Using Superheroes and Villains in Counseling and Play Therapy

A Guide for Mental Health Professionals

Lawrence C. Rubin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138613263
• eBook ISBN: 9780429847271
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Through rich and research-grounded clinical applications, Using Superheroes and Villains in Counseling and Play Therapy explores creative techniques for integrating superhero stories and metaphors in clinical work with children, adolescents, adults and families. Each chapter draws on the latest empirically supported approaches and techniques to address a wide range of clinical challenges in individual, family and group settings. The chapters also explore important contextual issues of race, gender, culture, age and ethnicity and provide case studies and practical tips that clinicians can use to support clients on their healing journey.

Part I

Superheroes, Super Theories

In this section, we will consider how some of the dominant psychosocial and clinical theories have been harnessed to bring the superhero into the therapeutic domain.

Chapter 1

Flourishing After the Origin Story: Using Positive Psychology to Explore Well-being in Superheroes and Supervillains

Sophia Ansari and Christina M. Scott

Our origin stories, the moments that change us and define us, are often born from our battles and our hardships rather than from our splendor and glory. After witnessing the murder of his parents, a young Bruce Wayne is faced with not only the enormity of his loss, but a decision—either allow the tragedy to destroy him or; instead, grip on to his relationships, connect with his inner strengths and find meaning and purpose in life. This would allow him to not bounce back from his trauma but—bounce forward. He ultimately chooses to take his hardship and heartache and channel them through eudemonic passages which lead to the birth of the vigilante, Batman. His transition into serving something greater than himself and finding conviction from his loss teaches us that tragic pasts do not necessarily have to lead to tragic futures. Batman’s story of resilience and courage show us that one can thrive after devastation. It is possible to unearth our passion, purpose and maintain the joy we once experienced before the trauma, before the loss, before the depression and anxiety monsters reared their forbidding heads. Resilience is not some unattainable superpower; it is universal, and it can be harnessed (Letamendi, 2013).

Powering Up with Positive Psychology!

An area of psychology that focuses on cultivating strengths, relationships and finding meaning is positive psychology. Positive psychology is “the scientific study of what makes life worth living” (Peterson & Park, 2014, p. 2). For decades, the field of psychology was focused on pathologizing and centered on the question, “What is wrong with you?” Mental health professionals became preoccupied with repairing what was broken. Positive psychology’s origin story thus began in response to this fixation of human weakness over human strengths (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the pioneers of positive psychology, asserted that the question we should instead be asking is, “What is right with you?” Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi emphasized that our attention needed to be redirected on building upon what was working. It is just as important to build on the best things in life as to repair the worst (Seligman, 1999).

In his book, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being, Seligman describes his theory of well-being and the five core pillars that are all worth cultivating to thrive or flourish (Seligman, 2011). These five elements allow individuals to connect with their positive emotions, strengths, purpose, accomplishments and build authentic relationships (Seligman, 2011). They include the following core elements, which will each then be elaborated:

• Positive Emotion. Feeling positive emotions, pleasure, gratitude, mindfulness, optimism.
• Engagement. Being fully absorbed in activities that use your strengths, are challenging and have a clear goal (flow).
• Relationships. Social connections, love. Fundamental to well-being.
• Meaning. Having a purpose, finding meaning in life. Belonging to and serving something you believe is bigger than yourself.
• Accomplishment. Mastery, ambition, pursuing success, achievement, pride in yourself.

Positive Emotion: World Domination is Overrated

The positive emotion element describes happiness as primarily sought through the senses (having tasty food, vacations, fast cars). Research has shown that feeling positive emotions contributes to our well-being in that it can result in a decrease in stress hormones and pain as well as elevate mood (Fredrickson, 2001). In fact, there is growing support that a propensity for humor and the implementation of laughter therapy groups can bring relief to physical and emotional pain (Kuru & Kublay, 2017). So, does that mean mercurial supervillains like the thrill-seeking Joker are happy? After all, he interprets everything as insanely funny (even when no one else gets the punchline). Seligman notes that worldly pleasures and indulgences make us feel good but so do positive interactions with others and cultivating gratitude, hope, optimism and utilizing mindfulness skills (Seligman, 2011). These elements are also an integral part of positive emotion and are skills that supervillains are not known to cultivate.

