• Diakolambrianou, E.: «LARP as a Tool for Personal Development and Psychotherapy». Portal 8 LARP... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «LARP as a Tool for Personal Development and Psychotherapy». Portal 8 LARP Convention, Zagreb, Croatia, 7/3/2020
• Diakolambrianou, E.: «The use of LARP (live action role-playing) in personal development, thera... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «The use of LARP (live action role-playing) in personal development, therapy and education». Smart Psi National Conference, Bucharest, Romania, 24/11/2018
• Diakolambrianou, E.: «EduLARP as a tool for violent radicalization prevention». Portal 9 LARP C... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «EduLARP as a tool for violent radicalization prevention». Portal 9 LARP Convention, Athens, Greece, 11/9/2021
14/01/2023 - Presentation at an international online training of volunteer coordinators organized... more 14/01/2023 - Presentation at an international online training of volunteer coordinators organized by Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture
Mar 9, 2022 - Online lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series
Description:
... more Mar 9, 2022 - Online lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series
Description:
The transformative potential of live action role-playing allows players to develop holistically (on a physical, mental, emotional, creative, and social level), even when participating in games just for fun. Are the processes and elements at play different, however, when personal development happens informally in a recreational larp, as to when a larp is formally designed for psychotherapeutic purposes? What makes larp a valid and effective methodological tool in the hands of a mental health professional? In this lecture we will attempt to answer these questions by exploring characters and stories in larp as psychotherapeutic material, identifying the connections between larp and some of its most adjacent psychotherapeutic methodologies, and finally discussing how psychotherapy techniques can be used to design and use larps as tools in psychotherapy.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Moderated by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Graphic design and editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Lecture for the Transformative Play Initiative.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discu... more Lecture for the Transformative Play Initiative.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discusses the ways in which role-playing is used in transformative, therapeutic, and psychotherapeutic applications. She briefly discusses many types of role-taking, narrative, and play activities already transpiring within established psychotherapeutic modalities. Additionally, she highlights how geek culture and superheroes are currently used as a means to connect with clients. Then, Diakolambrianou explores the ways in which board games, video games, tabletop role-playing games, and larps can be used in psychotherapeutic settings, discussing the conditions that are necessary to establish such settings safety and ethically.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
This manual explains the educational foundation, the organisation process and
several applicatio... more This manual explains the educational foundation, the organisation process and
several applications of educational Live Action Role Playing games in the context of
radicalisation processes of young people.
It is dedicated to youth workers, teachers, pedagogues and all who work with young
people in formal, or non-formal education settings.
The manual was created by the consortium of partners within Erasmus+ Programme
(strategic partnerships in the field of youth) “DiveIN - developing eduLARP
methodology to prevent violent radicalisation of young people” in 2019-2020.
This manual was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lesso... more This manual was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lessons Learned from COVID -19 Crisis” (acronym: YOUNGETEERS), implemented by Subjekt d.o.o (Croatia) in partnership with Fondacija “Novi Sad – Evropska prestonica kulture” (Serbia), Timișoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture Association (Romania), Fundacja edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019 and Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria a r. l. Onlus (Italy) and funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme, under the contract number: 2020-1-HR01-KA227-YOU-094777.
Spikey's Clinic for Professional Dreamers: The Methodology, 2024
This methodology is one of the results of the project "Spikey’s Clinic for Professional Dreamers"... more This methodology is one of the results of the project "Spikey’s Clinic for Professional Dreamers" (ref. no. 2021-1-HR01-KA220-YOU-000030341), co-funded by the Croatian Agencija za Mobilnost i Programe Europske Unije in the framework of the Erasmus + Programme – Cooperation Partnerships in the Youth sector. From November 2021 to May 2024, the project has seen the participation of 5 organisations active in the fields of youth work: Subjekt d.o.o. (Croatia, lead partner), Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria A R.L. Onlus (Italy), Fundacja Edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), and Nansen Dijalog Centar (Croatia).
Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially wi... more Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially with enacted roles, as a site for learning and therapeutic growth. This article weaves together a plethora of theories from psychology, Counseling, and role-playing game studies in an effort to understand the nature of enacted roles, their relationship to identity, and their transformative potential. Challenging the notion that identity is a fixed, stable monolith, the article synthesizes four overall approaches to theorizing the nature of identity drawn from various theories: identity as a social construct, narrative identity, identity as psychodynamic, and identities as parts of a whole. The authors posit that these ways of framing identity can help role-players, designers, and facilitators better understand the multifaceted nature of selfhood. This work holds implications for understanding the enactment of characters in role-playing games, especially with regard to the transformative potential of the role-playing experience.
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.
This methodology was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - ... more This methodology was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lessons Learned from COVID -19 Crisis” (acronym: YOUNGETEERS), implemented by Subjekt d.o.o (Croatia) in partnership with Fondacija “Novi Sad – Evropska prestonica kulture” (Serbia), Timișoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture Association (Romania), Fundacja edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019 and Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria a r. l. Onlus (Italy) and funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme, under the contract number: 2020-1-HR01-KA227-YOU-094777.
