Through rich and research-grounded clinical applications, Using Superheroes and Villains in Counseling and Play Therapy explores creative techniques for integrating superhero stories and metaphors in clinical work with children, adolescents, adults and families. Each chapter draws on the latest empirically supported approaches and techniques to address a wide range of clinical challenges in individual, family and group settings. The chapters also explore important contextual issues of race, gender, culture, age and ethnicity and provide case studies and practical tips that clinicians can use to support clients on their healing journey.

Harness the Therapeutic Power of the Superhero! Application of the Star Wars Adoption Narrative Emotional Literacy and the Incredible Hulk Batman and Trauma What Would Superman Do--An Adlerian Approach? With an incisive historical foreword by John Shelton Lawrence and insight from contributors such as Michael Brody, Patty Scanlon, and Roger Kaufman, Lawrence Rubin takes us on a dynamic tour of the benefits of using these icons of popular culture and fantasy in counseling and play therapy. Not only can superheroes assist in clinical work with children, but Rubin demonstrates how they can facilitate growth and change with teen and adults. Early childhood memories of how we felt pretending to have the power to save the world or our families in the face of impending danger still resonate in our adult lives, making the use of superheroes attractive as well, to the creative counselor. In presenting case studies and wisdom gleaned from practicing therapists' experience, Lawrence Rubin shows how it is possible to uncover children's secret identities, assist treatment of adolescents with sexual behavior problems, and inspire the journey of individuation for gay and lesbian clients, all by paying attention to our intrinsic social need for superhero fantasy and play.

Implementing Play Therapy with Groups is a new and innovative edited book bringing together experts from across the field of play therapy to explore how to facilitate group play therapy across challenging settings, diagnoses, and practice environments. Applying theoretical and empirical information to address treatment challenges, each chapter focuses on a specific treatment issue and explores ways the reader can implement group work within their play therapy work. Chapters also provide contemporary evidence-based clinical information in providing group therapy with specific populations such as working with children who have been exposed to violence, trauma, adoption, foster care, those who are chronically medically fragile, and more. This book will bring awareness to, and provide easily implemented play therapy knowledge and interventions for, child and family therapists who work in a range of settings including schools, hospitals, residential treatment centers, and community mental health settings.

Play therapy is one of the fastest-growing specialty areas in mental health. Understanding the skills, knowledge, and strategies that make play therapy supervision effective is essential in supporting the integrity and needs of a thriving field. Play Therapy Supervision: A Practical Guide to Models and Best Practices is an all-encompassing play therapy supervision compendium. In these pages, current and prospective play therapy professionals and supervisors will find effective strategies for engaging in supervision, with literature that is firmly rooted in empirical research, and practical examples. Useful for novice and experienced supervisors, this book describes best practices in supervision and contemporary topics for building an effective play therapy supervision practice. This text also emphasizes the critical importance of cultural humility in play therapy supervision. Other important features include: Ethical and legal issues in play therapy supervision Building a play therapy supervision relationship Evaluation in play therapy supervision Technology in play therapy supervision, including extended reality School-based play therapy supervision Techniques in play therapy supervision: mindfulness, sand tray, self-compassion, art and movement, and more!

This book combines empirical support, clinical acumen, and practical recommendations in a comprehensive manner to examine creative augmentations to the robust cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) model. It discusses augmentations that are supported by research and practice and are also clinical-friendly tools. Each chapter briefly summarizes research findings, offers parsimonious explanations of theoretical concepts and principles, presents vivid descriptions of therapeutic procedures, and describes rich case illustrations. The book addresses the use of humor in CBT with youth, playful applications of CBT, applications of improvisational theatre in CBT and integrating superheroes into CBT. Key areas of coverage include: Building stronger, more flexible, and enduring alliances with children and adolescents to improve treatment retention and impact. Using humor and irreverent communication in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to enhance outcomes with adolescents. Developing rapport between medical and psychosocial team members to alleviate stress during pediatric medical procedures and as an adjunct to therapeutic interventions. Cognitive behavioral play therapy (CBPT) with young children. Family-focused CBT for pediatric OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Cognitive Behavioral Psychodrama Group Therapy (CBPGT) with youth. This unique and compelling volume is an authoritative resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists and other professionals as well as graduate students in developmental psychology, pediatrics, social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, and nursing.

Superhero Grief uses modern superhero narratives to teach the principles of grief theories and concepts and provide practical ideas for promoting healing. Chapters offer clinical strategies, approaches, and interventions, including strategies based in expressive arts and complementary therapies. Leading researchers, clinicians, and professionals address major topics in death, dying, and bereavement, using superhero narratives to explore loss in the context of bereavement and to promote a contextual view of issues and relationship types that can improve coping skills. This volume provides support and psychoeducation to students, clinicians, educators, researchers, and the bereaved while contributing significantly to the literature on the intersection of death, grief, and trauma.