Larfleeze (also known as Agent Orange) is a supervillain hell-bent on the pursuit of all things pleasurable. His sole mission is to gain material wealth and power. Part of the Orange Lanterns Corps, Larfleeze is the wielder of the orange light of avarice. The emotional electromagnetic spectrum of the Lantern Corps is fueled by emotions of all sentient beings. Each color is unique to an emotion (White/Life; Red/Rage; Orange/Greed; Yellow/Fear; Green/Willpower; Blue/Hope; Indigo/Compassion; Violet/Love; Black/Death) (“Emotional Spectrum,” n.d.). The Lantern Corps is comprised of many members; however, Larfleeze is the only member of the Orange Lantern Corps because of his unwillingness to share the power of the orange light. Greed at its finest and a lonely existence!

Pleasurable activities can be fine in moderation; however, supervillains tend to seek out pleasure in excess. Supervillains like the Joker and Larfleeze seek revenge and power at all costs necessary because it feels good, and they value the pleasure and put more weight on feeling good rather than feeling pain. After all, their origin stories most certainly involve a lot of pain and so they cling to the belief that pain is bad and pleasure is good (because it feels safer). This dark path inevitably leads to experiential avoidance. Experiential avoidance is the effort to avoid negative emotions, thoughts and bodily sensations by engaging in temporary acts of pleasure (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). The avoidance serves as a coping and emotional regulation shield for feeling emotions, especially fear and sadness. Due to the unwillingness to experience these hurtful thoughts and feelings, supervillains cling to anger which serves as a protective agent from becoming hurt again. Never fully embracing their emotions, supervillains are easily led to the dark side. By resisting pain, they ultimately suffer.

Another drawback to the supervillain mind-set of solely seeking pleasure is that it habituates rather quickly, and we are confronted with a phenomenon known as the “hedonic treadmill” (Gilbert, 2006). This phenomenon, also known as hedonic adaptation, asserts that human beings easily become bored of the activities that once brought them happiness (Fritz, Walsh, & Lyubomirsky, 2017). Seligman warns that when we focus solely on pleasure and ignore the realm of meaning and discount our relationships and strengths, that we instead live a rather empty life (Seligman, 2002). Encapsulated by greed, no matter how much Larfleeze obtains it is never enough.

Engagement: The Superpower of Flow

Positive psychologists assert that pleasure is only one component of well-being and that we should also invest in our strengths, relationships, ambitions and find our purpose. Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment are all eudaimonic pillars to well-being. When we focus on these pursuits of personal growth, we avoid the empty life and consequently are more in line with our values, have a greater sense of efficacy and self-worth and live a very full life. Superheroes choose not to focus on hedonic motivations; rather, they choose to focus on eudaimonic motives such as contributing to something bigger than themselves. Instead of evaporating his inheritance, Bruce Wayne pours his wealth and resources into the creation of Batman to better Gotham City. In the film Iron Man (Feige, Arad, & Favreau, 2008), Tony Stark imbues hedonism, but as his story unfolds, we see a very different man. He begins to recognize how futile the pursuits of power, fame and big explosions had become after the loss of innocent civilian lives. We witness Tony’s personal growth as he declares, “I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up” (Feige, Arad, & Favreau, 2008).

If we can identify our strengths and utilize them in our work, relationships and day to day lives, we can ultimately engage in our superpower of “flow.” Flow is a phenomenon introduced by Csikszentmihalyi who became fascinated when artists became lost in their work. He described flow as a sense of time almost standing still when one is completely absorbed in whatever task they are engaged in (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). The individual is so completely unified with the experience that they are in complete awe, they ignore all biological needs and time feels as though it is standing still. Flow, a great extension of our amazing human capabilities, is analogous to Dr. Strange’s superpower of time manipulation through heightened and intense awareness and focus.

To experience flow, the individual must be employing their signature character strength (more on that later!). The activity should pose somewhat of a challenge and have clear, defined goals (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Engagement is not as raw as the feeling of pleasure but instead brings intrinsic value and reward. In the film Iron Man (Feige, Arad, & Favreau, 2008), Tony Stark is seen spending hours upon hours creating and perfecting the flight mechanics of the Mark II suit that he completely misses several calls made to him by his secretary. Tony was clearly engaging in his signature strengths of creativity, love of learning and perseverance. His goal of achieving sustained flight was eventually successful, but not without a few explosions and bruises along the way!

