mental health counseling student/intern, currently facilitating a D&D therapy group and working on a graduate thesis about RPGs in therapy.
Given this is a burgeoning specialization in the field, I think it's useful to keep all the resources I have in one publicly available place.
To mental health practitioners or others reading this but not otherwise familiar with this blog (which is mostly focused on my RPG design projects in a non-therapeutic context), feel free to contact me at gjd006@protonmail.com.
Note: When I use the term "RPG", always assume I mean tabletop/"pencil and paper" role-playing games (i.e. not video games).
Books by Clinicians
Therapeutically-Applied Roleplaying Games - Elizabeth Kilmer et al
Tabletop Role-Playing Therapy - Megan Connell
Role-Playing Games in Psychotherapy: A Practitioner's Guide - Daniel Hand
Wizards, Warriors, & Wellness - Jack Berkenstock Jr. & Baron Blakely
Video Games in Psychotherapy - Robert Rice. Not directly RPG-related, but there's conceptual overlap.
Professional Conferences
TAGGS - next con: online, date TBD
GeekEd Con - next con: Rochester NY, July 18-19
Serious Play Conference - next con: Rochester NY, August 13-15. I will be presenting there!!
Joint Conference on Serious Games - next con: Rotkreutz, Switzerland, December 4-5
RPG Systems with Therapeutic Applications
The Quiet Year - Rather than playing individual characters with a GM, everyone contributes to the development of a post-apocalyptic community via mapmaking.
The Black Hack - Free, very simple OSR/"D&D-esque" game.
Old School Essentials - The exact same rules as B/X D&D (my favorite edition by far), reformatted for a modern audience.
One Shot World - A free, more streamlined hack of Dungeon World. Thematically similar to D&D, but more narrative- than simulation-driven.
Unknown Armies - Uniquely models trauma in its game mechanics. Occult horror. My favorite RPG overall.
Tales from the Loop - Present-day coming-of-age adventures with some weird science thrown in. Uses the Year Zero Engine.
Monsters and Other Childish Things - Play as children with pet eldritch monsters in the present day.
Kids on Bikes - Similar themes to the above.
Critical Core - Designed by Game to Grow for therapeutic use in social skills groups. Thematically similar to D&D.
My Brain is a Stick of Butter - A solo lyric game designed to emulate the experience of living with ADHD.
Changeling: the Lost - About those who have been abducted by the fae and escaped rebuilding their lives now that they are no longer human. The (New) World of Darkness most suited, IMO, to stories relating to trauma and abuse. See below.
Other Resources
Modeling Stress, Trauma, and Mental Illness in RPGs - my own writing; my thoughts have evolved since posting this in 2023, but it still has some good information.
Psychosisis Badly Written in Tabletop Games. - addresses some important concerns from the perspective of someone with lived experience, even if I'm not 100% in agreement with their conclusions.
Changelings, Trauma, & Gaming - on the subject matter and applicability of Changeling: the Lost, and how to tell such stories sensitively.
Stars and Wishes - a great, easy tool for processing at the end of sessions
