University of North Texas 
During the Spring 2024 semester, UNT’s Counseling and Testing Services started a creative new group therapy option, Dungeons, Dragons, & Therapy (DDT), designed to help students develop social skills, as well as manage anxiety and stress. The nine-week, closed therapy group led six students through a short adventure in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG). A similar program from 2019 laid the groundwork for this new therapy group led by Jordan Richardson, M.S., LPC, the Housing Counselor for CTS.
“My personal experiences playing D&D showed me the power of roleplaying and collaborating with others,” said Richardson, who served as the Dungeon Master for the game. “In personal games with friends, I have seen and experienced many moments of personal growth, exploration and expression that have helped me and my friends grow as people. There are many stories within the community of people who have experienced the same.”
Players took on the role of aspiring heroes competing for admittance into the Sunlit Scions, the most famous guild of heroes in the land. The group worked together to overcome three challenges, ultimately winning the competition and earning their place among some of the greatest adventurers in history.
Participants ranged from first-year to graduate-level students, and all had little to no experience with D&D or TTRPGs in general. DDT was designed to be beginner-friendly to ensure that the therapy experience had as few barriers to entry as possible. Richardson was assisted by a graduate student who helped to monitor the group's therapeutic progress, as well as assisting with the gameplay experience.
Feedback from the first round of DDT group was overwhelmingly positive, with players sharing that the experience was not only enjoyable but also helped to improve their confidence and social anxiety issues beyond the group sessions.
“DDT allows students to fight monsters and overcome obstacles while indirectly confronting the personal challenges they face outside of the game,” said Richardson. “Through the game, they find that the fantastical heroes they portray are more like them than they realized.”
The group’s experience was so great that they made plans to continue playing together with their characters after the game concluded. CTS hopes to continue DDT moving forward and is currently looking for Summer 2024 and Fall 2024 participants.
Learn more about CTS group therapy options online.