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

With Season 6 wrapping up, we're busy setting up Season 7! We have some special behind the scenes content to share with you this week. Enjoy some extra content from our guest episode with Scott Beatty!

Dr. Emilia Brown introduces Keeden to one of her favorite comics, Venom (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 16-20). When being Batman isn’t enough to save someone, Bruce Wayne begins using a drug to give himself superstrength. Sadly, the drug is highly addictive, and soon Batman becomes a mere shadow of his former self. This comic explores his struggle to leave the pills behind.

Dr. Emilia Brown introduces Keeden to one of her favorite comics, Venom (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 16-20). When being Batman isn’t enough to save someone, Bruce Wayne begins using a drug to give himself superstrength. Sadly, the drug is highly addictive, and soon Batman becomes a mere shadow of his former self. This comic explores his struggle to leave the pills behind.

SPOILER ALERT! Keeden and Dr. Emilia Brown delve into the psyche of a variety of heroes and villains in the new movie Captain America: Brave New World.

Last week we talked about She-Hulk and Daredevil, lawyers turned vigilante. This week Dr. Emilia Brown shares about how life in the United States is imitating art, highlighting efforts by psychologists and other scientists & healthcare professionals to continue their work amidst numerous data removals and executive orders. How can psychologists embody She-Hulk when the ethics and purpose behind their work are at risk?

Sources:

https://updates.apaservices.org/

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/06/nx-s1-5288113/cdc-website-health-data-trump

https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r253

We explore two examples of lawyers who become superhero vigilantes. On the surface, She-Hulk and Daredevil have a lot in common, but one is a reluctant superhero while the other sometimes seems more comfortable throwing punches than working within the legal system.

Bat Therapy talks with Manami Yamamoto about why she uses Baymax as a model for how to be a therapist. We explore the importance of seeing all types of families as “normal” and Hiro’s struggle to not let his trauma hurt the people he loves. Manami Yamamoto is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Expressive Arts Therapist, as well as the Founder and President of Blue Humming Therapy. She is a global advocate for mental health and wellness with a mission to create safe, inclusive spaces where individuals feel seen, heard, and understood across countries and cultures. Find her at https://www.bluehummingtherapy.org/

You fought against Killmonger and won back Wakanda for King T’Challa, but you had to fight against people you love – your friends, your family. The battle is over and now that there is time for your mind to settle, you find yourself struggling to sleep because you cannot understand the world you live in now. You feel more and more overwhelmed, not knowing what comes next with so much betrayal and destruction, so you use the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise.

Starting right before Captain America: Civil War, Wakanda gets hit with trauma after trauma after trauma. Hear a licensed clinical psychologist talk about the best ways to support someone like these Wakandans in the hours, days, and weeks after a traumatic event.

Sources:

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/txessentials/tx_survivors_trauma.asp

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/disaster-distress-helpline

We use Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther to explore the impossible juggle of being the leader of your country while also being a superhero. And being the leader of Wakanda? King T’Challa has multiple secret identities to maintain with the outside world. We look at the cracks in Wakanda’s façade and wonder how the country would have felt toward its leader if the snap had not happened.