Have you ever been to a show, a game, a LARP, or an experience that felt therapeutic? The creators probably weren’t therapists, but their work in a fictional world led to a shift for you in the real world.
In LARP, the idea of Bleed (when emotions/characteristics cross the boundary between character and player) is often seen as a hazard. If you spend a weekend inhabiting the mind of a villain and come home to find yourself picking fights with your partner, that’s…less than ideal. But what if you spend that same weekend embodying a confident hero and return ready to negotiate a salary bump? Now that’s pretty great. Can we intentionally create fictional experiences designed to help out our players in the real world?
This session digs into how immersive play can spark real change beyond the walls of the experience and become a catalyst for growth. First, we’ll trace the evolution of role-playing and embodied exercises in therapy. (Spoiler: they’re usually a little dry, which is where we come in.) Then we’ll look at Escaping Anxiety, an escape room experiment designed to help people practice managing anxiety in the real world. You’ll hear what worked, what surprised us, and what questions still remain. Finally, we’ll break into small groups to create our own playful interventions for today’s most pressing mental health challenges.
From the Artist
Escaping Anxiety grew out of my long-standing interest in how immersive experiences can do more than entertain. As a therapist and creator, I’m fascinated by the ways play, narrative, and role-play can help people rehearse new patterns of thinking and feeling.
This project is part of my broader exploration of how designed experiences such as escape rooms, LARP, video games, TTRPGs, improv, and immersive theater can function as low-stakes laboratories for practicing emotional regulation, connection, and self-awareness.
I see this work as an invitation to rethink how we design play, not only for fun or spectacle but also as a tool for personal growth.
Content Warning
We’ll be discussing topics like anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. There’s no expectation to share personal trauma in depth, but given the focus on mental health, some material may touch on areas that feel uncomfortable.
I’m a licensed therapist and trained to hold space for these conversations, though please note we won’t be approaching anything within this session as therapy. (But if you need a referral to someone I bet I can help you find one!)
We’ll be discussing topics like anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. There’s no expectation to share personal trauma in depth, but given the focus on mental health, some material may touch on areas that feel uncomfortable.
I’m a licensed therapist and trained to hold space for these conversations, though please note we won’t be approaching anything within this session as therapy. (But if you need a referral to someone I bet I can help you find one!)
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