Superhero Therapy

As children, we saw superheroes on lunchboxes, backpacks, comic books, and TV screens. We tied towels around our shirt collars and pretended they were capes. We ran around, arms straight ahead, in mock flight or swung across monkey bars as if propelled by spiderwebs or grappling hooks.

And in our make-believe, the heroes always showed up just in time to save the day. Superheroes afford us a world where justice is the norm and good always prevails. It's easy to see the appeal of such stories.

While superheroes may have provided an escape in our youth, people of any age can benefit from the adaptability, positive focus, and narrative structure of Superhero Therapy. Creator Dr. Janina Scarlet recognized the usefulness of fictional heroes in therapy after she - a survivor of the tragedy in Chernobyl - found herself identifying with the characters of X-Men.

Superhero therapy combines aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and narrative therapy with pop culture references from books, movies, TV shows, and video games. Here are some ways that superhero therapy may be helpful for you.

Building familiarity early:

If I tell you that my personality is exactly the same as that of Hermione Granger or Jon Snow, you now have a pretty good idea of how I act and what my values are without needing to have a long conversation about it first. Similarly, if I say that I wish I was more like Captain America or Leia Organa, you have a good sense of what qualities I would like to embody more and can determine realistic goals to do so. By using well-known characters, the client and therapist can cut through a lot of exposition to build rapport and understanding.

Connecting to Strengths:

Since superheroes embody traits like courage, resilience, justice, and kindness, doing therapy through the lens of superhero narratives helps to keep a strengths-based focus in sessions. And since even the most powerful fictional characters have flaws, they remind us that the goal of therapy is progress, not perfection.

Processing Trauma and Difficulties:

If a superhero doesn’t have a tragic backstory, are they really a superhero? Since superhero stories are built around facing adversity and overcoming loss, they provide a safe structure for clients to process and explore their own pain and trauma. Fictional stories not only help build empathy and perspective-taking skills but also offer a way to externalize issues and look at them objectively through the experience of someone else.

Developing Coping Skills:

Though we trust that the hero will win in the end, how they get there is what keeps us on the edge of our seats. Superheroes have to utilize different gadgets, work with teammates, and find clever ways to use their powers to defeat the Big Bad. Through superhero therapy, clients can learn how to use the skills they already have to help navigate their issues and build new skills in the process. When clients discover tools to face different situations, they can feel empowered to face any adversary.

Enhancing Motivation and Engagement:

While therapy is meant to be a place of self-exploration and growth, it can also be a place for levity and fun. There’s a reason we get attached to characters on a screen or in the books we love. Fiction provides a place of fantasy and escape and grabs our attention in ways that the mundane cannot. Superhero therapy allows us to bring some of those interesting elements into counseling, creating a unique therapeutic experience.