Table-Top Role-Playing Games in Psychodynamic Group Therapy

This article explores a psychodynamic, non-directive approach to using Table-Top Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) in group therapy. While TTRPGs have been increasingly integrated into therapeutic practices, published articles often focus on interventions designed around skill-building or developing prosocial behaviours. In contrast, this article examines how TTRPGs can create a space for co-associativity, transference and the integration of unconscious material. Drawing from psychoanalytic concepts, such as D. W. Winnicott's concept of the potential space and R. Roussillon's framework of the malleable medium, the article highlights the importance of balancing structure with spontaneity to maintain a containing environment that can give form to subjective experience. The article features two clinical illustrations of a TTRPG group activity facilitated by a psychologist and a social worker at a medical and psychological centre for adolescents. The first illustration presents one patient's personal engagement with the medium and facilitators, whereas the second illustration focuses on emerging relational and group dynamics during character creation. This section provides both session descriptions and analyses of how the TTRPG's facilitation supports creative exploration, transference and group dynamics.