A phenomenological inquiry into the therapeutic aspects of tabletop roleplaying games

Ball, Graham

Abstract

Table-top Role Playing Games (RPGs) have risen in popularity since their conception in the 1970’s. While some literature has explored their emergent psychological processes, very few studies have explicitly reflected on the therapeutic potential of these games, particularly from a phenomenological perspective. In this study, views, perceptions, and experiences of eight UK-based players were gathered through semi-structured interviews assisted by multi-modal diaries. These interviews were then transcribed and analysed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis settled on two superordinate themes. ‘Symbolic Play’ consisted of two sub-themes: ‘Expression Through Play’, which captured participants’ idiosyncratic experiences of projecting fears, fantasies, desires, and taboos onto their characters; and ‘Working Through Difficulties’, which illustrates how players symbolically navigate their past experiences, or current difficulties through their character and the worlds they co-produce. The second superordinate theme ‘When Players Come Together’ also embodied two sub-themes: ‘Playing In Person Helps with Immersion’, which explored the experience of moving to online play from face-to-face as a result of the COVID-19 social restrictions, highlighting the importance of intimacy and physical proximity when playing in person; and ‘When Things Fall Apart: The Significance and Perils of the Group’, which examined conflicts the participants experienced as part of the role playing group, exploring what is counter-therapeutic in an attempt to provide an answer to what is therapeutic. I conclude by arguing that tabletop role-playing games play stage to profoundly therapeutic processes such as play, symbolism, containment, mirroring, and witnessing as they show us how players relate to themselves and the group. Strengths and limitations of the study are examined before arriving at some tentative recommendations regarding the value of role-playing vis-à-vis therapeutic growth, amongst other implications of the study. Reflexive commentary is offered throughout the thesis in an attempt to both bracket and pay attention to the phenomenology of the researcher, which has contributed to the double hermeneutic of sense-making in this research.

Citation

Ball, G. A phenomenological inquiry into the therapeutic aspects of tabletop roleplaying games. (Thesis). University of the West of England. Retrieved from https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9430982

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 6, 2022
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9430982
• Award Date: Oct 6, 2022