Dungeons & Dog Tags
Gaming of all types is a common past time among service members seeking diversion, social connection, and/or team building. But what about life after the military? Multiple challenges are inherent in the transition from military to civilian life. Additional challenges arise in the presence of mental illness. Individuals experiencing mental illness can be impacted by reduced opportunities for social interaction, atrophied functioning, and overreliance on medical professionals to help them solve their problems.
Join our panel of mental health professionals and innovators as they discuss the therapeutic impact of TTRPGs among a veteran population. From formal treatment to game store self-care, learn how TTRPGs can be intentionally leveraged to cope with change, foster camaraderie and teamwork, and promote personal growth and development.
Dr. Allison Battles, PhD (She|Her)
Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Adam Davis, MA.Ed.
Executive Director
Game to Grow
Dr. Elizabeth Kilmer, Ph.D.
Director of Education & Training
Game to Grow
Elizabeth D. Kilmer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who received her doctoral degree from the University of North Texas. She has developed therapeutic groups utilizing table-top role-playing games to promote well-being, personal safety, and interpersonal effectiveness in children and adolescents who experienced trauma, as well as to promote cognitive flexibility, frustration tolerance, and social skills in military veterans in primary care and substance abuse treatment settings.
Elizabeth is passionate about the development and research of applied therapeutic gaming for adolescents and adults.
Dr. Jared Kilmer, PhD (He|Him)
Director of Counseling Services
Game to Grow
Jared N. Kilmer, PhD leads the counseling clinic at Game to Grow and sees clients in individual and family therapy. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as one of Game to Grow’s therapeutically applied role-playing game (TA-RPG) group facilitators. He has developed groups utilizing TA-RPGs to promote psychological flexibility, resilience, and well being in military veterans recovering from mental illness, as well as to promote confidence, teamwork, and interpersonal effectiveness in children and adolescents.
Jared is passionate about measuring the cognitive and emotional benefits of games and developing effective therapeutically applied gaming interventions among multiple populations.