Using Pokemon to Help Establish Coping Skills

Many video gamers have mood difficulties or a mood disorder that hinders their interpersonal interactions. The anxiety becomes too great to handle and leads to a flight response. Depression is overwhelming and leads to avoidance. However, when the video gamer encounters a similar interaction through their choice of video games, the response is different. The job of the family or therapist is to use the video game(s) to their advantage by taking the game mechanics and overlapping them into the real world.

As an example, some therapists have used Pokémon Go for their social anxiety or depression by playing the video game outdoors and having to walk and also catch the Pokémon. This forces them to interact with others at gyms and Poke stops along their walk path while allowing a safe haven for them to continue on afterward if their anxiety becomes unmanageable. A tried and true therapeutically inclined manner in which to help with social or general anxiety symptoms is exposure therapy, while interacting and feeling as if one belongs is a tool for depression. In essence, exposure therapy focuses upon changing the reaction and response to an object or stimulation which is feared. Through gradual and repetitious exposure, the fear, anxiety, or phobia lessens in strength and allows the individual to learn from the experience. By interacting with other individuals, a person begins to feel as if they belong somewhere, which in turn alleviates their isolation and difficulties with social interactions.

Using Pokémon again as an example to exemplify a different approach to anxiety/depression is to make Poke balls (which are used to catch Pokémon in the video game) and then have the client catch real-life or imaginary objects pretending they are Pokémon. These caught Pokémon can then be used as anxiety/depression moments in which an individual may elicit an anxiety or depression reaction to switch the psyche to thinking they are representing the client’s own anxiety. They then let the Pokémon go, which in turn lets their anxiety/depression go as well as they are symbolically setting the Pokémon/anxiety/depression free. Similarly, the Poke ball can be/become a totem for the individual to ground themselves in moments of difficulty by remembering how they caught and released the anxiety/depression back into the wild.

Teaching the Pokémon different moves within the game is also a way to help with real-life anxiety/depression. In order for the Pokémon to become stronger, they have to evolve and learn new moves increasing their statistics while dueling other Pokémon. Using these same principles metaphorically, one can imagine the client as a Pokémon trainer and their anxiety/depression as a Pokémon. They, as the trainer, have to then teach and train their Pokémon to harness their own power to relieve the anxiety/depression experiences thus teaching the trainer how to work with their own difficulties as well. Creating a storyline for their Pokémon additionally is another important and useful component of the game, which can be used to tell a story about the client themselves effectively rewriting a difficult portion of their anxiety/depression experiences.

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Another interesting component of Pokémon is players gravitate towards specific Pokémon as their favorites. They tend to choose six to 12 out of the hundreds available to be their main Pokémon. By exploring the choice of preferred Pokémon, one can learn more about the personality and self-concept of the individual playing the game, therefore unlocking new knowledge about the person and why they make specific choices within the video game.

While Pokemon was primarily used as an example of how to effectively use the game storyline for understanding and overcoming mood disorders, anxiety, and depression, every video game has a comparable manner in which to be similarly utilized. A therapist needs to be familiar with the virtual realm being played and the mechanics of the realm to bring about these different abilities. Once acquainted, creating these tools becomes much easier and quicker to comprehend.

There are several other examples: Link in The Legend of Zelda is an orphan and must overcome his own loss of family to become the hero of Hyrule. This game is particularly good for clients who are adopted or feel abandoned, helping them to see their own personal worth and power. In World of Warcraft, players choose their own identity and character traits, which can be explored further to understand the self-concept and personality of the player. Within games like Risk and Civilization, there are choices to be made while overcoming the rest of the world and monuments to be built, which increase abilities as well. Exploring these choices further with different gameplay styles is effective for understanding the individual. Every virtual world has the ability to manage and create potential for change. The key importance for therapists and parents is to be curious about the archetypal draw to the game and how it can be harnessed for interventions. By thinking of the game as a tool in which to understand the video game player, endless possibilities arise for use across environments.

Learn more about how we use these cultural artifacts to help families, clients, and professionals succeed at Geek Therapeutics.