• Diakolambrianou, E.: «LARP as a Tool for Personal Development and Psychotherapy». Portal 8 LARP... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «LARP as a Tool for Personal Development and Psychotherapy». Portal 8 LARP Convention, Zagreb, Croatia, 7/3/2020
• Diakolambrianou, E.: «The use of LARP (live action role-playing) in personal development, thera... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «The use of LARP (live action role-playing) in personal development, therapy and education». Smart Psi National Conference, Bucharest, Romania, 24/11/2018
• Diakolambrianou, E.: «EduLARP as a tool for violent radicalization prevention». Portal 9 LARP C... more • Diakolambrianou, E.: «EduLARP as a tool for violent radicalization prevention». Portal 9 LARP Convention, Athens, Greece, 11/9/2021
14/01/2023 - Presentation at an international online training of volunteer coordinators organized... more 14/01/2023 - Presentation at an international online training of volunteer coordinators organized by Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture
Mar 9, 2022 - Online lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series
Description:
... more Mar 9, 2022 - Online lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series
Description:
The transformative potential of live action role-playing allows players to develop holistically (on a physical, mental, emotional, creative, and social level), even when participating in games just for fun. Are the processes and elements at play different, however, when personal development happens informally in a recreational larp, as to when a larp is formally designed for psychotherapeutic purposes? What makes larp a valid and effective methodological tool in the hands of a mental health professional? In this lecture we will attempt to answer these questions by exploring characters and stories in larp as psychotherapeutic material, identifying the connections between larp and some of its most adjacent psychotherapeutic methodologies, and finally discussing how psychotherapy techniques can be used to design and use larps as tools in psychotherapy.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Moderated by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Graphic design and editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Lecture for the Transformative Play Initiative.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discu... more Lecture for the Transformative Play Initiative.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discusses the ways in which role-playing is used in transformative, therapeutic, and psychotherapeutic applications. She briefly discusses many types of role-taking, narrative, and play activities already transpiring within established psychotherapeutic modalities. Additionally, she highlights how geek culture and superheroes are currently used as a means to connect with clients. Then, Diakolambrianou explores the ways in which board games, video games, tabletop role-playing games, and larps can be used in psychotherapeutic settings, discussing the conditions that are necessary to establish such settings safety and ethically.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
This manual explains the educational foundation, the organisation process and
several applicatio... more This manual explains the educational foundation, the organisation process and
several applications of educational Live Action Role Playing games in the context of
radicalisation processes of young people.
It is dedicated to youth workers, teachers, pedagogues and all who work with young
people in formal, or non-formal education settings.
The manual was created by the consortium of partners within Erasmus+ Programme
(strategic partnerships in the field of youth) “DiveIN - developing eduLARP
methodology to prevent violent radicalisation of young people” in 2019-2020.
This manual was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lesso... more This manual was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lessons Learned from COVID -19 Crisis” (acronym: YOUNGETEERS), implemented by Subjekt d.o.o (Croatia) in partnership with Fondacija “Novi Sad – Evropska prestonica kulture” (Serbia), Timișoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture Association (Romania), Fundacja edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019 and Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria a r. l. Onlus (Italy) and funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme, under the contract number: 2020-1-HR01-KA227-YOU-094777.
Spikey's Clinic for Professional Dreamers: The Methodology, 2024
This methodology is one of the results of the project "Spikey’s Clinic for Professional Dreamers"... more This methodology is one of the results of the project "Spikey’s Clinic for Professional Dreamers" (ref. no. 2021-1-HR01-KA220-YOU-000030341), co-funded by the Croatian Agencija za Mobilnost i Programe Europske Unije in the framework of the Erasmus + Programme – Cooperation Partnerships in the Youth sector. From November 2021 to May 2024, the project has seen the participation of 5 organisations active in the fields of youth work: Subjekt d.o.o. (Croatia, lead partner), Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria A R.L. Onlus (Italy), Fundacja Edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), and Nansen Dijalog Centar (Croatia).
Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially wi... more Many psychologists, therapists, and educators have emphasized the practice of play, especially with enacted roles, as a site for learning and therapeutic growth. This article weaves together a plethora of theories from psychology, Counseling, and role-playing game studies in an effort to understand the nature of enacted roles, their relationship to identity, and their transformative potential. Challenging the notion that identity is a fixed, stable monolith, the article synthesizes four overall approaches to theorizing the nature of identity drawn from various theories: identity as a social construct, narrative identity, identity as psychodynamic, and identities as parts of a whole. The authors posit that these ways of framing identity can help role-players, designers, and facilitators better understand the multifaceted nature of selfhood. This work holds implications for understanding the enactment of characters in role-playing games, especially with regard to the transformative potential of the role-playing experience.
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.
