During our last tutorial with Tim Stephens, I received advice to read an interesting papers in response to my interest in Game-Based Learning (GBL) and work with trauma within playfulness.
Academic writing Game Over, Trauma! Empowering Trauma Healing Through Gaming (Ammannato & Chiesi, 2024) and Trauma-Informed Game-Based Learning: A Technological Approach to Enhancing Children’s Resilience in Post-Disaster Education (Kusumandari, 2025), has prompted deep reflection on how GBL can serve in my surroundings. I view games as vehicles for healing. These studies collectively affirm the transformative potential of GBL, not only as an educational method but as a trauma-informed framework for rebuilding emotional safety, especially among displaced or grieving populations.
In the past year, I have worked on the In Our Shoes project, which uses Live Action Role Play (LARP) to engage with the lived experience of refugees. The project has shown me how participatory and embodied play builds emotional literacy and fosters resilience. In parallel, I’ve been reflecting on communities affected by war, particularly people remaining in Ukraine, and the need for trauma-informed interventions that are accessible, scalable, and culturally responsive.
An inspiring initiative in this context is UA.Ants, a volunteer-led organisation supporting bereaved Ukrainian families, which I’ve been supporting via initiative I’ve founded called Creatives for Ukraine. Their camp-based model includes outdoor quests, music, yoga, and shared storytelling activities (video). Motivated by these shared values, I contacted the director to explore co-creating a game to support emotional processing and resilience using GBL to support people in trauma.
Ammannato and Chiesi (2024) describe game environments as “transitional spaces” that allow individuals to symbolically revisit traumatic experiences in a controlled, metaphorical manner. As they put it, “gameplay allows for the emergence of unspoken memories, for the construction of meaning, and for the reprocessing of traumatic events in a less threatening way.” These therapeutic dimensions of play offer a compelling argument for game-based healing within community-led care structures. By enabling players to create avatars and explore emotional narratives, games can restore a sense of agency, encourage symbolic distance, and foster post-traumatic growth. This aligns with Game Over, Trauma!‘s emphasis on trauma-informed care rooted in the Person-Centred Approach (PCA), where empathy and co-creation are central.
Kusumandari’s (2025) recent study from Indonesia takes these ideas further by offering quantitative evidence of trauma-informed GBL’s impact. A post-earthquake intervention involving 42 children aged 7–12 showed significant reductions in trauma symptoms and increased learning motivation. Importantly, the intervention integrated trauma-sensitive pedagogical principles within a digital game environment, illustrating how emotional regulation, cognitive stimulation, and motivation can co-exist within game-based learning. The qualitative findings also highlighted improved emotional expression and classroom participation, demonstrating how trauma-informed GBL fosters both recovery and re-engagement with learning.
This evidence reinforces my belief that trauma-informed game design should be implemented not only in post-disaster contexts, but also in war-torn, refugee, and displaced communities. Games can act as gentle bridges—helping participants re-engage with themselves, others, and their futures, while building resilience in the process.
My continuing work in this field as an artist, game researcher, and educator is driven by the belief that trauma-informed game-based learning is not just a theoretical ideal—it is a practical, scalable, and human-centred solution for healing in crisis.
Additionaly, considering the guidance and resources at UAL, including the Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy strand, I feel a renewed hope for using more effective methods to support learning. As someone who has often felt like an outsider in many ways — navigating unfamiliar institutions, languages, and cultural cues — I deeply resonate with the idea that belonging is not about “fitting in,” but about feeling genuinely welcomed for who you are.
Reading that belonging is an affective, social, and relational experience — one that constantly shifts throughout a student’s journey — made me pause and reflect on how many of my own students might feel similarly unseen or misunderstood. This strand doesn’t try to offer a one-size-fits-all solution, which is a relief. It acknowledges the complexity and nuance of belonging, inviting us instead to listen carefully, notice those subtle emotional cues, and respond with genuine compassion.
Alos, one concept on that topic that especially stayed with me is Mary Rowe’s idea of micro-affirmations (2008). It is those small but powerful acts that communicate, “I see you, and you matter.” In my teaching, I’ve begun intentionally naming students’ contributions more frequently and following up when someone is absent — not as a form of surveillance, but as an expression of care and connection. Building that emotional safety net isn’t just about improving retention statistics; it’s about creating a space where students feel secure enough to take risks, to be creative, and ultimately to thrive.
References
Ammannato, G. and Chiesi, F. (2024) ‘Game Over, Trauma! Empowering Trauma Healing Through Gaming’, in Annetta, L. and Stanley, R. (eds.) Games and Simulations in Teacher Education: Advancing Mental Health and Well-being. Cham: Springer, pp. 459–472.
Kusumandari, R.B. (2025) ‘Trauma-Informed Game-Based Learning: A Technological Approach to Enhancing Children’s Resilience in Post-Disaster Education’, International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(7), pp. 611–623. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.24.7.30
Hill, V., Bunting, L. and Arboine, J. (2023) Fostering belonging and compassionate pedagogy. University of the Arts London. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning/the-exchange (Accessed: 5 August 2025).
de Byl, P. and Young, J. (2024) ‘Game-based learning and playful approaches to mental health recovery’, in Annetta, L. and Stanley, R. (eds.) Games and Simulations in Teacher Education: Advancing Mental Health and Well-being. Cham: Springer, pp. 447–458.
Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-43404-4_31
Rowe, M. (2008) ‘Micro-affirmations and Micro-inequities’. MIT. Available at: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/shared/ods/documents/?PublicationDocumentID=5404 (Accessed: 5 August 2025).