How roleplaying games can support mental health - Interview with Charlie Woolridge

Charlie Woolridge is a mental health professional that works for the Mind mental health charity. With support from colleagues, managers, and senior managers, he developed a peer support provision for young people that uses playing Dungeons and Dragons to promote wellbeing. The group, called Roll for Resilience, has been running at the Tameside, Oldham, Glossop and Stockport (TOGS) Mind branch in Oldham since December 2024.

DanDMadeEasy ran an interview with Charlie about his experience setting up and running roleplaying sessions to support mental health. 

If you’re looking for support setting up a roleplaying club to support mental health, or a school or library D&D club, there’s lots of free support out there, both from DanDMadeEasy and other creators.

Dan: "Thanks for taking the time to share your story, Charlie. First up, can you please tell us why you decided to set up a roleplaying group to support mental health? What is your experience with roleplaying outside the initiative, if any?"

Charlie: "I got into DnD in my second year of university (2018) where I was a player character in a campaign run by one of my friends and I have loved it ever since. I had become aware of the emerging body of research which pointed to TTRPGs being useful tools for supporting mental health. I was also aware that there were a number of peer support groups for young people, some of which utilised DnD. But there were no groups, to my knowledge, that directly used playing DnD as a tool for wellbeing.

My experience of roleplay is a little different in this setting compared to in my other groups. I introduce roleplay to each group as something that happens as part of the game but the “intensity” of it is up to them as individuals. Some young people will speak in character, trying out voices, accents, etc. and I will occasionally try to do so myself in order to establish this as being okay and hopefully uplift the young person. On the other hand, many young people do not feel comfortable with this and will describe their character actions and words. I tend to roleplay more in this way myself as well. As best I can, I encourage the young people, and I also encourage them to encourage each other, so that however they roleplay, they do so while feeling safe."

Dan: "It's really important to feel safe while playing, I expect especially more so in the setting you're in. Can you tell us who attends the group? What age are they and how do they typically come to join the group?"

Charlie: "The group consists of 14-18 year olds that join the group through opting into it after accessing our service or some other support. Groups typically consist of young people who do not know each other, or may know each other loosely through shared settings like school. We aim to have groups consisting of strangers so that all interactions are fresh, the intention being that through playing DnD some of the typical pressure of meeting new people is alleviated."

Dan: "Thanks for the context, Charlie. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to the question we all want answered. We often hear that roleplaying games have many benefits, including for social development and mental health. As a professional that sees this day to day, what’s your take on this?"

Charlie: "These days, loneliness across all age groups is unfortunately very high. This generally comes with a whole slew of mental health struggles. In young people, the effect of this can be particularly difficult and long lasting. The health response to this is a higher interest in social groups such as peer support programmes. The challenge with this is developing groups that are appealing enough that those who face common barriers to accessing such a group are willing and able to overcome those barriers – this can form the first step in their journey to becoming less lonely/isolated.

Charlie’s colleague made this poster to promote the group. It’s displayed in the service’s booklet, in reception, and at events. Because of this, some interest in the group has come from outside the mental health service offered.

"In the case of our Roll for Resilience group, we lean on the social aspects that are fundamental to Dungeons and Dragons in order to support mental health. Through regular interaction, young people can develop relationships and have opportunites to practice social scripts, try out jokes, explore perspectives, problem solve as individuals and in groups, and establish and maintain boundaries. Play and fun are important in learning and development. Through playing Dungeons and Dragons, I see young people expand their boundaries outside their comfort zone and come away more confident, generating memories and experiences they can potentially draw from in the future.

In my opinion, by playing roleplaying games that are run well and safely, people are able to interact socially in a setting that can work to protect those involved by alleviating some of the common pressures of social interactions. Much of this is because the game is entirely imaginary and so can be moulded in a way that reduces or prevents possible negative experiences."

Dan: "I've often thought that the fantasy aspect of roleplaying must have an impact like that, it's great to see that you agree! I expect that not everyone you run games for had prior experience with roleplaying. How do you support attendees learning and playing?"

Charlie: "I tend to err on the side of supporting the young people with whatever level of roleplay they are comfortable with. However, I try to subsidise this with little optional homework tasks - “What is your character’s favourite meal?”, “Has your character met a notable person before this adventure? Where? When? Who are they?”, “How does your character feel about the danger they face?”. I find that these light creative writing tasks help those willing to do them engage with the content further and they can then bring that into their roleplay.

When running the group, we agree to and abide by a shared contract. I feel this is necessary in any group, but especially so with clients in a mental health setting. This outlines things like being respectful to each other. We also follow some general guidance for gameplay, known as “we would rather nots” which are designed to help us run better games. Many of the rules and the “we would rather nots” are created by the people within the group and so can be very different from group to group. However as I GM and am attached to the group through being responsible for it, I tend to add some points around “we would rather not undermine someone’s roleplay”.

