How can video and role-playing games assist with mental health issues?

By: Andorra Turner

Video games and role-playing games can be used as a tool to assist with mental health issues! But how?

Video games and “nerd culture” are often criticized or demonized. Many believe that video games can incite violence, or that the escape that people often find within games is too much of a distraction from everyday life. However, when games or media are used mindfully, and with intent, they can be powerful tools to work through some problems that may be difficult to overcome on your own.

Often, games and media can be a tool for us to escape anxiety or trauma.

When our thoughts or feelings are too much to handle, games can be an easy way out. That escapism can be taken too far, to the point where we avoid making changes or asking for help from our support system. However, games, when played with intent, can be a safe way for us to meet our emotional needs. Consider the number of people who used games like Animal Crossing to spend time with friends during the height of the pandemic. From my personal experience, I found the game Spiritfarer allowed me to process the feeling of grief in a way that felt different, and often more comfortable, than talking to someone. It’s likely that most gamers you meet have had similar emotional experiences with video games.

Man and woman playing fooseball.

Geek Therapy is a new modality

It has only been around for about a decade, that incorporates “geek culture” into therapy sessions. Geek Therapists may use games or popular media to build rapport with clients, especially younger children who may struggle in therapy. They can even use role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons to have group therapy sessions where clients of any age can work through things like ADHD, social anxiety, or trauma while playing a character. Often it can feel safer, and more enjoyable, to role-play as a character, but role-playing allows these clients to work through real-life issues.

There are more geek therapists out there than you may realize! If you find that aspects of geek culture are important to you, it may be worth it to find a therapist who understands that. There may even be a therapist near you who hosts therapeutic tabletop RPG sessions!

Resources:

Geektherapy.org

https://thriveworks.com/blog/geek-therapy/

https://geektherapeutics.com/locator/

OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED AT WELLMINDED COUNSELING

Therapy for depression isn’t the only service we offer. WellMinded Counseling offers the following counseling services:

 

What is Gender Affirming Care?

By: Kariana Jude 

Rainbow flag also known as pride flag hanging outside of a building.

WHAT IS GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE?

            Gender-affirming care (GAC) is a supportive form of healthcare that incorporates advocacy, education, and affirms gender experiences. This could consist of therapy, medical, surgical, and non-medical services that support an individual on their journey of gender. This type of care has the objective of empowering diverse gender clients with their identity and self-esteem while acknowledging the impact of societal stress, family systems, discrimination, sexism, enbyphobia, transphobia, and dysphoria.

Some types of gender-affirming care can look like:

-       Hormone blockers

-       Anti-androgen medication

-       Hormone replacement treatment

-       Hair removal

-       Surgical options

-       Therapy interventions

WHAT IS GENDER-AFFIRMING THERAPY?

Two people holding hands in a caring manner to represent gender affirming care.

Two individuals holding hands.

            Gender-affirming therapy is an approach in therapy that works with gender-diverse clients which supports their identities and looks at how other aspects intersect with the client’s life. Gender-affirming therapy can look at a vast number of topics depending on each client. Some of the topics that are usually looked at in therapy could be trauma, shame, depression, anxiety, sexuality, medical treatment, dysphoria, stigmas in society, and hormone therapy.  

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Gender Affirming Care is said to decrease anxiety, depression, substance use, and suicide attempts within the community. The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQIA+ Youth Mental Health found that around 52 percent of the LGBTQIA+ community have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Allowing a safe and welcoming environment for individuals to explore, process, and understand all aspects of gender care is a necessity. This care is critical for gender-diverse clients for providing better outcomes for transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse populations.

 This topic is important with new laws that have been enforced in fifteen different states that prohibit gender-affirming treatment for youth and inflict penalties on healthcare professionals who provide care for gender-diverse clients. This is problematic in many ways with GAC because gender-affirming care does not have the goal of treating the client but listening to the client to create a safe environment that allows them to safely ask questions, explore themselves and their emotions, all while getting the care that is needed. Having this care has presented that gender-affirming care does yield lower rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, and substance use for clients.

 GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE AT WELLMINDED:

Child looking at wall art that states “Believe in yourself”.

If you’re looking for support on your journey with gender, you’re at the right place! WellMinded Counseling therapy services create a safe, welcoming, and empowering environment to have clients’ voices be heard, identities supported, and encourage exploration. Working with a therapist can help you feel supported and validated with all gender-affirming care needs. 

 Resources for Gender-Affirming Care:

 In Colorado:

One Colorado’s gender diverse page for patients and families

Colorado’s guide to transgender health

Gender Affirming Care Billing Manual for Colorado

 In General:

 American Psychiatry Organization’s page on gender-affirming care

Gender Spectrum Support

Learning resources for transgender and gender-diverse clients

 OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED AT WELLMINDED COUNSELING

Therapy for depression isn’t the only service we offer. WellMinded Counseling offers the following counseling services:

 

What is Play Therapy?

