Michelle “Michie” Leccese (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism whose research explores the intersection of interactive media, trauma recovery, and therapeutic play. Her dissertation, Roll for Healing: Exploring Play-Based Therapeutic Interventions Through Tabletop Role-Playing Games for Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders, investigates how collaborative storytelling and game systems can foster resilience, agency, and symbolic processing in trauma survivors. Her broader research agenda draws on trauma theory, media psychology, narrative persuasion, and game studies to understand how digital and analog play can support emotional healing. 

Leccese specializes in mixed-methods research and trauma-informed design, focusing on the therapeutic potential of video games, tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), and immersive storytelling. Her work bridges psychological theory and experiential media to explore how play supports trauma recovery. She is a certified Therapeutic Game Master and has published chapters with Geek Therapeutics on The Last of Us and Fallout. Her research has been recognized with a Top Paper award from the International Communication Association (ICA), and she has consulted for Twitch and Activision-Blizzard on prosocial behavior, inclusive design, and community wellbeing. 

Before pursuing her doctoral studies, Leccese served as an adjunct professor of psychology at Pepperdine University, a fellow with the UCLA Center for Scholars, and a UX researcher at Activision-Blizzard. Her professional background integrates user experience research, clinical psychology, and disability studies, informing both her theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches. 

She holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from Pepperdine University, a Master of Arts in Communication from USC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Disability Studies from UCLA. A lifelong gamer, writer, and alto saxophonist with the USC Trojan Marching Band, Leccese is passionate about stories that heal, worlds that resist, and games that invite us to play, remember, and become.