Some of the young people have previously given their characters specific voices/accents/verbal idiosyncrasies and I try to acknowledge this positively but in a manner that does not draw too much attention to them, as I am aware that that may cause embarrassment."

Dan: "In regards to your last point, I find that wearing costumes, putting on voices, and using props or player aids can really help me feel immersed in a game. Is this immersion important or helpful for mental health aspects of roleplaying, and do your games tend to include these elements?"

Charlie: "I personally struggle with “embodying” a character. When I first started GMing, I would give descriptions of what a character would say and do, although with time, I have become more comfortable with trying out some soft acting in the sense of giving characters speech patterns and voice differences. Occasionally, when I spend a lot of time speaking as the character I notice that I have scrunched my face in a certain way to show this is that character’s face. Working with young people, however, I fall more in-line with very dramatic silly characters to try to make the young people laugh.

Regarding other immersive tools, I use Roll20 in every session. I tend to use it in a navigational PowerPoint kind of fashion, selecting a slide with a particular character portrait/inspiration or some environment mood-boarding. I also use it to track initiative and initially run battles. Combined with props, printed battle maps and DanDMadeEasy paper minis, this helps a lot with immersion. I also try to make custom feats/items for the young people to use, which has always been received positively from my experience."

DanDMadeEasy custom paper minis (center in the image) are a free tool you can use to create 3D paper minis with any digital image. You can get access to them by signing up to the DanDMadeEasy newsletter.

Dan: "I really the creative aspect of making custom things for your games, too, it's one of the highlights of roleplaying for me. What’s your biggest highlight from your time running D&D to support mental health?"

Charlie: "The young people fill out feedback about the group at the end of every session, scoring how they feel the session has been helpful for things like problem solving and group cohesion. Their scores are consistently high and they always leave really positive feedback or otherwise just fun messages/jokes from the session. A few young people have told me that since starting in the group they have gone on to seek out/start their own games. This is so lovely to hear, especially considering the fact that many young people who join do so due to struggling with their confidence and friendships."

Dan: "That really is lovely to hear! Turning it around now, can you tell us what the biggest challenge has been during your time using roleplay to support mental health, and how you've handled it?"

Charlie: "There have been times when some young people have taken the idea of the game being entirely imagined as meaning they can just do whatever they want and experience no consequence. There have been a handful of times where I have had to directly guide a young person’s roleplay back to a more positive place due to, for example, them wanting to hinder their teammates or be cruel to an NPC - very in line with the “it’s what my character would do” idea. Although, generally if there is an issue I will refer the young person/people back to the contract and remind them of the rules and “we would rather nots” and this can help put things back on track."

Dan: "It really does sound like the contract is a critical part of your games. If you could share just a single piece of advice or resource with other facilitators, what would it be and why?"

Charlie: "In your session 0 (always do a session 0), make a contract. It may feel very formal but it can be really helpful to get everyone on the same page about expectations and boundaries. If you need to, you can change your contract later. For example, if it wasn’t mentioned in the initial contract that someone is really scared of spiders, redo the contract to include reduced/no mention of spiders in discussion or in game."

Dan: "I agree, running a Session 0 and making sure the game will work for everyone really is crucial. For anyone looking for a tool to help with that, a Player Preferences Questionnaire you can use as a basis for a Session 0 is available on the DanDMadeEasy website. If a potential facilitator or organization were on the fence about setting up an initiative to support mental health using roleplay, what would you say to them?"

Charlie: "I think intrinsically any group that someone is part of and feels supported in will help their mental health due to combating loneliness. The hardest part can be ensuring someone feels supported. So run the game, but run it for everyone who is there, not just the select few who may be more vocal/visibly engaged – run it for the person who may struggle to speak up in a group. Make time to get and implement ideas, and make adjustments wherever you can.

Be patient. Prepare yourself to go over the same rule in every session, even multiple times a session, and do so enthusiastically and compassionately every time.

And be inclusive. Outwardly, but also in game. It is important to see there is a spectrum of existence that goes beyond dragon people, tusked people, etc. No society is a monolith. NPCs may be queer, disabled, of an ethnic minority, of a different religious expression. It just may be the case that these NPCs speak to the experiences of the people around the table, and that is wonderful."

Dan: "That’s such a wonderful closing thought, thank you! If other facilitators want to reach out to discuss running roleplaying games including D&D to support mental health, where can they get hold of you?"

Charlie: "You can reach me at charliewoolridge@togsmind.org"

Dan: "Thanks so much for your time, Charlie, I’m sure it will help others learn more about the huge benefits that roleplaying can have on mental health!"