Gamer Therapy for Individuals

Written by Mariya Milan, AMFT

What is Gamer Therapy?
Gamer therapy is based on the assumption that gaming, and gaming culture, is curative. It seeks to affirm and integrate an individual’s love for gaming into the therapy process. In gamer therapy, you never have to wonder if your therapist “gets it” when it comes to your MMO, RPG, or MOBA of choice: gamer therapy is run by and for gamers.

Mariya has been gaming for as long as she could finagle her hands around a joystick. She knows what it’s like to find strength and solace in virtual realms. It is her goal to validate your chosen form of geekery.

Who Could Benefit From Gamer Therapy?

The simple answer is gamers. However, anyone who finds community in the terms geek, otaku, nerd, and (of course) gamer can find value in gamer therapy.

Folx who consider gaming of all types to be an important aspect of their daily lives will find understanding and affirmation in gaming therapy. Moreover, folx who want to transition skills gleaned in-game to ones compatible with IRL functioning can benefit from the experience and understanding that our providers, offer.

Gamer Therapy can also serve as a comfortable middle ground between gaming and IRL functioning.

Therapy is not always the most comfortable process. Many folx are afraid of what “going to therapy” actually means and could possibly entail. Conversely, video games are a source of safety for many. It is not uncommon for gamers to highlight the many things that they are capable of doing within a video game that they would otherwise feel anxious about doing IRL. Chosen Family Sanctuary Providers get this and weave gaming mechanics, knowledge, and lore throughout her more traditional therapeutic interventions. Examples of such integration include externalizing problems as vanquishable foes (i.e. social anxiety becomes Ganon and the client the ever-capable Link), processing the archetypal significance of an individual’s favorite MC, and (of course) utilizing gaming as a form of play therapy.

Geekery Comprised Within the Realm of Gamer Therapy