This poster presentation was delivered on October 20, 2022 at the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar 2022: Role-playing, Culture, and Heritage.
Description:
Role play is a foundational component of established forms of psychotherapy such as psychodrama (Kipper 1992). Recent literature has indicated the similarities between live action role playing (larp) and psychotherapy (Diakolambrianou 2021, Burns 2014, Fatland 2016, Linnamäki 2019, Mendoza 2020). In cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is one of the most widespread therapeutic approaches, role play is an important tool for developing desired target behavior (Fliegel 2020). This also applies to so-called skills groups in CBT. One form of these skills groups is the group training of social skills (Gruppentraining sozialer Kompetenzen, GSK) (Hinsch et al. 2015). Some literature has highlighted the similarities between role-playing methods used in CBT-oriented skills groups and larp (Aschenbrenner 2013, Balzer 2008). A standardized form of CBT-oriented larp in the sense of a clinical manual does not yet exist. A possible field of application could be Internet addiction. Internet-addicted persons are difficult to reach with conventional psychotherapy (Wölfling et al. 2019). The similarities of larp to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) (Tychsen et al. 2006) suggest larp as a possible low-threshold therapeutic medium. Furthermore, since a deficit in the area of social skills and social self-concept is considered to be an important factor behind Internet addiction (Leménager et al. 2020), a CBT-oriented larp with a focus on the training of social skills could counteract Internet addiction. This poster presents the developmental process and potential contents of a CBT-oriented larp training and a possible evaluation method in the work with Internet-addicted young adults. Initial conclusions of a currently ongoing pilot study as well as directions for further research are also presented.
Bio:
Lennart Bartenstein is psychologist with his own practice in Schleswig, Northern Germany. He has postgraduate training in cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR therapy. He started doing live action role playing regularly in 2016 and he was enthusiastic about the therapeutic potential of larping right from the start. Since 2020 he has been conducting psychotherapeutic larp events together with other health professionals. Together with Dr. Tagrid Leménager from Mannheim he is currently investigating the effectiveness of their therapeutic larps.
Click here to read PDF of slides.
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This seminar is hosted by the Transformative Play Initiative in the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. This seminar is made possible by financial support from the Sustainable Heritage Research Forum (SuHRF). The Transformative Play Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
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Graphic Design by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin.