Bat Therapy: Mental Health through the Lens of Comics and Film

Spoilers (duh). Watch this movie immediately. Yes, suspend some disbelief that Frank Castle is in something that isn’t Rated R, but we really enjoyed this movie. Lots of great psychologist related topics related to Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, and even Black Widow / Yelena Belova.

The MCU has hinted enough – give us the Young Avengers! While preparing for this episode, Keeden started to wonder what the difference is between psychotherapy for adults and for children and adolescents. We asked Dr. Sasha Jaquez, a board-certified clinical health psychologist with over 10 years of experience working with children and young adults, to join us to talk about psychotherapy for teenage superheroes.

We use the Fantastic Four’s Mister Fantastic to explore the similarities and differences between high intellect and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Dr. Brown shares information on autism and the importance of finding good sources when trying to self-diagnose.Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism-spectrum-disorder

For our Halloween episode we went with one of Keeden’s favorites, Van Helsing. We explore how Van Helsing’s personal experiences help to overcome prejudice and the struggle we all have in trying to overcome our initial reactions to a “monster” like Frankenstein’s who may be the most human of them all.

We use last week’s episode on the Super/Bat storyline to explore if Batman’s stubborn resolve, attention to details, and perfectionism are part of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. Dr. Brown also describes the differences between this personality disorder and OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).Learn more about OCPD at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK597372/

With a background in rehabilitation for mental health disability, Dr. Emilia Brown uses Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to talk about how hard it can be to recognize and correct ableism in our society. Fullmetal does not shy away from characters who have physical disabilities. Still, creating empowering and respectful representations of disability is complicated - - so how did Fullmetal do?

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Emilia Brown and Keeden Hopkins explore the complexities of therapy for magic users, discussing the ethical dilemmas, coping mechanisms, and emotional well-being of characters like Agatha, Loki, and Dr. Strange. They delve into how magic influences therapy dynamics, the philosophical implications of using magic in therapy, and the unique challenges therapists face when working with clients who possess magical abilities.