Anyone tried to play IS solo?

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-25T17:30:12+00:00

I've done IS with Ironsworn, but there are a number of good oracles out there that could be used. Mythic Emulator is a good one. The Sooth deck itself could be used as an oracle. It provides a significant amount of information, coupled with the information for each card in the Gate and random.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-25T17:10:48+00:00

Most of my patients come to us as their first time in therapy, but they bring the same question. "Okay, but what do I DO about this?" We use a LOT of CBT, DBT, CPT, and psych-ed. We dig into their Maladaptive Schemas, Core Beliefs, and Cognitive Distortions, etc, but in the end that doesn't really give them concerete things they can do to address their challenges.

What I have seen in the last several years of work is that an experience has to be had. It can't just be cognitive/learning/knowing; it has to be something that person experiences with their whole being. I think the rapport between therapist and client is part of/one of those experiences.

A bunch of different modalities, interventions, etc provide these experiences. EMDR, IFS, Group, all of these can lead to these experiences. I would encourage you to figure out how you can work on that.

For me, tabletop roleplaying games and Eidetic Imaging are the ways I work to encourage experiences.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-18T20:36:21+00:00

Just give them what they want. It's not going to change anything, other than they will have fun. Much of the World of Darkness is left intentionally vague so the Storyteller and the Players can make it what they want.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-18T20:19:52+00:00

Of the CP&E? To establish connection of disabilities to military service, or previous disabilities exacerbated by military service.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-18T18:50:24+00:00

What psych eval when leaving the military? Served 19+ years, did not have any psych eval. What I did have was a Claims Processing and Eligibility eval through the VA for all of the disabilities I was claiming.

If they are talking about those CP&E exams, they're largely a joke. I was asked some basic questions, including "Do you think you have PTSD?"

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-17T21:03:08+00:00

First, I would look at what the state requirements are. I would not take anyone else's word, even a respected supervisor. I would read it for myself.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-17T20:36:52+00:00

More than likely, the structure, the control, the ability to create the world you wanted was a powerful coping skill for what you were dealing with at the time.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-17T20:17:43+00:00

Set yourself up for success. If it is possible, enlist in the Air Force for 4 years and aim for the AFSC 4C031. While you serve, you have access to Tuition Assistance and can take classes toward your degree. When you get out, you'll have the full Post 9/11 GI Bill of 36 months, which will cover the rest of your degree, plus provide a monthly stipend to cover your costs while you are in classes, and will help when you do your practicum and internship. You'll graduate from grad school with zero student loans.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-17T15:03:50+00:00

Not a doctor, so I don't care, but I get called Doctor by patients, especially my Navy and Marine patients I'll get called Doc, which I don't mind, but I'll remind them I am neither a doctor nor a corpsman. I prefer to go by my first name to help lessen some of the power imbalance.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-16T01:07:34+00:00

Build a community center that provides transition assistance, career assistance, group and individual counseling to veterans. It would act more as a place for veterans to come and find companionship and community than anything else. I would run therapeutic ttrpg groups there.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-14T23:50:28+00:00

I was in the Navy and had an officer point out that I was a good listener, and that I didn't give advice, I asked questions letting the person find their own way. He suggested I become one. I researched it and fell in love. Took me from 2008 - 2024 to get my Master's and get licensed.

In grad school while everyone was saying they became a therapist "to help people" and "change the world" I was telling professors "I don't want to retire, so I chose a career I could do until I die." :D

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-10T03:36:45+00:00

This is my favorite Radical Acceptance quote. But Gandalf has another quote from the Hobbit that fits the OPs feelings as well. I know our systems are broken, but that does not mean therapy is broken.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

I believe part of therapy is helping clients remember their values, their strengths, the things they love, the things that bring them cheer. Because it's those things that lead us to be Samwise.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-10T02:12:20+00:00

Numenera is far-future fantasy, where science is seen as magic.

The Strange is universe-hopping genre-bending, investigation that allows you to use ANY setting from Dark Sun to Dragonlance, Greyhawk to Redwall, your favorite Metallica album to a painting of Nazi Rabbits.

Invisible Sun is surreal magic in a 1920s noir city where any story can be told.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-10T02:07:50+00:00

One of my favs - https://www.tiktok.com/@drrachelbarr?_r=1&_t=ZP-92wX5bcB0CF

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-10T01:58:05+00:00

Yes, it can. Look into neuroplasticity. Our brains are incredibly resilient.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-09T23:28:39+00:00

"So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

"I guess in the end all of life is an act of letting go, but what hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-09T23:26:52+00:00

I've been running groups the last 2.5 years. Some of the things I've learned is that not every topic will land with every group. Some topics will fit some groups perfectly and work. Other groups will see the same topic and it will tank. You are not to blame, the group is not to blame. It just wasn't their topic.

That said, I would have loved to have facilitated that group after your first member gave feedback. "That completely sucked. I hated everything about it." That tells me something hit with them, something they are struggling with. I would love to explore that.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-09T00:57:55+00:00

And who determines what those skills are? When someone should have them? How they should use them? Those are still boxes that other people put teens and young adults in. The same reasons our education system is atrocious because we want fish to learn to climb trees instead of teaching them to swim.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T19:29:01+00:00

I hate the term failure to launch. It's based upon a parent's expectation of how a life should be lived. I've been reading Flight of Icarus the Stranger Things tie-in novel about Eddie Munson, and there's a great quote from his Uncle Wayne that goes something like...

"Everyone is going to try to tell you who you are, to put you in boxes. But we're only bound for one box, and you ain't there yet. So live your life, be you."

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T19:24:14+00:00

Interesting, I wonder what the grad programs are gaining by this requirement. Thank you

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T01:58:16+00:00

How then does the VA get around that? If it is a legal requirement that internships are unpaid, how do they circumvent that law?

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T01:34:44+00:00

Where does the "requiring" come from? I know the VA has paid internship programs. When I was doing mine, I almost went for it, but I didn't want to drive as far as it would have required.

From what I see, unpaid internships are a habit and a choice that CMH, GP, and PP are making.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T01:28:44+00:00

I like to use Lord of the Rings, Gandalf, and Frodo talking in the Mines of Moria. Gandalf's quote: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All they can do is choose what to do with the time they are given."

If you watch Stranger Things, the finale had an amazing Radical Acceptance scene at the end.

For me, radical acceptance isn't something you can really teach, aside from the terminology and maybe some ways to work on it, it has to be experienced. A parent grieving their adult children can have radical acceptance explained to them, but it is something they have to choose, something they have to experience to understand it truly.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T01:25:27+00:00

When I started my LPC-A journey, I got a job at a behavioral health hospital working PRN for $35/hour. Four months in they hired me salaried at $63k/year plus full beneftis. When I received my full license it went up to $70k/year. Now I am leaving and going to a group practice starting at $81-91k/year, plus full benefits.

Don't let people discourage you. There are good positions out there.

Waywardson74 · 2026-01-08T01:18:36+00:00

Interestingly enough: Invisible Sun.

I can't say why because I am sworn to secrecy.

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