This methodology was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - ... more This methodology was created as a part of the project “Young Volunteers in the Cultural Events - Lessons Learned from COVID -19 Crisis” (acronym: YOUNGETEERS), implemented by Subjekt d.o.o (Croatia) in partnership with Fondacija “Novi Sad – Evropska prestonica kulture” (Serbia), Timișoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture Association (Romania), Fundacja edukacyjna Nausika (Poland), Larpifiers AMKE (Greece), Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019 and Cooperativa Sociale Immaginaria a r. l. Onlus (Italy) and funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme, under the contract number: 2020-1-HR01-KA227-YOU-094777.
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The transformative potential of live action role-playing allows players to develop holistically (on a physical, mental, emotional, creative, and social level), even when participating in games just for fun. Are the processes and elements at play different, however, when personal development happens informally in a recreational larp, as to when a larp is formally designed for psychotherapeutic purposes? What makes larp a valid and effective methodological tool in the hands of a mental health professional? In this lecture we will attempt to answer these questions by exploring characters and stories in larp as psychotherapeutic material, identifying the connections between larp and some of its most adjacent psychotherapeutic methodologies, and finally discussing how psychotherapy techniques can be used to design and use larps as tools in psychotherapy.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Moderated by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Graphic design and editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discusses the ways in which role-playing is used in transformative, therapeutic, and psychotherapeutic applications. She briefly discusses many types of role-taking, narrative, and play activities already transpiring within established psychotherapeutic modalities. Additionally, she highlights how geek culture and superheroes are currently used as a means to connect with clients. Then, Diakolambrianou explores the ways in which board games, video games, tabletop role-playing games, and larps can be used in psychotherapeutic settings, discussing the conditions that are necessary to establish such settings safety and ethically.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
several applications of educational Live Action Role Playing games in the context of
radicalisation processes of young people.
It is dedicated to youth workers, teachers, pedagogues and all who work with young
people in formal, or non-formal education settings.
The manual was created by the consortium of partners within Erasmus+ Programme
(strategic partnerships in the field of youth) “DiveIN - developing eduLARP
methodology to prevent violent radicalisation of young people” in 2019-2020.
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.
Description:
The transformative potential of live action role-playing allows players to develop holistically (on a physical, mental, emotional, creative, and social level), even when participating in games just for fun. Are the processes and elements at play different, however, when personal development happens informally in a recreational larp, as to when a larp is formally designed for psychotherapeutic purposes? What makes larp a valid and effective methodological tool in the hands of a mental health professional? In this lecture we will attempt to answer these questions by exploring characters and stories in larp as psychotherapeutic material, identifying the connections between larp and some of its most adjacent psychotherapeutic methodologies, and finally discussing how psychotherapy techniques can be used to design and use larps as tools in psychotherapy.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Moderated by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
Graphic design and editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
This lecture by Elektra Diakolambrianou discusses the ways in which role-playing is used in transformative, therapeutic, and psychotherapeutic applications. She briefly discusses many types of role-taking, narrative, and play activities already transpiring within established psychotherapeutic modalities. Additionally, she highlights how geek culture and superheroes are currently used as a means to connect with clients. Then, Diakolambrianou explores the ways in which board games, video games, tabletop role-playing games, and larps can be used in psychotherapeutic settings, discussing the conditions that are necessary to establish such settings safety and ethically.
The Transformative Play Initiative is part of the Games & Society Lab at the Department of Game Design, Uppsala University Campus Gotland. The Initiative explores the use of analog role-playing games as vehicles for lasting personal and social change.
Editing by Liliia Chorna. Music by Elias Faltin. Captions by Kjell Hedgard Hugaas.
several applications of educational Live Action Role Playing games in the context of
radicalisation processes of young people.
It is dedicated to youth workers, teachers, pedagogues and all who work with young
people in formal, or non-formal education settings.
The manual was created by the consortium of partners within Erasmus+ Programme
(strategic partnerships in the field of youth) “DiveIN - developing eduLARP
methodology to prevent violent radicalisation of young people” in 2019-2020.
Throughout the article, we also explore the psychology of play from the perspective of therapeutic practices and modalities that exist outside of the discourses of role-playing games as a hobby or field of academic study. We will emphasize how role-play, identity shifting, narrative, and embodied enactment are present in many existing therapeutic processes to various degrees. Examples include psychosynthesis, Gestalt therapy, drama therapy, narrative therapy, Internal Family Systems, and person-centred therapy. We will highlight clinical therapists who use role-playing games to augment more traditional practices.
Furthermore, while role-taking activities are central to many human experiences throughout time, the article will emphasize benefits the imagination space of role-playing games, particularly with regard to prolonged perspective taking, co-creative improvisation, the alibi of fiction, and increased agency and empowerment. The article will also address limitations to the form that might interrupt its transformative potential, such as cognitive dissonance, identity defense, and difficulties with integrating these experiences within one’s life narrative after they conclude.