By: Courtney Miller

What is Play Therapy?

Play therapy is a form of therapy in which the therapist uses play, toys, art, and games to help the child safely and easily express feelings. Children often have a difficult time sitting and discussing what happened and/or knowing exactly how to describe what happened. Play therapy is a perfect way for children to play out what they have witnessed, and what has happened; many things they play out to stand for something and not the exact thing. For example: placing a toy in bed and then an evil monster at door or over bed does not necessarily mean that. For this child, it could be the child has been harmed by their parent. As an adult can hopefully understand that in these situations it is easier for a child to play out than verbally discuss. Play therapy is often used when something life-changing happens and the child does not appropriately know how to handle it. Play therapists are continuously trained as new things are found and not everything works with every child.  

HOW DOES PLAY THERAPY WORK

Play therapy allows clients to openly play out what is on their minds without fear of being interrupted. While doing this in the strength of the relationship with a therapist the client can begin feeling safe and have the ability to not only work through the trauma but find ways to cope outside of therapy. Children view the world from an experiential way play is language. Play therapy is split into two main sections of therapy: non-directive and directive.

Non-directive Therapy

Non-directive therapy allows clients to come into the session, pick what they want to play with, and go from there. It is designed to help clients work out what is bothering them and find a coping mechanism all while they are in charge during sessions. The therapist is only involved if the client asks them to play, otherwise, they point out what they are seeing. The child directs the play-gives the child sense of empowerment/control. The important thing to remember is that the therapist needs to always be in the same mindset as the child-fantasy play (this happened/is happening). For example, a child that was abused and saw abuse chose to be the abuser. To some this may not make sense, however, to gain control the client wants to feel that they have the strength and can harm the person back (which that is how they viewed the therapist).

Directive Therapy

Directive therapy is slightly different than non-directive. With directive therapy, therapists plan sessions before the client comes in. Some believe this helps for structure-“structure play therapy”. Some use directive therapy for attitude. For example, if a child has anger issues there are projects that can be set up by the therapist to help. The therapist can help the child make a thermometer and list what causes what emotions. The therapist can also have children draw pictures of themselves when mad and where feelings start when the emotion begins, they can then begin deciding ways client can work with it when those feelings first begin. At the beginning of each session therapist can check in with the client on what moods they experienced (showing mood faces), what caused them, how they handled them, and if it should be changed. A therapist can also discuss positive and negative things that both experienced and how they handled them. This usually includes things parents tell the therapist about and would like to be focused on; a therapist can then say something similar happened to her and then a lot of times client will say it happened to them too.

SANDBOX/SANDPLAY

One of the most famous forms of non-directive therapy is the sandbox. Children use the sandbox as a free and protected space to create complete scenes of things that happened-how they remember or how they would like it. Clients view sand as their “skin”, it is them emotionally. Clients especially like it because they are able to “hide” things in the sand, and “protect them”. Client’s also see sand as a way to “cleanse”. They find the sand as a way to “re-claim” their identity-putting specific colors on their hands and feet and face.

DOLLHOUSE

Another famous form of non-directive therapy is the dollhouse. Children use this to express what they are experiencing at home in one way or another. When children play out in fantasy, they feel brave enough to express what has happened and/or is happening to them. This allows them to find ways to cope with what has happened and continue a healthy, strong, and happy life.

 OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED AT WELLMINDED COUNSELING

Therapy for depression isn’t the only service we offer. WellMinded Counseling offers the following counseling services:

Improv Group

By: Adam Davis

What is Improv Group Therapy?

A group therapy designed to help increase Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and/or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills, encompassing the use of mindfulness and emotional regulation, through the practice of improv! 

How could this workshop/group be beneficial for me?

Repetition can be a helpful aspect when it comes to learning. Whether your therapist has encouraged you, or recommended you, to practice certain coping skills, or you have taken an interest in learning about aspects of mindfulness on your own, this improv workshop/group offers a way to practice such skills in a challenging, yet fun and creative way! The workshop/group is designed to help participants internalize and practice clinical skills in a different way, compared to that of a traditional clinical setting, in order to make parallel connections to real-life experiences.

So, what does a workshop/group entail?

A typical workshop/group can entail somewhere between 3-5 improv warm-up games/exercises that are explained, and led by, the therapist/facilitator. Some exercises last a handful of minutes, while other warm-up games could last 15 or more minutes. In addition, the therapist will explain at the beginning of the group, and end of the group, what clinical intentions/skills are focused on and how such skills can be used in one's personal life.

What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and improv?

Woman standing on stage in an auditorium

ACT: An engaging perspective to therapy in which clients attempt to learn how to accept their thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations as they show up in the present moment, identify their values, and take action toward what is important in their life.

