CJ chats with Emily Messina, an associate professor of rehabilitation and recreational therapy at Florida International University, about her research on Dungeons & Dragons as “serious leisure” using Stebbins’ Serious Leisure Framework. Emily explains her background in recreational therapy and leisure research, what drew her to study D&D, and how long-term commitment to campaigns can foster skill development, social connection, identity, and wellbeing.
They discuss generational differences in sustaining play as life responsibilities change, parallels with a network of doctors who use D&D for ongoing social cohesion, and why the long-running nature of campaigns can be a barrier to implementing D&D in typical clinical settings. Emily also describes her work teaching leisure education in a prison and her interest in studying an active prison D&D group where long-term participation is possible.
The episode closes with a note that the conversation is personal and an invitation for potential collaborations within the D&D community, including Wizards of the Coast.
00:00 Welcome & Introducing Dr. Emily Messina’s D&D Leisure Research
01:17 What Recreational Therapy Is (and How It Led to D&D)
02:38 Serious Leisure Explained: Why D&D ‘Counts’
02:56 Next Research Steps: Prison Leisure Education & Life Responsibilities
04:27 Generational Change: Keeping a Campaign Going Through Adult Life
06:13 Correctional Settings Background & Studying the Prison D&D Group
07:36 D&D as Therapy: Promise, Evidence Gaps, and Practical Barriers
10:35 Key Findings: D&D Checks the Serious Leisure Boxes
11:16 Wrap-Up, Collaboration Invite & Farewell
#dnd #dndpodcast #ttrpg
Content is not necessarily the view of any organisation we are associated with.
Feb 19 20261 min