Harnessing the power of fandom–from Game of Thrones to The Legend of Zelda–to conquer anxiety, heal from depression, and reclaim balance in mental and emotional health.

Modern mythologies are everywhere–from the Avengers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to The Wicked + The Divine. Where once geek culture was niche and hidden, fandom characters and stories have blasted their way into our cineplexes, bookstores, and consoles. They help us make sense of our daily lives–and they can also help us heal. Psychotherapists and hosts of the popular Starship Therapise podcast Larisa A. Garski and Justine Mastin offer a self-help guide to the mental health galaxy for those who have been left out of more traditional therapy spaces: geeks, nerds, gamers, cosplayers, introverts, and everyone in between.

Starship Therapise explores how narratives and play inform our lives, inviting readers to embrace radical self-care with Westworld’s Maeve and Dolores, explore anxiety with Miyazaki, and leverage narrative therapy with Arya Stark. Spanning fandoms from Star Wars to The Expanse and The Legend of Zelda to Outer Wilds, readers will explore mental health and emotional wellness without conforming to mainstream social constructs.

Insights from comics like Uncanny X-Men, Black Panther, Akira, Bitch Planet, and The Wicked + The Divine offer avenues to growth and self-discovery alongside explorations of the triumphs and trials of heroes, heroines, and beloved characters from Supernatural, Wuthering Heights, The Lord of the Rings, The Broken Earth trilogy, Mass Effect, Fortnite, Minecraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Trek. Each chapter closes with a mindfulness meditation or yoga exercise to inspire reflection, growth, and the mind-body-fandom connection.

For readers of No Cure for Being Human and Simple Self-Care for Therapists, a witty and compassionate field guide to the 10 realms of grief–and how to navigate them yourself and with clients.

How do you practice good therapy when it’s the end of the world as we know it…and no one feels fine?

The planet is burning, friends and family are falling to cults and QAnon, and we’re all living through the collective trauma of a global pandemic. Among therapists and healers, burnout is rampant; hopelessness and despair are, too. In The Grieving Therapist, psychotherapists Larisa Garski, LMFT, and Justine Mastin, LMFT, give voice to the difficulties of therapising in today’s world–and offer a grief-informed framework for taking care of yourself as you take care of others. 

Informed by narrative, internal family systems, fanfic, and trauma-sensitive therapy, Garski and Mastin examine what it means to be a therapist at the end of the world (or what feels like it). They break down 10 realms of grief that are critical to understand and work with today, but likely weren’t taught to you in therapy school. Each chapter includes:

• Grieving tools that can be adapted for both client and therapist
• Tips for supervisors and supervisees
• Skills for maintaining healthy outside-the-office relationships
• Support for current therapy students (and therapists new to the field)
• Advice on how to hold space and work with clients who have the same questions—and are navigating the same issues—as you
• Meditations on love, life, death, and connection

Garski and Mastin also share helpful guidance around working with clients whose social or political beliefs differ from yours; when therapeutic self-disclosure makes sense; honoring the information that countertransference is trying to give you; and how to sit with (or step away from) triggers in your work.

With humor, compassion, irreverence, and more than a little whimsy, The Grieving Therapist shows you how to show up for yourself, and your clients–in your own full humanity, amidst it all.

From TI 9781623178451 TR.