Call me biased, but I’ve always been able to tell that there was some sort of therapeutic value to video games. Then again I’ve been gaming since I got an NES and the first Final Fantasy when I was 8 or 9 years old. But there’s some real science behind it researched by people way smarter than me on the topic – and we got to speak to some of them at PAX East. Geek Therapeutics is in the business of using games to heal, so we spoke to their Dr. Bean to learn more.
Technical Fowl: All right, so can you start with us who you are and what you do
Geek Therapeutics: Absolutely. So we are Geek Therapeutics where we go and take anything that is geeky, and turn it into therapeutic endeavors. So whether it’s anime, DND, video games, you name it – we can make it therapeutic.
TF: We’re here at gaming convention at PAX, so what is it about games that help people or the therapeutic pieces you find is prevalent in all the different types of games?
GT: It’s probably the different tropes that people get to play as different ideas – archetypes that they get to work with. They get to be a different part of themselves and that different part of themselves lets them explore in a very safe space that is meaningful to them.
TF: Is this mostly RPGs, where you have those character classes that represent different parts of themselves?
GT: Those are the easiest spots! Exactly. You’re like, “thank you so much game developers for making my life so much easier,” but then you get to go into, let’s say Call of Duty, and you get to see how they interact with each other, or how they do certain things – that then starts to give you a better idea. Because not everyone is like, say, the warriors – some people are like “no, I want to be the support role. I’m gonna be like a little bit more of the medic type thing,” and so they start to gravitate towards different types of archetypes that way.
TF: You got books. You got toys, you got like all sorts of stuff here. So what is it that you do to help these, gamers out?
GT: So we go and explore a lot of the different types of nuances of the archetypes – there’s a lot of people that aren’t necessarily thinking about how they can utilize these things within a therapeutic space to understand themselves. They’re just playing the games. And when you become more mindful of or aware of kind of the way that you’re playing something, it gives you a better understanding on who you are and why you’re playing that way. Because then you start to see that transcribe across games and that’s when you’re like “ah this is making so much more sense now!”
TF: he last couple of years “cozy games” have been big in my inbox. We tried a couple of those where you ‘re just playing as a Corgi or running a cat Cafe. It seems that;s what most people think of when they think about games and therapy. Like “let me just get this chill spot where I don’t have to think too much.” Is there something about the engagement of the brain? So instead of getting something cozy, you have to kind of engage that part of that mindset in RPG?
GT: So that that’s a good question. I would say a lot of what I’ve seen from working therapeutically with people is a lot of people will go and use those cozy games as a way to kind of, not just exploring, but feel like they’re contributing to something or accomplishing something else. And so, when they have that ability to be like, look, I made this much money running this type of thing – as long as I follow these types of orders, we can take those types of ideas they’re finding in there and pull them out and relate them to life easily. Be like, “look, you kind of you can do that in the game. You can also do this in real life. Let’s, let’s kind of create a very similar schedule.” I think a lot of people do that to kind of, give them an idea of themselves, an idea to feel competent about something and feel good about it versus another something like, say Helldivers right now, which is what I’m playing. Kind of the blue because I don’t normally shooter games. I’d say it’s just something that you are doing that would be mindless in a different way or you can be part of a community like having fun with other people.
TF: So there’s still that social interaction part instead of just playing by yourself.
GT: Yeah.
TF: Looking at kids playing games versus adults – Do you feel or have you seen that there’s a difference when you have kids playing these games and having to be mindful to that as children as they grow and have that kind of development model?
GT: You know, with kids it’s actually I think a little bit easier than it is as adults, who are, like, they’re burnt out in this. So when you’re being like, “oh yeah, that game that you’re playing actually has meaning to it,” they’re like, “you know, no they’re not, that doesn’t matter. Why would it that’s a stupid thing to talk about.” So it takes longer to get them in. The kids are like, “no, I’m learning life skills, I can do this type of thing” and you can point out be like, look, you’re having trouble with homework right here, too. Let’s work on how to be engaged with that. They’re much more open to the mindset of like expansion of everything, they’re not closed minded.
TF:
Benefits from gaining is becoming more mainstream as an idea. with constant research and findings saying gaming does have these beneficial elements, what kind of services and products do you provide to gamers that are looking to kind of discover that and benefit?
GT: We are working diligently to get across every state in licensing. So I’m licensed 24 different states. And I have another three coming through sometime in the next like a month or so. And so we’re working very hard to get on insurance panels, to make sure that we’re meeting a need because the average person, if you see a therapist, you’re paying an average of about $160 a session. So you can get even more people in therapy doing something that they feel connected to and engage with them, and then everything that we do here it can just be utilized in a therapeutic environment. Everything that that can have here is made with purpose.
TF: I think it’s your ads that pop up for me on Facebook. If you have online together gaming, sessions, almost as group therapy, how do you conduct those sessions?
GT: So we launched our DND groups back in January and so we do online DND campaigns with max groups of 5, and bring people in based on their symptomology. So we send a bunch of screeners and when we have those screeners back we completely go based on how, what, where they are – are they anxiety? Are they depression? Are there problems with trauma or something like that? And so then we then put them in groups in a very specific manner and \we run through a 10 series arc. Then people are like “I want to keep going” and we look at pre test and post test, and gotta show that it helps. To understand that these games, which you might have only done 10 sessions weekly of, you have actually lessened your anxiety, decreased your depression or you’re able to handle social interactions. We see this a lot with like say, trauma and autism – it’s one of the big ones that we have right now and they have come so far. I watched them in their notes and I I watch a lot of their clinical applications where they’re doing start to finish where they’re just, no one’s talking and now they’re dragging as a group, forging a different type of alliance so I think that that’s really good.
TF: People that join this – do they have to be trained for therapy? What are the rules to be part of it?
GT: So there’s two, two different ways. We do a couple different programs. The Certified Geek Therapist program, which is the one that we’re licensed already. We can’t say, whether you’re licensed or not, we might give you a certified therapist license, but it doesn’t mean that you’re going to go out and be like, “yeah, I’m gonna do therapy” – that’s a state board thing, right? And then there’s a Certified Geek Specialist which is the one that a lot of students take. They get that one and then as soon as they get licensed, it automatically transfers over to the therapist. And so you can be part of the community. You can work on that type of thing and in that capacity. We also open up our Discord to to people who want to learn more.
TF: What do you have to say to all those folks that look at gaming and don’t realize that we’ve progressed past Mario Brothers on the NES, and still think that there’s anything good that comes out of this.
GT: Get a kid mindset and explore! Because that’s the biggest thing you can do. My dad, who’s not here, he actually works a lot of the cons with me, but he was one of the ones that was like, “video games are bad for you and everything like that” and now he comes and works the cons. And so he’s learned that he’s like, “oh, this is actually a really cool thing.”
Thanks for the time, Doc! You can find out more about Geek Therapeutics and their mission here.
