Superheroes and Pop Culture in Therapy for Children and Adolescents

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Sophia Ansari, LPCC, RPT Related seminars and products

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Sophia Ansari, LPCC, RPT, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Registered Play Therapist, author, educator, and co-founder of the Let’s Play Therapy Institute. She has worked with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. She provides workshops on play therapy to mental health professionals and educates parents and teachers on the importance of play as it relates to development and learning in the school setting.

 

She is a passionate research trainer who has bridged her knowledge of neuroscience and creative therapies to provide in-depth and highly experiential trainings.

 

Sophia co-hosts Hero Nation, a podcast on the Geek Therapy Network, which celebrates diversity in the media and explores how to use geek culture in therapy.

 

Sophia earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wright State University and her Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Cincinnati.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sophia Ansari has an employment relationship with the Let’s Play Therapy Institute. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Sophia Ansari is a member of the Association for Play Therapy.

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Objectives

1. Analyze the latest research on the use of the superhero metaphor in mental health treatment and communicate the impact of these findings on clinical practice.
2. Develop a framework for incorporating comic books, tv shows, movies and other popular mediums with evidence-based therapies including CBT, Behavioral Therapy, and Play Therapy.
3. Establish how a client’s passion for certain fictional characters can be used in clinical assessment to identify strengths and promote engagement in the therapeutic process.
4. Communicate how narratives from comic books can be introduced by the therapist to create a safe psychological distance from trauma and help kids share their own traumatic experiences.
5. Articulate how to build self-regulation skills in young clients with anxiety using an emotional labeling exercise constructed around the concept of a villain.
6. Elucidate how relatable situations from fantasy can be used in the treatment of depression to teach children and adolescents skills for adapting to change and managing grief following loss.

Outline

• The rise of superheroes in therapy
• ”Geek Therapy” and geek culture
• The latest research on geek therapy in mental health
• Therapeutic alliance: Build trust, security, and vocabulary through their interests

• Exploratory questions
• Strengths-spotting survey and activities
• Promote engagement with “Fantasy” exercises
• Draw a superhero to assess coping strategies
• Identify resources and obstacles with superhero gadget interventions
• The sidekick intervention – identify advocates in kid’s lives

• Modalities – CBT, Bibliotherapy, Play Therapy, ACT and more
• Comic books and trauma narratives – help clients share trauma
  • Choosing the appropriate story for the situation
  • Talking about trauma through the filter of comics
• Trigger identification and coping skills exercises
  • The Bat Signal/Utility Belt exercise
  • Moving stories technique – Sandtray play

• Modalities – CBT, ACT, Exposure Therapy and Behavior Therapy
• Labeling our villains – help kids understand how anxiety is affecting their lives
• Build your clients readiness to face their worries and fears
  • Create a safe distance from fears
  • Heroes have dysfunctional behavior and cognitive distortions too
• Relating anxiety reduction techniques to superheroes
  • Improve self-esteem and decrease anxiety with Spiderman
  • Guided imagery with the Batmobile

• Modalities – Interpersonal Psychotherapy, CBT, ACT, Bibliotherapy
• How relatable characters and situations from fantasy can be incorporated into therapy for clients facing:
  • Social isolation
  • Conflicts in relationships
  • Change/relocation
  • Grief after loss
• Superhero mindfulness techniques for self-compassion
• Harry Potter in the treatment of grieving children and adolescents

• Modalities – Behavior Therapy, Play Therapy
• Facilitate self-awareness through “personal archetypes”
• Goal setting with the “superhero journey” metaphor
• Use the Hulk in play therapy to teach behavior management skills
• Level Up – how to use gaming metaphors in goal evaluation
• Directive and non-directive play strategies to promote positive behavioral change

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