THESIS - 2016

ECHOED CHARACTERS: THE CONSTRUCTION AND STUDY OF THE THERAPEUTICS BASED ON ROLE PLAYING GAMES, IN THE VIEW OF JUNG’S THEORY

Paula Pinheiro Varela Guimarães

Advisor: Prof. Dr. Durval Luiz de Faria
Key words: Jungian psychology; Role Playing Games, therapeutic technique, symbolic analysis, psychic development.

Abstract: The main objective in this research was to create a therapeutic technique based on the Role Playing Games. In order to encompass the main objective, it was relevant to outline the following specific goals as to: understand if the Role Playing Games are therapeutic resources for the psychological intervention in groups; verify which conscious and unconscious psychic contents arise from the proposed technique and verify if it contributed to the perception of the unconscious aspects from those who had experienced it. The Analytical Psychology was used as theoretical reference because it encompasses the main objectives of this present research through its concepts and the possibility of the symbolic analysis in the phenomenon studied. The participants in this research were a group of six R.P.G players, who experienced two campaigns (stories), with seven adventures (games) each. On the first one, the participants role played the characters they would like to interpret and on the second one, they played the characters they would not like to interpret. After two set of games, there were two interviews, structured with each participant. One after the role playing as the character they would like to interpret and the other one after the experience playing the character they would not like to interpret. The interviews were conducted by the researcher, aiming to be fostering instruments for the reflection on the R.P.G.´s game experiences. The analysis on the collected data was performed based on the qualitative methodology, adapting Bardin´s (2011) content analysis technique in Faria (2003). The analysis process took place for each participant, in the R.P.G. adventures taped on video, as well as the structured interviews that were audio recorded. The researcher elaborated an analysis for each participant and then there was a discussion on the experience of the proposed therapeutic technique. The analysis suggested that a therapeutic technique was created, based on Role Playing Games, and they were a therapeutic resource for the psychological intervention in groups. Emerging contents were also perceived, referring to the persona, the ego, the affective complexes, the archetypal manifestation, the shadow, the ideal ego, the elements of the conscious and unconscious dimensions. In addition to that, the proposed technique seemed to get conscience and unconscious closer, as well as foster the acknowledgement of contents that so far have been unconscious to the participants. The procedure of the therapeutic technique, named as spontaneous role play game had as a result the following stages: a group gathering or intervention in an existing group; the creation of character 1, who the participants would like to role play; the experience in four R.P.G. games; intervention interview performed; the creation of character 2, who the participants would not like to role play; the experience in four R.P.G. games; intervention interview performed.