Tabletop Therapy

#34: Guest: Woody Harris. This week we talk about using board games in therapy. There seems to be “tabletop fever” out there so now is a great time to take advantage of board gaming and bring it into therapy sessions. Woody and Josué discuss how they’ve used tabletop games in the past, what some of…

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Video Game Stigma

#33: Guest: Kelli Dunlap. Kelli talks to us about her research into video games and mental health. We discuss her findings, what they say about the most common video game stereotypes, and what mental health professionals can do to advocate for gamers and help fight stigma. We also share our own experiences with video game…

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Female Superheroes

#32: Guests: Lara Taylor and Laura Vecchiola. We start this conversation by discussing “Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines,” a great documentary which premiered in 2012.  We discuss female superheroes in comics, TV, and movies, what they mean to us, and what we think of how many fictional female role models are available today.

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Doctor Who is Powerful

#31: Dr. Janina Scarlet, a fellow Geek Therapist. SPOILERS! The 11th Doctor just regenerated in this year’s Christmas special and we recently had some of the biggest Doctor Who episodes ever. Josué and Janina discuss the events of recent episodes, share their favorite moments, and talk about some of the insights we can gain from…

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I Kill Giants

#30: Guest: Laura Vecchiolla. Josué and Laura discuss one of their favorite graphic novels, “I Kill Giants” by Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura. They talk about why it’s such a powerful story, why they love it, and the many ways it could be seen as therapeutic. The episode is probably more fun if you’ve already read…

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SDCC vs. NYCC

#29: Guest: Marlene from ilikecomicstoo.com. Josué and Marlene compare their experiences at the two biggest pop culture conventions in the US. They both went to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time this year and have been to New York Comic Con as well. They crown a winner but for the most part they discuss how…

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Nerd Rage

#28: Guest: Ali Mattu, Ph.D., the Science-Fiction Psychologist. Remember how the internet reacted when Ben Affleck was announced as the new Batman? Ali wrote an article about it that sets the stage for this conversation. Josué and Ali discuss nerd rage, specifically of the “crazy online troll behavior” variety, what it looks like, why it…

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Magic: The Gathering

#27: Guest: Natasha Lewis Harrington, a PsyD student and active member of the Magic community. Natasha writes articles combining psychology and Magic: The Gathering, the popular trading card game. Natasha and Josué discuss the game, the community, parallels with positive psychology, the MTG color pie, tournament play, and Magic’s potential uses in mental health. Natasha…

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Victoria’s Tomb Raider Story

#26: Guest: Victoria Cosplay. Victoria was gracious enough to come on the show and share her Tomb Raider story. It’s a very empowering story of how her experience playing a video game, Tomb Raider, helped her through a very difficult time and gave her hope. Josué and Victoria also discuss the character of Snow White and…

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ACT and Using Fantasy in Therapy

#25: Guest: Dr. Janina Scarlet, psychologist, and fellow Geek Therapist. Janina starts things off by providing a crash course on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a form of cognitive behavior therapy that she refers to as a “superhero manual.” Josué and Janina then talk about how to use fantasy narratives in therapy through an ACT framework….

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