DBT: A constructed form of therapy that encompasses an educational aspect of helping clients learn skills to help cope with overwhelming emotions, and to help increase their ability to build and maintain healthy relationships.

Improv: A form of theater in which most of what is performed is unplanned, not scripted, and created in the spur of the moment. Some core principles that are reflected in improv are tolerance, compassion, and modesty. There are no errors or miscalculations in improv, but rather gifts, origination, and opportunities.

As improv opens a vessel to observe the mind’s ability to respond to a scene, or opportunities that arise throughout an activity, a byproduct that is often produced is comedy and laughter. Furthermore, from a clinical perspective, laughter itself has been studied and it has shown to offer physiological and mental health benefits such as lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol and can help improve depressed mood, anxiety, and stress.

So how do they all interrelate?

By using improv exercises/games, within a group therapy setting, clients are able to actively utilize ACT/DBT mindfulness skills (being in the present moment with thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment) to help clients improve their listening and communication abilities, learn to let go of unhelpful traits of perfectionism, and to help strengthen imagination and creativity. Additionally, by utilizing ACT/DBT through the practice of improv, clients can learn how to implement skills to help cope with anxiety, including social anxiety, and depressed mood.

OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED AT WELLMINDED COUNSELING

Therapy for depression isn’t the only service we offer. WellMinded Counseling offers the following counseling services:

Are you Suffering from High Functioning Anxiety? An Anxiety Therapist Weighs In

January 25, 2022 by: Tesia Paz

Do you sometimes wonder if you could possibly be diagnosed with anxiety? But then again, on second thought, you think, “no way, don’t people with anxiety have messy and chaotic lives?” You, on the other hand, meet deadlines, are a star performer at work or school, and on the outside, seem to have your stuff together. After all, that is what success is measured by, isn’t it? Never mind the constant tension in your shoulders, ruminating thoughts, feeling like you’re never “enough”, having trouble falling asleep, intense fear of failing... Starting to sound familiar?

Let an Anxiety Therapist in Tampa, FL, tell you WHY!

Image of a man looking stressed. If you're tired of being stressed and not having the support you need, reach out to an anxiety therapist in tampa, FL today!

Let me introduce you to anxiety’s not-so-distant cousin, High functioning anxiety (HFA). They would be twins, except that(HFA) can manage to keep the inner turmoil at bay and has the outside world fooled into thinking they are meticulously in control. What they don’t let others know is that they are intensely afraid of failing, which causes them to lose sleep each night. They never think they are good enough. Therefore, feeling good about themselves is a rare occurrence and a fleeting moment just barely within grasp. They also wonder what it would feel like to relax and just enjoy a beautiful morning rather than scurrying on to the next thing demanding their ever-present attention.

If this sounds like you, an Anxiety Therapist in Tampa, FL, is just a phone call away.

Anxiety is a cognition-based mental health disorder. Unfortunately, when you are faced with a strong enough stressor, you get thoughts that you are in danger which then create a cascade of fear-based responses in your body. Another interesting fun fact is that it happens regardless of if the stressor is real or imagined. The sense of danger seems to be lurking around, leaving you feeling on high alert, edgy and uncertain. Therefore, appearing from the outside, you seem like you have it all together, bright, cheery, full of energy, goal-driven, and successful. However, on the inside, you are anything but that. You are standing on the brink of a disaster waiting to happen at any moment.

An image of two lists that compare what people who experiencing anxiety see and what they are experiencing. An anxiety therapist in Tampa, FL can help address those issues and support you in overcoming anxiety symptoms.

Thankfully, just like with anxiety treatments, there are several cognitive and behavioral therapies that can be taught and, over time, help you regain your life back from the clutches of perfectionism and anxiety.

WORK WITH AN anxiety THERAPIST IN TAMPA, FLORIDA

Getting set up with a young adult therapist at WellMinded Counseling is as easy as following these steps:

  1. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our counseling office

  2. Get set up with one of our therapists in Tampa

  3. Gain support from a Therapist in Tampa, Florida

OTHER COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED BY WELL MINDED COUNSELING CENTER

With over 10 years of experience, our therapists are able to address a wide range of mental health concerns with clients of all ages. The WellMinded Counseling Center offers the following services: Substance Abuse Counseling, EMDR Couples Therapy, Relationship Counseling, Anxiety and Depression Treatments, Trauma Treatments, and Self-Esteem Counseling.

Resources:

https://harleytherapy.com/blog/posts/high-functioning-anxiety

https://www.bridgestorecovery.com/high-functioning-anxiety/

Photo:

c3565743e603c04757a53d82a6315463980e4491.jpg (640×640) (tumblr.com)

You-may-have-high-functioning-anxiety-if-you-obsess-on-these-7-things.jpg (1200×628) (ideapod.com)