Blog Archives

New Project anncouncement

1/18/2015

Greetings! We are so excited to announce this week our most recent projects as Steve and I are authoring a chapter in the upcoming Walking Dead Psychology book. The author of the book Batman and Psychology, Dr. Travis Langley, has commissioned chapters to members of the psychology community for this upcoming book and we could not be more excited to be a part of it. Our chapter will focus on the journey of the much loved character, Daryl Dixon.

Also, it was confirmed this past week that we will be hosting a panel at PAX East 2015! "The Unexpected Journey: Geek and Gamer Identity and Culture" has been accepted and scheduled tentatively for Friday, March 6th at 5:00pm in our Arachnid Theatre.

It has also been a week of exciting connections in our community with connections with a local community college and school district. We will post more about potential events and appearances in the upcoming weeks.

However, with all of these opportunities, I am more limited in time to blog so I will continue in last week’s tradition of sharing interesting articles and videos related to geek and gamer culture. This video is a TedTalk about 7 ways games reward the brain. Enjoy and have a great week!

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain?language=en

-Megan

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e-Sports and our evolving culture

1/11/2015

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In lieu of a full blog post this week (as I am caught up writing for another one of our projects to soon be announced), I wanted to direct everyone to an article I stumbled upon a few months back. I thought of it again as we prepare to present at a local school technology and career fair at which we hope to present the positive aspects of gaming and technology to local children and their families. So I have been reflecting upon positive aspects of gaming already discussed such as creativity, community, problem solving, etc. but then also ways for young gamers to bring their passion into their adulthoods. E-sports was a concept unfamiliar to me until this article but I am excited to learn how it is spreading across the country. I am so glad to be a part of it of this growing an evolving culture and to say that in my own way I have been able to bring my geek passions into my work. Enjoy the article, have a good week, and please check back next Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/technology/esports-colleges-breeding-grounds-professional-gaming.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

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Exploring Research Questions

1/4/2015

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Happy New Year from the Geek and Gamer Counseling Alliance. With the New Year, we are excited to continue to work on existing projects such as our appearance at PAX East 2015 and some new projects such as doing advocacy, collaboration, and psychoeducation in the community.

Another project to which we currently turn our attention is our upcoming research project. At PAX East 2012, Steve began his research into gamer identity, coping skills, and resiliency. We hope to present about this information at PAX East 2015. Additionally though, we want to explore this group further and answer questions about what makes up a geek and gamer?

But this then begs the questions of why is this important to us as mental health professionals? Why is this important to us as members of this cultural group?

Membership in the geek and gamer culture is a choice, a decision. So how does someone within the culture seek membership? What if anything beyond their shared interests draw them to this group? What is the difference between someone who likes games and a gamer? How do members experience the stigma? Where do we feel comfortable exposing our true selves and how do we recognize that someone would be accepting of this in us? Can someone who is not a geek or gamer truly understand us and our passions? What role do geek and gamers feel their culture plays in their level of wellness?

These and many others are questions I would love to explore. We will work in coming weeks to narrow our research focus and create our design; however, if anyone has any suggestions for research topics or questions, please comment below or contact us through the contact page. We hope to explore these topics through both survey (quantitative) and interviews (qualitative) measures to be able to collect as much information as possible. The purpose of this research is to support our work as mental health professionals and to inform our work to educate the community on the positive aspects of gaming and the inherent strengths of geeks. Our goal is to advocate for our culture and we appreciate any feedback and support from you as readers.

-Megan

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New Project anncouncement

e-Sports and our evolving culture

Exploring Research Questions

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