Local therapist uses games to connect with clients
Game Talk Therapy
MARYLAND – Whether it’s playing Minecraft or Monopoly, many of us turn to games to relax. Well, a local therapist has taken the gaming world a step further by adding a therapeutic aspect.
Gaming Therapist
Pokémon loving, karate fighting, and gaming therapist Nicole Finazzo, is a clinical therapist by day in the traditional sense, and by night, she offers subclinical services as a safe space for individuals worldwide. Whether you like to play Call of Duty or Connect 4, Nicole is finding unique ways to manage her client’s mental health one game at a time
Talk Therapy
This type of Talk therapy has no agenda. and there is no poking or prodding. She’s very flexible and don’t have a lot of rules or restrictions. Many times, Nicole says she doesn’t even have to say much, she’s usually just a listening ear. “Yes, we’re gaming but, it’s the socialization, it’s the positive environment that’s the focus… The subclinical seems to be more popular because it gets away from traditional therapy and its structure of it. Because they’re used to playing games, because they’re used to not having to show their face, it’s pretty unstructured… I’m just hoping in and I’m a positive source, energy. And I also have a lot of information just definitions of things or concepts that people kind of know but they didn’t have a name for it.”
Soft Gamers
She offers this to anyone, like one of her 21-year-old clients who wanted to be referred to as “3 sisters”. She shares the therapy with her 2 siblings, hence the name, and although she’s not a serious gamer, she finds this type of therapy more suitable for her family. She says this relaxed environment has helped their relationship tremendously over the past 3 months. “I’m not huge into like your typical x-box games or play station, but I do like to do traditional games like connect four or card games… I found personally that traditional therapy is a little bit, scary. only because it puts a lot of pressure to talk, and sometimes my sister and I have a hard time figuring out how to communicate with each other.”
Toxic Gaming
Nicole says issues in the gaming world include derogatory or inappropriate statements, profanity, rage- quitting and name-calling. Many times, her clients struggle with controlling their anger like “Heavy Metal Nerd” who is just 20. “I would be playing at 3 in the morning, get killed by a giant monster, like this thing and be yelling, straight up yelling, to the point where I would wake up my mom upstairs or get the dog barking.” He says he’s benefited greatly and has learned a bit of self-control in and out of the gaming world. “When I’m in a session with Nicole, it helps me to kind of channel that a little bit better, without just screaming and throwing a little temper tantrum.”
Game Talk Therapy
Nicole says for now her only co-workers are her stuffies, but perhaps in the future she can expand and give everyone the option to change the way they see mental health. She says she does her therapy all hours of the day and night and if you know someone who is struggling with their mental health who could benefit from this type of service, please contact her by calling or texting 301-747-1363, and via email at gametalk.therapy@gmail.com. She is ready and up for the task! Logging off.
