Something Beautiful is Going to Happen: Trauma and Healing in Disco Elysium

Video games can promote the exploration of real-world traumas and disasters in their players while providing distance from actually re-experiencing them. This presentation will use the TTRPG-inspired detective story Disco Elysium as a lens for reviewing examples of individual and collective traumas and their effects on survivors. The idea of post-traumatic growth and its connection to the different possible outcomes of the game will be described and participants will leave with practical examples of how to explore the idea of making meaning from painful experiences with their clients.

Learning Objectives:

1. Distinguish different types of traumatic experiences and their varying effects on trauma survivors.

2. Illustrate the idea of post-traumatic growth and ways of engaging in identity development using in-game examples.

3. Identify ways that game narratives can be used to explore complicated personal topics with clients.

4.Explain how video game mechanics and structure can provide a unique way of developing insight into self and others.