Wheelhouse Workshop is expanding its weekly groups to help teens and adolescents build social confidence and group cohesion using table-top role-playing games. Currently in Kirkland, the group is expanding to Greenwood at The Pocket Theater, 8312 Greenwood Ave. N.
The first group is tonight, Jan. 14, from 5:15-6:45 p.m. The group meets every Wednesday.
The format is perfect for youths struggling with social isolation because it lets them take on the role of heroes in a fantasy realm, playing out in-game scenarios that specifically target real-world areas of growth.
For example, two players in our group who were working on conflict resolution met an in-game creature with two heads (the beauty of a magical setting!) whose two heads had opposing and conflicting personalities. The players wanted to befriend this creature to assist them in their journey, but in order to do so, needed to help the two personalities (the players named them George and Maverick) better understand their opposing viewpoints. The two players who started off the quarter as rivals exchanged phone numbers and became friends outside of our weekly group.
Players develop conflict resolution skills, creative problem solving skills, and reinforce their innate narrative storytelling abilities, all while rolling dice around a table. One of the best things about our groups is that even though our facilitators are trained Masters level therapists and educators, the players never feel like they are in therapy. Parents have said, “this is the only time my child actually looks forward to leaving the house.”
We don’t turn away clients if we have capacity to serve them, so while our group rate is $50 per session, we have a very flexible sliding scale for families who need extra support.
