Aging and past traumatic experiences can be difficult to confront, but Arizona State University PHD student, Tanya Burgess, has found a way to deal with those thoughts and emotions through role playing games. As a master of tabletop games, social worker, and aging researcher, she creates and leads games to help players deal with their own past and confront the fear of loss. 

Tanya is also the C.E.O. of Healed and Refreshed. Healed and Refreshed aims to encourage community healing on the issues of mental health and aging wellness, by building community in innovative and fun ways. Tanya founded The Aging Journey Podcast to amplify the voices and experiences of marginalized communities and the triumphs, trials, and tribulations of aging through tabletop roleplay games. As a game master (GM) for the podcast, she runs collaborative and narrative-driven homebrew campaigns in systems like Kids on Bikes, Cthulhu Dark, and Stars Without Number where players go on an adventure and explore themes of time and age, in fantasy, sci-fi or real-world roleplay games.

Listen to this episode to learn more about role playing games and the ways it is healing those from underrepresented communities.

Tanya’s podcast Socials:

Discord: https://discord.gg/Q96eKRvynr

Listen to the podcast: https://shows.acast.com/agingjourneypodcast

Watch the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@agingjourneypodcast

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