Battling Demons: Tabletop RPGs as therapy
Tuesday March 4th
5:30-7:00 PM ET
(will be recorded for registrants)
Mike Langlois, LICSW
Teaching Associate in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Heather MacGibbon, LCSW
Cinema Studies Ph.D., NYU
To date over 50 million people have played Tabletop Roleplaying Games. Initially met in the field of psychology with skepticism if not outright hostility, games such as Dungeons and Dragons are a unique playform and experienc. TTRPGs have bridged the 20th and 21st centuries, the in-person and online, and the child and the adult. They were popular long before COVID but exploded with the advent of online platforms that enabled longstanding players to stay connected, and engaged the interest of new members. Most recently they have captured the interest of a growing number of psychotherapists who use them to explore individual psyches, groups and the social, and a form of transitional space that can be playful and therapeutic.
This webinar will discuss the use of tabletop role playing games as a psychodynamic therapy tool. We will give clinical examples of how character experiences, in-game repercussions, and in-game conflict resolutions create a therapeutic environment supporting and expanding possibilities for clients out of game experiences. We will view this from the lens of Winnicott and discuss the ways play is used in various ways, from “rolling a character,” the impact of social forces in the party on freedom and compliance, the difference between players and characters, and the negotiation of differences which often include racial and moral tensions enacted by players. While we will present both clinical vignettes and theoretical concepts, there will be plenty of time for attendees to ask questions ranging from the clinical to the pragmatic. Also, we will have dragons.
Registration $30
Please Register in Advance at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_deJ1MXSMTk-J-gJPiNRAog
Host:
Mike Langlois, LICSW is currently a Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he supervises interns and clinicians. He has served on the Massachusetts Commission for LGBTQ Youth. Mike serves as a resource on digital literacy & social justice issues such as dismantling racism, LGBTQIA awareness & safety, disability awareness, and non-traditional families. He has served in an advisory capacity to NASW on youth suicide prevention. Mike is a member of APsaA and APA’s Division 39 as well as the Board of Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility.
Heather MacGibbon, LICSW is a licensed clinical Social Worker trained in psychodynamic therapy who integrates tools from CBT, DBT, ACT, IFST, MI, and other therapeutic modalities to treat clients in emotional distress. MacGibbon believes in the importance of understanding clients’ multiple intersectional identities and how they affect their mental healthcare. Heather graduated from Fordham in 2018 and continued her training as a Post Graduate Fellow at Fordham’s College Psychological Services. She did her clinical hours post-Fordham at Brooklyn Psychotherapy, working with various client populations, including but not limited to the LGBTQIAA+ community. She specialized in working with artists, giving her a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from NYU. She is currently in private practice via telehealth in multiple states and is licensed in NY, NJ, PA, MA, LA, IA, and TX. Heather has presented at the APA’s Division 39 conferences over the years, including: “BiFurious: Reckoning with Bi Invisibility” Spring Meeting 2020, “All Together Now: Toward Integration of “The Cultural” and “The Clinical” Spring Meeting 2023, and “Products of Conception: Abortion, the Fetal Fetish and Femtech” Spring meeting 2024. Heather was also chosen as one of the Early Career Professionals Scholars at Division 39 for the 2023-2024 year. She is honored to be accepted as an APsA Fellow for the 2024-2025 year and is excited to continue her support of the LGBTQIA++ and other minoritized communities in her clinical work and research with APsA’s support this year.