Bat Therapy: Mental Health through the Lens of Comics and Film

We explore some big barriers to mental health treatment that superheroes are likely to experience, such as finding the time, confidentiality and building trust, and being willing to be vulnerable.

A lot of thoughts and feelings can happen when going into a therapy session. We practice being Batman while he waits in the waiting room before his first therapy session, using mindfulness to prepare for what comes next.

Even the most capable of superheroes need someone to talk to from time to time. We talk about what Batman might want to talk about during therapy and what theoretical orientations and therapeutic styles he would find most helpful in his therapist.

Rejection. And it’s from one of your oldest and dearest friends, granted, this friend is a hammer…but still. You have been trying to figure out who you are after people were brought back from “the snap”. You are Thor but you have decided not to be a ruler, so who are you? When you see Mjølnir in battle, you feel relief. Until Mjølnir is almost within reach and Mighty Thor calls the hammer back.

You’re a warrior god over 1,500 years old, but when the losses start, they don’t seem to stop. You retreat into yourself, drinking and playing videogames to escape any chance of losing something or someone else. Some people reach out to support you, but most make jokes and fat shame you, not seeing the depression. In honor of mental health awareness month, we talk about Thor’s struggles and what mental health treatments could help.

Batman, superheroes, comics, nerd content… and mental health? After two years of Bat Therapy, we talk about how the podcast got started and why we love doing this thing. (We also couldn’t resist talking about why we love Batman so much.)

You’re Scott Summers, teenage mutant with uncontrollable energy beams that shoot out of your eyes – life is bound to get complicated. Here you are, at school, surrounded by a bunch of non-mutants, and your protective glasses have fallen off. You aren’t sure what you hit with your energy beams and you don’t know what anyone saw, because you have closed your eyes to avoid doing further damage. As you feel more and more panicked, the heat builds up behind your eyelids and it becomes harder to use your other senses to find your glasses. It is the perfect time for mindfulness.

This show has major nostalgia for us. We talk about how the X-Men going to high school with people who do not have the x-gene could have similar benefits to the concept of community inclusion. And listen in as Emilia and Keeden decide if Professor Xavier is a bit too much like Dumbledore in his approach to supporting teenage mutants.

It is finally time to make this real. You have the right outfit, the right equipment. You open the box and see your new combat boots. They are perfect. You take your time, enjoying the feelings of excitement, power, and (a tiny bit of) fear that they bring you.

We love how Babs comes onto the scene – she is unapologetically herself, just looking for a way to help the city she loves without caring what Batman or her father, Commissioner Gordon, has to say about it. Emilia ends up connecting with Batgirl more than she expected. We also talk about how this comic, much like Cognitive Processing Therapy, explores the complexities of trusting someone.