CHARACTER SHEET
Map your strengths, stats, and current debuffs, like burnout or sensory overload, so we can see the whole build.
GAME-INFORMED THERAPY
The games you love can give us a shared language for real change.
WHAT IT IS
Games are full of the things therapy works with: choices, setbacks, identity, practice, and stories about getting stronger. When a game matters to you, it often holds language for feelings that are hard to name head-on.
When you play, you're already practicing many of the skills people come to therapy hoping to build: staying with frustration, planning under pressure, recovering after a loss, asking for help, and trying again. Game-informed therapy is the bridge that carries those skills out of the game and into your everyday life.
That bridge is built on established clinical approaches, including CBT, DBT skills, mindfulness, and narrative therapy. The game gives us the metaphor. The clinical framework gives us the structure.
Most of our work is still conversation. You don't need to be good at games, and we won't spend sessions grinding levels.
IN SESSION, IT MIGHT SOUND LIKE…
"What would your character do with a debuff like this one?"
"This week feels like a boss fight. What have you learned about its moves?"
"Where's your save point when things go sideways?"
WHAT IT CAN LOOK LIKE
QUEST LOG
Break big goals into main quests and side quests, with checkpoints you can actually reach.
BOSS FIGHTS
Name a pattern that keeps knocking you down, study how it moves, and plan your approach for next time.
SAVE POINTS
Build a set of grounding and coping skills you can return to when a day goes sideways.
STORY CHOICES
Look at the choices your favorite characters make, and the story you're writing with your own.
PROMPT CARDS
Card-based reflection questions for days when open-ended talk is hard and a starting point helps.
WHO IT CAN HELP
Autistic and ADHD adults who think in systems, stories, or special interests.
People who find it easier to talk about feelings through a character first.
Trans and nonbinary folks who first tried on a name or a look through an avatar.
Gamers who've had a therapist treat their favorite hobby as the problem.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is this evidence-based?
Game-informed work is a way of delivering therapy, and it sits inside approaches with strong research behind them, such as CBT, DBT skills, mindfulness, and narrative therapy. The skills you practice are the same ones those approaches teach.
Do we play games during sessions?
Generally, no. We talk about the games you play on your own time. If a moment stuck with you, I'll gladly review a screenshot or gameplay clip with you in session.
What if my favorite game is violent or "a waste of time"?
Nothing that brings you joy is a waste of time. We start with curiosity about what a game gives you, whether that's mastery, escape, community, or calm. That tells us far more than its rating or anyone's opinion of it.
What if gaming feels like a problem for me?
We can talk about that openly and without shame. We'll look at what gaming does for you and whether the balance is working, and set goals that fit your life.
I don't play games. Can I still work with you?
Absolutely. Games are one tool. If they aren't your thing, we'll use the books, shows, hobbies, and language that fit you. See Services for the rest of what I offer.
FROM THE BLOG
Read the blog (opens in a new tab)
WANT TO SEE HOW I THINK ABOUT THIS?
Game World Therapy is where I write about specific games, interventions, and what they can teach us.