Superhero Therapy: Combining Evidence Based Therapy With Pop-culture Narratives to Help Clients Recover from Anxiety PTSD and Loneliness
Live Event

Superhero Therapy: Combining Evidence Based Therapy With Pop-culture Narratives to Help Clients Recover from Anxiety PTSD and Loneliness

Sat, Nov 2nd, 2024
11:00am – 5:45pm US Eastern Time
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About the Event

People all across the world are struggling with trauma and PTSD and yet most either don’t know how to process their traumatic experiences or have been shamed for trying. As a result, many people struggle with profound loneliness – a sense of emotional disconnection from others. That is why many people, teens and adults alike, turn to TV shows, comic books, movies, and video games initially to escape their emotional pain, only to later form meaningful social connections through these avenues. This is where Superhero Therapy comes in.

Superhero Therapy (ST) refers to incorporating popular culture into evidence-based therapy, such as CBT or ACT as a way to destigmatize the client’s mental health experience, help them restructure their narrative, and foster posttraumatic growth. And the best part is, you don't have to be an expert in popular culture to use this approach. Your client is the expert. All you have to be is open-minded and curious. This webinar will focus on how to use ST to help teen and adult clients manage anxiety, loneliness, and PTSD symptoms, to feel understood and supported, to find meaning, and to foster posttraumatic growth. No previous experience with popular culture is necessary to participate in this training. Capes are optional.

Live Event
This live online event will be held as a Zoom Webinar. Attendees will have the option to interact through features such as the Chat and Q&A, but cameras and microphones will not be enabled.

Live Event Instructor

Janina Scarlet

Janina Scarlet

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, author, and a full-time geek. A Ukrainian-born refugee, she survived Chernobyl radiation and persecution. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 with her family and later, inspired by the X-Men, developed Superhero Therapy to help patients with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Dr. Scarlet is the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award by the United Nations Association for her work on Superhero Therapy. Her work has been featured on Yahoo, BBC, NPR, Sunday Times, CNN, CW, ABC, Huffington Post, The New York Times, Forbes, the Nerdist, BuzzFeed, and many other outlets. She currently works at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management in San Diego. She authored Superhero Therapy, Harry Potter Therapy, Therapy Quest, Dark Agents, Super-Women, Supernatural Therapy, as well as numerous contributions to Star Wars Psychology, Star Trek Psychology, Wonder Woman Psychology, Supernatural Psychology and many other books.

Target Audience

This live interactive webinar is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, MFT's and Addiction Professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Explain the concept of Superhero Therapy.
  2. 2 Demonstrate how to incorporate pop culture examples into treatment.
  3. 3 Discuss how to help clients to find a sense of purpose and posttraumatic growth.

Anzman-Frasca, S., Singh, A., Curry, D., Tauriello, S., Epstein, L. H., Faith, M. S., ... & Pape, D. (2020). Evaluating a Board Game Designed to Promote Young Children’s Delay of Gratification. Frontiers in psychology, 11.

Ferchaud, A., Seibert, J., Sellers, N., & Escobar Salazar, N. (2020). Reducing mental health stigma through identification with video game avatars with mental illness. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 2240.

Gabriel, S., Read, J. P., Young, A. F., Bachrach, R. L., & Troisi, J. D. (2017). Social surrogate use in those exposed to trauma: I get by with a little help from my (fictional) friends. Journal of social and clinical psychology, 36(1), 41-63.

Landry, J., Asokumar, A., Crump, C., Anisman, H., & Matheson, K. (2022). Early life adverse experiences and loneliness among young adults: The mediating role of social processes. Frontiers in Psychology, 13

Lin, W. H., & Chiao, C. (2020). Adverse adolescence experiences, feeling lonely across life stages and loneliness in adulthood. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 20(3), 243-252.

Liu, P. J., Rim, S., Min, L., & Min, K. E. (2022). The surprise of reaching out: Appreciated more than we think. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000402

Paul, E., Bu, F., & Fancourt, D. (2021). Loneliness and risk for cardiovascular disease: mechanisms and future directions. Current cardiology reports, 23(6), 68.

Vezzali, L., Stathi, S., Giovannini, D., Capozza, D., & Trifiletti, E. (2015). The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 45(2), 105-121.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Faculty

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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Joint Accreditation (JA)

6 Psychologist CE credit hours
6 Social Worker CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems, LLC, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
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American Psychological Association (APA)

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
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Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB ACE)

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, CE Learning Systems LLC is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 6 continuing education credit(s).
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6 CE credit hours
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New York Education Department Board of Social Work

6 contact hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
CE Learning Systems, LLC, (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. Provider #0060.
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New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy (NYSEDCAT)

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0008
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New York Education Department Board of Mental Health Counseling

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
CE Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
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New York Education Department Board of Psychologists

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
CE Learning Systems, LLC, (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for psychologists, # PSY-0016.
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New York Education Department Board of Marriage and Family Therapy

6 CE credit hours
Eligible until Nov 2nd, 2024
CE Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.
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Event Agenda

Agenda times are listed in US Eastern Time. That is 3 hours later than US Pacific Time. The event starts at 8:00am US Pacific Time.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - Introduction to Superhero Therapy; Defining PTSD and anxiety and their impacts on loneliness, as well as mental and physical health, discussion and empirical data regarding how Superhero Therapy can help reduce loneliness, PTSD and anxiety symptoms

12:30 PM - 12:45 PM - BREAK

12:45 PM - 2:15 PM - Introduction to game-based therapy, Research related to game-based and demonstrate game-based interventions

2:15 PM - 2:30 PM - BREAK

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Fostering growth through creativity: Writing fanfiction and creating a comic book for therapy, Using Superhero Narrative to treat PTSD and anxiety

4:00 AM - 4:15 PM - BREAK

4:15 PM - 5:30 PM - Create your own movie – helping clients to find a sense of purpose and establish posttraumatic growth

5:30 PM - 5:45 PM – Discussion and Q&A

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