2021 Leveling Up Gamers are a 2.6 billion-person community. Counselors may not recognize that many of their clients, family, friends, and peers are active gamers, and likely do not understand this facet of their lives. Gaming has historically been blamed for negative behaviors, however the literature increasingly supports benefits when it is used in healthy…
2021 Evolution of the Disney Princess The Evolution of the Disney Princess: According to Maui in Moana, “you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick; you’re a princess.” The argument around a generic stereotype depicting Disney Princesses has become so pervasive, it has even made its way in a few of their films. Disney…
2021 Leveling Up This presentation is a description of some of the controversy around video games, as well as distinguishing between the types of video games available and how they may be used therapeutically. The objectives for this presentation are to help participants: Become familiar with some of the controversies around video games, and the…
2021 Video Games as Cultural Competence More than half of the people in the U.S. play video games and that number rises to 90% when considering only younger demographics. But games aren’t just for kids. The average age of a gamer is 34 and gamers over 50 are the fastest-growing consumer demographic. Sixty-seven percent of…
2021 Lost & Found We hear about being a part of a community in areas such as work, school, sports, religious, and cultural communities, for example, but what about non-traditional spaces? What can they offer? Jamila Mahfudh, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Boontarika Sripom MA (ENFP 4w5, neurodivergent), and Lorran Garrison MAEd, PPS and…
2021 Building Supportive Stream Communities Streaming, regardless of platform, goes hand in hand with gaming these days. When you stream, you create a built-in community of like-minded people – which can be a benefit or a barrier to your own growth and the growth of those around you. There is ample opportunity to talk about…
2021 Theoretical Orientation Effectively using Geek and Gaming culture in your work starts with relying on your theoretical orientation to conceptualize each case. Then, building on that with your geeky modality of choice. Dr. Janina Scarlet and Josué Cardona explain why using your theoretical orientation to conceptualize every case is so important, how it helps…
2021 “I am a Revolutionary” The goal of this presentation is to describe the role of intergenerational trauma in the lives of African Americans in the United States. In addition to outlining operational definitions of “Urban Trauma,” “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” and other aspects related to intergenerational trauma, the presenter will describe strategies for addressing…
2021 Welcome to the Dark Side! What if your client’s favorite character is a villain? This presentation will explore villains and “bad guys” and their usefulness in therapy sessions with clients. Using origin stories and a trauma focused lens, this presentation will look at popular villains and provide therapeutic interventions for participants to use with…
2021 Leveraging Geek Culture Talk about how implementing geek culture (Specifically anime and gaming) has helped me (A medical doctor) develop therapeutic relationships with children and their parents and how that has affected the quality of medical care. The presentation details various case reports on how discussions of geek culture have benefitted patient care and…
