GT Radio - The Geek Therapy Podcast

#42: Woody Harris is back to tell us all about his experience at this year’s Gen Con. ————– You can follow Woody on Twitter ( @SoundscapeDJ)  or email him at   gratefulwoody@gmail.com . You can follow Josué on Twitter ( @JosueACardona ). For more Geek Therapy, visit www. GeekTherapy.com . The post Gen Con 2014 appeared first on Geek Therapy .

#41: Lara Taylor went to GaymerX2 and tells us all about it. ——- Learn more about GaymerX at  http://gaymerx.com/ You can follow Lara Taylor on Twitter ( @TherapeuticCode ). You can follow Josué on Twitter ( @JosueACardona ). For more Geek Therapy, visit www. GeekTherapy.com . The post GaymerX2 appeared first on Geek Therapy .

#40: Can stories be healing? Josué discusses if and how stories, regardless of the medium, can help people in any way. Josué discusses empathy, its importance, and the use of TV and movies as tools for facilitating change. This episode also includes an interview with Dr. Janina Scarlet about her Psychology of Cult TV panel at Wondercon 2014. Follow us on Twitter:  @GeekTherapy The post Stories Can...

#39: Josué discusses some recent articles related to gaming and he goes over the details of the incredible changes introduced at this year’s PAX East, including the mental health presence at the show thanks to Take This and other mental health professionals. Josué also interviews Elisabeth Flannagan, a therapist and a PAX East enforcer, about her experience and how influential they believe this sh...

#38: Guest: Tony B Kim, founder of Crazy 4 Comic Con. Tony has been hosting panels at various cons on the topic of multicultural representation in media so he joins us to discuss this important subject. Tony and Josué discuss minorities in comics and TV, why people care about heroes they can relate to, how things are improving, and why zombies and vampires will fix everything. The post Multicultur...

#37: Guest: Patrick O’Connor, PsyD. The concept of using superheroes in therapy has been getting some attention lately so we’ve decided to discuss it in depth. Josué and Patrick talk about the state of research into superhero therapy, why superheroes work in clinical applications, and why comic books are great tools. The post The Rise of Superhero Therapy appeared first on Geek Therapy .

#36: Guest: Andrea Letamendi. We catch up with Andrea and talk about how people can learn about mental health through different mediums. We go over some good and bad examples. We also discuss Andrea’s new podcast which aims to teach about psychology through episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. The post Learning About Mental Health Through Fictional Narratives appeared first on Geek Therapy .

#35: Guest: Brett Culp, the filmmaker behind  Legends of the Knight . According to the official website, “LEGENDS OF THE KNIGHT weaves together the stirring true stories of individuals who have overcome devastating obstacles, unselfishly given to the community, and embraced their inner superhero because of their love of Batman.” Josué and Brett discuss the film and the power of stories. Brett prov...

#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 their favorites are, and discovering insights through gaming. They also share some resources and ide...

#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 stigma and some of the gaming experiences that have shaped our perspectives....

#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. The post Female Superheroes appeared first on Ge...

#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 the show. The word “powerful” gets thrown around a lot as they proces...

#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 the story so read it first if you can! Either way, Josué and Laura make the case fo...

#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 much fun it is to go to conventions. The post SDCC vs. NYCC appeared first on Geek T...

#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 happens, and how to deal with it. The post Nerd Rage appear...

#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 goes into detail about runn...

#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 how they view her as a very positive and empowering figure, much like Tomb Rai...

#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. We talk Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Hunger Games, b...

#24: Guest: Toni Rocca, Co-Founder and Community Director of GaymerConnect. Josué and Toni talk about GaymerX, the world’s first LGBT gaming convention, how amazing GaymerX was, why it matters, LGBT experiences in gaming and conventions, and the potential of safe environments for all gamers. They spend a lot of time going over online gaming experiences in general and the bias often found in video...

#23: Guest: Robyn Rosenberger, Founder of TinySuperheroes. Josué and Robyn discuss TinySuperheroes, a project that seeks to empower Extraordinary kids — one cape at a time. Robyn and her team make superhero capes for children around the world  who exemplify strength and determination as they overcome illness or disability. Find out how the project came to be, hear some stories of real TinySupherhe...

#22: Guest: David Zoltan, Founder and CEO of Geek Bar Chicago. Josué and David discuss the upcoming Geek Bar Chicago, Chicago’s first bar and grill catering to the Geek community. It was designed with Geeks in mind from the very beginning and David shares how the idea came about and what people can expect when it opens in early 2014. We discuss Geek-considerate noise levels, cosplay discounts, boa...

#21: Guest: Dr. Patrick O’Connor. Dr. O’Connor will be teaching a college course in the fall titled ‘Geek Culture in Therapy.’ Josué and Dr. O’Connor discuss the reasons why teaching a class like this is a big deal and they go through the entire syllabus. If you like Geek culture, you will probably want to enroll in this course. This episode is the next best thing. Check out the syllabus in the sh...

#20: Guest:   Doug Ronning , MA, a screenwriter (HBO’s  Tales from the Crypt ), a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a lifelong fan of monster movies.  Josué and Doug discuss how Doug is using his love of monster movies and his experience as a screenwriter to work with monsters and monster archetypes in therapy. They discuss horror films and monster movies in the context of using them to...

#19: Guest: Elizabeth Smith. Geek Therapy went to SDCC recently and we had a great time. One of the people on our panel joins us to talk about what it’s like to go to a con, and San Diego Comic-Con in particular. Josué and Elizabeth recap their experience at the convention and address some of the negative stereotypes some associate with this type of event. If you were ever curious about what goes...

#18: On July 18, 2013 we presented at San Diego Comic-Con International. Our panel was called Geek Therapy: How Superheroes Empower All of Us. You can catch the full audio of the panel after an intro from Josué. The panelists were Josué Cardona, Patrick O’Connor, Laura Vecchiolla, Elizabeth Smith, Dave Verhaagen, and Frank Gaskill. The panel was moderated by Travis Langley. You can find more infor...