D&D and Mental Health: Therapy, Autism and Exploring the Things We Can't Just Say

A few weeks ago, a listener reached out and asked how we manage players with special circumstances. She was DMing for her brother, who’s on the autism spectrum, and hit a trigger that made him feel like his character was ruined. And even though she’s a therapist, that reaction surprised her.None of the 3 Wise DMs have DMed a player diagnosed with autism before, but we have had many players with special circumstances. We’ve learned a lot from playing with them — sometimes from our mistakes. In this episode, we talk about those experiences, D&D’s impact on players with all types of personal issues, and how we try to handle communication challenges at our tables. And, for the first time on 3 Wise DMs, we have a special guest! Bonnie is in our game groups and she’s a therapist who uses D&D to reach teens going through special circumstances. She joins us to talk about her experiences there and how her charges react to the game.2:00 Reader Question: DMing players with special circumstances that impact how they view the game and unexpected challenges7:00 Revisiting miscommunication with cognitive challenges: Everyone brings something to the table11:00 Using D&D to connect with teens in a therapy setting16:00 Unexpected player reactions may be more about personal issues than the game19:00 D&D helps explore issues that aren’t easy to express and gets players excited to discuss them27:00 How therapists can use scenarios that gently push triggers to create room to talk34:00 Don’t take mental health issues lightly or use triggers to terrorize your friends! (And an aside on giant spiders)38:00 Mental flexibility and feeling like something “ruined” the game42:00 Characters as the players’ ideal selves and its impact on their perception of the game47:00 Communicating when something isn’t fun for the players or the DM49:00 How hard table communication can be for people who struggle with social queues 52:00 Empowering, and not overpowering, your players’ voices59:00 Is murder hoboing a risk in using D&D for therapy, and how does a therapist handle that?63:00 We all want to be the hero in our own story … don’t we?70:00 The soft skills at the heart of D&D — and the extra weight they can put on DMs77:00 Final thoughtsRelated Links: “How Dungeons & Dragons Saved My Autistic Son” — Salon“Tips for Managing an Autistic Player” — Reddit“Dungeons, Dragons and Autism” — Altogether Autism