For readers of No Cure for Being Human and Simple Self-Care for Therapists, a witty and compassionate field guide to the 10 realms of grief--and how to navigate them yourself and with clients. How do you practice good therapy when it’s the end of the world as we know it…and no one feels fine? The planet is burning, friends and family are falling to cults and QAnon, and we’re all living through the collective trauma of a global pandemic. Among therapists and healers, burnout is rampant; hopelessness and despair are, too. In The Grieving Therapist, psychotherapists Larisa Garski, LMFT, and Justine Mastin, LMFT, give voice to the difficulties of therapising in today’s world--and offer a grief-informed framework for taking care of yourself as you take care of others. Informed by narrative, internal family systems, fanfic, and trauma-sensitive therapy, Garski and Mastin examine what it means to be a therapist at the end of the world (or what feels like it). They break down 10 realms of grief that are critical to understand and work with today, but likely weren’t taught to you in therapy school. Each chapter includes: Grieving tools that can be adapted for both client and therapist Tips for supervisors and supervisees Skills for maintaining healthy outside-the-office relationships Support for current therapy students (and therapists new to the field) Advice on how to hold space and work with clients who have the same questions—and are navigating the same issues—as you Meditations on love, life, death, and connection Garski and Mastin also share helpful guidance around working with clients whose social or political beliefs differ from yours; when therapeutic self-disclosure makes sense; honoring the information that countertransference is trying to give you; and how to sit with (or step away from) triggers in your work. With humor, compassion, irreverence, and more than a little whimsy, The Grieving Therapist shows you how to show up for yourself, and your clients--in your own full humanity, amidst it all.

Harnessing the power of fandom--from Game of Thrones to The Legend of Zelda--to conquer anxiety, heal from depression, and reclaim balance in mental and emotional health. Modern mythologies are everywhere--from the Avengers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to The Wicked + The Divine. Where once geek culture was niche and hidden, fandom characters and stories have blasted their way into our cineplexes, bookstores, and consoles. They help us make sense of our daily lives--and they can also help us heal. Psychotherapists and hosts of the popular Starship Therapise podcast Larisa A. Garski and Justine Mastin offer a self-help guide to the mental health galaxy for those who have been left out of more traditional therapy spaces: geeks, nerds, gamers, cosplayers, introverts, and everyone in between. Starship Therapise explores how narratives and play inform our lives, inviting readers to embrace radical self-care with Westworld's Maeve and Dolores, explore anxiety with Miyazaki, and leverage narrative therapy with Arya Stark. Spanning fandoms from Star Wars to The Expanse and The Legend of Zelda to Outer Wilds, readers will explore mental health and emotional wellness without conforming to mainstream social constructs. Insights from comics like Uncanny X-Men, Black Panther, Akira, Bitch Planet, and The Wicked + The Divine offer avenues to growth and self-discovery alongside explorations of the triumphs and trials of heroes, heroines, and beloved characters from Supernatural, Wuthering Heights, The Lord of the Rings, The Broken Earth trilogy, Mass Effect, Fortnite, Minecraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Trek. Each chapter closes with a mindfulness meditation or yoga exercise to inspire reflection, growth, and the mind-body-fandom connection.

The Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2020 provides accessible insights into some of the most pressing social problems in the United States and proposes public policy responses to those problems. Written by a highly respected team of authors brought together by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), it offers recommendations for action by elected officials, policy makers, and the public around key issues for social justice, including a discussion of the role of key issues of sustainability and technology in the development and timbre of future social problems. It will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, advocates, and students interested in public sociology and the study of social problems.

Drawing on ACT and CBT, this guide incorporates popular culture into evidence-based therapy, offering a unique approach for mental health professionals to better support clients dealing with anxiety and trauma. With fun and engaging activities and downloadable worksheets, it aims to alleviate the shame and stigma surrounding mental health, empowering clients to discover their origin story and reframe their experiences to become real life superheroes. Covering topics such as building resilience, identifying and overcoming key challenges, and mindfulness, this book introduces familiar superheroes as characters to identify with, aiming to validate clients' experiences and encourage deeper understanding and reflection during sessions. It provides a range of activities and worksheets to use in a variety of settings with children aged 7+, teens and adults. An increasingly popular approach, this guide is an invaluable and timely resource for all mental health professionals working with those experiencing anxiety and trauma.