Role-Playing Therapy: A Tabletop Group Therapy Experience in Minneapolis
A New Way to Experience Group Therapy
What if therapy could feel a little more like storytelling, collaboration, and adventure?
Our Role-Playing Therapy Group led by Asher Rooks, MSW, LGSW blends traditional group therapy with tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. This unique format allows participants to explore personal growth, social connection, and emotional insight while engaging in shared storytelling.
If you’re looking for group therapy in Minneapolis that feels creative, supportive, and engaging, this group offers a unique opportunity to grow alongside others in a welcoming environment.
What are role-playing games and what do they have to do with therapy?
Tabletop role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), are games where players create and play as characters within a fictional world they make together. These stories can include anything from slaying dragons to hosting inter-kingdom bake sales. When applied in therapy, the role-playing game creates a low-stakes play environment where players can try new things and approach their challenges through their characters. Therapeutic groups also create a supportive space for players to take risks, process challenges, and share openly together.
Why Tabletop Games Work in Therapy
Games have long been used in therapeutic settings because they create structure, engagement, and psychological safety. Role-playing games add an additional layer by encouraging creativity and collaboration.
Benefits of role-playing therapy may include:
Social Connection
Players work together to solve challenges, build alliances, and support one another throughout the story.
Self-Reflection
Characters often become mirrors for personal strengths, fears, and motivations.
Emotional Exploration
Storylines can safely explore themes such as conflict, courage, loss, and resilience.
Confidence Building
Trying new behaviors in a fictional world can build confidence that translates into real-life situations.
And sometimes, it’s simply about having fun together, because healing doesn’t always have to feel heavy.
A Queer and Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Group
The Role-Playing Therapy Group at Emerge is intentionally designed to be queer-affirming and neurodiversity-affirming.
Many people who have struggled to find belonging in traditional social settings discover that tabletop role-playing communities offer a space where creativity, difference, and individuality are celebrated.
This group is designed to foster:
- Authentic self-expression
- Inclusive community
- Psychological safety
- Curiosity and play
Participants are encouraged to show up as themselves while exploring new perspectives through storytelling.
What to Expect in the Group
The Role-Playing Therapy Group meets Mondays from 6–8 PM and is facilitated by Asher Rooks, MSW, LGSW.
Each session combines gameplay with therapeutic reflection. Participants collaborate on a shared narrative while the facilitator helps guide group dynamics and connect experiences in the story to real-life themes.
Group details include:
- 12 sessions total
- 4–6 players per group
- Adults ages 18+
- Queer-affirming and neurodiversity-affirming space
No prior experience with tabletop games or Dungeons & Dragons is required. Beginners are welcome.
Who This Group Is For
This therapy group may be a great fit for adults who:
- Want more social connection
- Enjoy storytelling, fantasy, or tabletop games
- Feel anxious in traditional social environments
- Want a creative approach to personal growth
- Are looking for group therapy in Minneapolis that feels engaging and collaborative
Join the Role-Playing Therapy Group
If you’ve ever been curious about combining therapy, storytelling, and tabletop games, this group may be the perfect fit.
Participants will spend Monday evenings exploring shared adventures, building relationships, and gaining insight along the way.
Interested in joining? Click the link below to register!
Contact:
Asher Rooks, MSW, LGSW
[email protected]
(612) 825-4792 x719
Meet the Facilitator
Asher Rooks, MSW, LGSW
(they/he) is a clinical psychotherapist with training in Game to Grow’s TA-RPG model and multiple years experience researching and practicing therapeutically applied role-playing games. They are focused on utilizing therapeutic play to aid self-discovery and social connection.