Positive Relationships: The Sidekicks Who Teach Us about Love

Positive relationships are the most fundamental element to well-being (Seligman, 2011). Bruce Perry, one of the world’s leading experts on childhood trauma, has spent his career studying the mental, emotional and physiological effects of trauma in children, adolescents and adults. His research and experience in the field of trauma have shown that one of the key ingredients to overcoming adversity and trauma and building resilience is relationships (Perry & Szalavitz, 2017). How you are responded to by those around you will determine whether you are an individual who overcomes the trauma. Imagine for a moment if instead of asking the hurt child or adult, “What’s wrong with you?” we asked, “What happened to you?” By instilling in them that their stories matter, we build trust and safety and offer compassion which are all ingredients to posttraumatic growth (PTG). Posttraumatic growth is the positive change that can occur after adversity (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2013).

Now imagine for another moment some of the origin stories of our well-known supervillains. Let’s take for example the story of Scarecrow, one of Batman’s well-known adversaries. In the graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight, Vol. 2, No. 12 (Hurwitz & Finch, 2012), we learn about the origin story of Scarecrow. Born Jonathan Crane, Scarecrow grew up in a house where he was constantly subjected to cruel experiments by his father. His mother had died when he was very young, and his father was distant, cruel and obsessed with controlling fear. He would repeatedly lock Jonathan in a room filled with fear-inducing toxins. Jonathan was also relentlessly bullied at school. He had no social support. No one to talk to. Nowhere had he felt safe. During one of the experiments, his father dies unexpectedly leaving young Jonathan trapped in the room for days. Jonathan grows up to become a man obsessed with controlling and creating fear. His traumatic childhood leads him on a trajectory to performing cruel experiments on others (including Batman) much like his father did unto him. It is well-known that “hurt people hurt people.”

Attachment theory emphasizes that for healthy social and emotional development to occur, a child must have a positive relationship with at least one primary caregiver (Holmes, 2014). By securing this relationship the child is better able to learn to regulate emotions and grow up to secure other healthy relationships. When children are abused by a caregiver, that trust is drastically altered and a sense of safety and connection to others is severed. When attachment is insecure, children can grow up to experience a wide range of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social and physiological disorders (Cassidy, Jones, & Shaver, 2013). Most origin stories of supervillains show a life of instability, loss, exposure to pain and trauma. Life perspectives are radically re-engineered. If we can engage in a conversation within the context of compassion and strength, we can reach out to the bullies and the bullied. If we ask, “What happened to you?” and point out strengths whenever we see them, we send the message that we see the superhero within and he/she can be accessed.

In the film Logan (Parker, Kinberg, Donner, & Mangold, 2017), we are given a unique glimpse into the relationship between Wolverine and Professor Xavier. Professor Xavier has long served as a mentor to Wolverine, always seeing through his tough exterior and reminding Wolverine of his inner strengths. He bestows wisdom to Wolverine on embracing love, stating “You know, Logan this is what life looks like. A home, people who love each other. Safe place. You should take a moment and feel it” (Parker, Kinberg, Donner, & Mangold, 2017). Batman’s greatest ally, Alfred, provided a young Bruce with support and compassion. This allowed Bruce to experience a secure attachment. One that would help him channel his grief and access his inner hero. Without this relationship, both his civilian life and superhero life would probably implode. Superman’s secure relationship with his parents and the values they instilled in him are brought forth in his relationships. Spider-Man’s humor and optimism are a result of his nurturing upbringing by Aunt May. Scarecrow, however, had no such person to embrace him with love and empathy during those formative years when his worldview was transforming and moving into a downward spiral. What would have happened if he had his own Alfred or Aunt May? Things may have turned out differently for that young and afraid boy. As poignantly said by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel, No. 17 (Wilson, Miyazawa, & Blake II, 2015), “Imagine what would happen if compassion were normal. Imagine how many people would still be here.”

Superheroes must often figure out a balance between “superhero-ing” and their relationships. In the Netflix series Daredevil (Goddard, 2015), Matt Murdock tries to balance his life as a vigilante and as a lawyer. His best friend and law firm partner, Foggy, is often left hanging out to dry at court depositions and trials when Matt goes off to thwart the bad guys. Karen, a woman who he develops feelings for (who also works at the law practice) is in a constant state of disappointment when Matt is nowhere to be found at work or...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Editor
• About the Contributors
• Foreword: Superheroes Matter, Villains Too
• Introduction: Superheroes, Past, Present and Future
• Part I Superheroes, Super Theories
• Part II Using Heroes and Superheroes to Treat Specific Disorders
• Part III Strength in Numbers: Superhero Teams
• Part IV Villains Rise to the Challenge of Helping
• Part V Superheroes at the Intersection
• Index