Tablerop Role Playing Game (TRPG) (Essay Sample)

Tabletop Role Playing Game (TRPG)
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Introduction
Reflective and refection practice groups in social work are widely accepted; however, most conclusions of the topic do not show RPGs' explicit outcomes. This exciting fact made the formation of the Apostle’s Secret Order interesting as now there was a chance to find out why there has been no definitive conclusion on the matter. Group formed has utilized the TRPG as an intervention method for enhancing self-esteem. Results of the group and TRPG depicts a positive picture where each one of us were impacted by the process based on the main factor which was, we were impacted by each’s other values. Thus, our career as social workers is enhanced by fellow social workers if only there is a dynamic relationship and according to the group, this dynamic relationship is realized when the group forms in favor of the group work theory. Below is the reflection of the social work group Apostle’s Secret Order we participated at based on the intervention method TRPG to enhance self-esteem.
Insights gained
Forming the Apostle's Secret Order has been one of the most exciting things I have accomplished recently. The team was not only functional but an eye-opener on many factors in regards to my career. All the team members agree on the summary that the group effort was not the only school-based practical but related to our everyday lives as future social workers. Naming the group Apostle’s Secret Order with the sole purpose of insisting that we were to work individually and combine our findings was in some way a little confusing as the major purpose of a team is to work together. However, human beings are individualistic characters, and we carry with us different personalities and hence different reasoning. Throughout the group, there were different perspectives that if I was to work on my own or the other one on her own, there are perspectives that would not have occurred. However, since we are together, various perspectives were raised, and this would eventually lead to a solid conclusion after discussions. Each member contributed unique skills; for example, the one who played the role of a facilitator has more communication skills, and the member who played the organized was perhaps more organized than the rest.
One major insight observed was although the group did have the tools and an enabling environment with resources and reading materials, we lacked the most essential thing in the process, and that is experience. Fairly young and yet to experience much, there were so many instances where experience could have come in handy in our TRPG project. Again, the experiences we had were different from each other, and no matter how we squeezed in the idea of commonality, the results were in many ways different.
The design of the session plan and facilitation skills affecting the group.
Forming the group was easy since we from the same class and already know each other and so there was no much convincing, we however, noted that coming up with group members outside the classroom was a challenging task due to limitation of resources such as time, some participants would want to be compensated for their time and efforts and some will not be serious to the matter as they do not share the common goal as we did. The team wants to become social workers and hence a common goal. The group experienced no shortage of skills as every role had a suitable player among us.
Application of group work theory
according to Papell & Rothman (1966), social group work entails the idea of an individual constantly developing humans into significant and necessary interactions with other men. In this concept, an individual is shaped by others as they shape them too. There was a lot of influence among us during the group formation and during the game, as well as during the observation and analysis part. Papell & Rothman (1966) observes that for man, there more to basics needs as man needs to participate and feel important. This is the same feeling that the group generated. To deal with dissatisfactions and frustration in life, one needs help. A social group can achieve the above as when the group was forming and planning on the activities to carry out the practices itself helped in the development of each individuals’ personality through the set group guided interactions. According to the theory of group dynamics, when one is placed in a group, their behavior is determined by both their inner forces and the people around them and, in this case, the team members. For the formed group, we ought to have known that there was more to individual dynamics and consider the group dynamics of the group process.
Experience and what was learned, what worked well and what did not, what was effective or ineffective, why and explain how it inspired you.
The purpose of the group was to enhance Self-esteem through TRPG. Although I have read of the limitations of using reflective practice groups, TRPG is a feasible method for practitioners to get together and reflect on the practice and engage each other in mutual support, practice development, and learning. I learned that in the same social group, one not only experiences the genuine concept but it also stimulates one to yearn for more knowledge. TRPG is one form of intervention that, besides being practical, can support social workers, improve their practice, and be considered when the group is in a circumstance where positive outcomes are desired.
However, Apostle’s Secret Order as a group also suffered from all members being friends and knowing each other. The above is an issue as us knowing each other means there is a possibility of faking some behaviour to influence or not to hurt each other’s feelings. In the group formation process, some got more acquitted, and this increased friendship is observed as a threat as time dedicated for group work may be partially used for non-practice activities such as gossiping or taking too long to know how one has been before they met. This is a challenge since time is one factor that the group listed as a limited resource from the beginning. Lack of experience among us was a challenge, and this was observed because TRPG requires the members participating to have a high understanding and imagination of the laid down content, which is based on real-life scenarios. We, however, lacked this aspect as most of us lack real-life experiences. There was also the issue of time; one needs to dedicate more time to the process for better results as group members have different variations, different locations, different response attitudes, and hence one needs to be vigilant while arranging for meet-ups and deadlines to achieve group functionality.
Our group inspired me, and I would not hesitate to work with them again; the points taken was even though we are crafted to have different personalities, we need other individuals’ opinions, skills, and input to propel our careers and our mental states further. Lack of self-esteem has been an issue I read in the newspapers, see on the news, social media, and in-class; however, I have discovered real-life experiences and research through this group. As a social worker, I intend to help peop