Practice News
Updates for Colleagues
April 2011 Vol.2, Issue 4
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| Greetings! |  Thanks for all of the feedback on the blog and newsletters. Even when you only post a quick comment or email, I appreciate knowing that you found an article useful. And it has been exciting to hear more therapists talk about gamifying their practices, both in terms of building their business, and clinical interventions.
We are in a serious business, and in my opinion seriousness and play are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I have found that one of the most important things I do as a therapist and consultant is to help people take play more seriously as an energizing and healing force in their lives and work.
To that end, I have launched my new website GamerTherapist, where you can read the blog, check out some past videos, download free articles, and best of all, play for chocolate! Yep, if you register with the site, each time you check in or comment you'll gain experience points courtesy of the Big Door minibar. The game runs until April 24, 2011, a.k.a. Easter. So please visit the site, read, share, and most of all have fun!
Take good care,
Mike
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How To Apply Gaming Concepts to Therapy.
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 | | Grinding Reputation & Therapy |
If you haven't been to a workshop yet, you may find this clip helpful. In it I talk about the concept of "reputation" in video games, and give several examples of ways to apply it to different therapeutic situations. The video is about 8 minutes long, and contains never before seen footage of my Barrel O' Monkeys (seen on right) as well.
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Virtually Traumatic: Using Second Life to Understand PTSD
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Kudos to my friend and colleague Nancy Smyth for this information. Nancy, Dean of SUNY Buffalo's School of Social work, has been blogging about the interface between virtual worlds and trauma. Her latest post gives an excellent review of and links to the National Center for Telehealth and Technology's Virtual PTSD Experience Simulation. For a great psychoeducation gaming experience check it out at http://www.t2health.org/vwproj/ . But read Nancy's post first, it makes for a great introduction to the experience.
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Upcoming Continuing Education Workshops
| Friday, May 20
Boston College presenting on " Social Work 2.0- Social Media and Its Implications for Practice" More info BC Continuing Ed. 6.0 CEs
Friday, July 22
SUNY Buffalo presentation on social media and adolescents, register here.
Not Local? If you want to have something at your agency, university or another setting I love to travel, so please contact me for rates and available dates! |
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| Goodbye Kitchen Table? | |
A new study from RIT has taken a look at how social media and technology are changing the ways and the things we eat. Perhaps most notably, the college students interviewed did not see eating a meal as a central activity unlike previous generations have. This doesn't mean that students are socializing less around eating, but differently, and it may also improve eating habits with increased access to recipes and nutritional information.
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10 Minutes A Day To Exercise Your Brain
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I'm always on the lookout for brain exercise games, especially ones that have some evidence-based research to back them up. One I heard about recently was Lumosity. With researchers backing Lumos Labs from Stanford, Harvard, and UCSF, this browser-based program allows you to tailor a training regimen to boost your attention, memory, problem-solving, flexibility &speed. Try it for 3 free sessions, and you may just want to subscribe to give your cognitive skills a workout each day.
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Free Mini-Course from Me to You
|  "Tweaking Your Practice Plan." is a free minicourse that gives practical tips and models on how to review your practice goals, develop action items to further those goals, and provide yourself with a practice that is balanced, valuable, and committed to social justice. If you subscribe to my blog you will get it free (current subscribers, you don't need to do anything, it's on its way!) Not only will this course get you energized and organized, you'll get a sample of what working with me is like.
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