Randolph Brickey is a writer, recovering attorney, struggling internet personality, and former public defender. He joined us to discuss his fantastic article comparing Batman: The Animated Series (TAS) to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Brandon and Randolph talked about what TAS meant to them growing up and what it means to them now. Then, we discussed … Continue reading Episode 121: The Morality and Psychology of Batman with Randolph Brickey
Hi everyone, Brandon here. Come on in, have a seat. I know what you’re thinking… “Hey Jedi Counsel, this is not one of the classic psychological evaluations about one of my favorite, beloved fictional characters that I’ve come to expect every month or so! What gives?” Well, let me tell you what gives, friend. This … Continue reading What Can We Learn from Batman about Being a Therapist?
We were fortunate enough to make our third guest appearance on DoxCast, a podcast hosted by folks at our favorite comic book store, Paradox Comic-N-Cards! We talk all about Batman characters in two of them (Batgirl, Robin, The Joker, Harley Quinn, The Riddler, Two-Face, and Scarecrow)! You can check out both on Twitch here and … Continue reading Talking Batman on DoxCast
Hey folks! This week we decided to just come full circle and revisit the topic that started it all, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice! We dive in deciding whether or not the film holds up and then talk about Bruce Wayne’s response to the loss of his parents. We talking about responding to grief, … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 43 – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (revisited) and Bereavement
We discuss our views about the movie, Batman v Superman, from a mental health perspective. NOTE: This early episode suffers from lower sound quality, as we were just learning about podcasting. Feel free to jump to Episode 13 for a dramatic increase in sound quality. Thanks! https://jedicounselpodcast.podbean.com/mf/feed/2qkfhd/Jedi_Counsel_Podcast_1-_Batman_v_Superman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 1 – Batman v Superman
We spoke to Dr. Andrea Letamendi, who is a clinical psychologist and the Associate Director of Mental Health for Residential Life at UCLA. In addition to her work helping college students with their mental health needs, she also admirably shares scientifically accurate mental health information with the public. She does this through co-hosting an amazing Batman … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 106 – Giving Away Psychology with The Arkham Asylum Doc, Dr. Andrea Letamendi
Here’s an (incomplete) list of things we liked in 2017! Some of the things listed came out before this year but are included because of how much we enjoyed them in 2017. Interacting with You! We are so grateful for our listeners and the people that we connected with via social media. We loved talking … Continue reading Things We Liked in 2017
In this episode, we talked about our impressions of Justice League. This is a reaction episode, so it’s kind of like just tuning in to hear us have an unstructured conversation about a movie we liked. We touched on psychological concepts that we observed in Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Superman, and The Flash. Let … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 74 – Reactions to Justice League
Hi there, Jedi Counsel listeners! This week was a fun and busy one for us! We were guests on DoxCast (a podcast hosted by our favorite comic book store) and #SPSM (a youtube show hosted by experts in suicide prevention). We were also very pleased to have a special guest on our show. Dr. Clayton … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 64 – Stress, Pregnancy, & Wynonna Earp with Dr. Clayton Hilmert
We did another Nerd Nite talk! The video is available here: You can watch our previous Nerd Nite talk (all about diagnosis, treatment, Buffy, & Batman!) here:
SPOILER WARNING: This post is mostly based on the movie, Wonder Woman, and it contains lots of spoilers. Part I Name: Diana Age: 6ish Occupation: Princess of Themiscyra (Paradise Island) Therapists: Katie Gordon, Ph.D., Brandon Saxton, M.S. Presenting Concern: Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, sought therapy for her daughter, Princess Diana. She was concerned that Diana was disobeying … Continue reading The Psychology of Wonder Woman & Hippolyta
Hey folks! This week we continue our discussion on major depressive disorder. We spend some time covering Aaron Beck‘s Cognitive Model of Depression as well as describe how Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (one of the empirically-supported interventions) works. Then we take what we learned and apply it to none other than Barbara Gordon, the Batgirl! You can … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 38 – Major Depressive Disorder and Batgirl, Part 2
Hey folks! We start this week off with some current events, including the new MBMBAM tv trailer. After that, we continue our discussion of dissociative identity disorder. We start by covering a study by Spanos and with a discussion of the Hillside Strangler. Then we jump into some fictional examples, including Two-Face, of Batman fame, … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 31 – Dissociative Identity Disorder, Part 2
We start with a quick recap of some related comic book news. After that, we dive into Batman #44, by Scott Snyder, in which he address multiple relevant social issues related to racial disparities. NOTE: This early episode suffers from lower sound quality, as we were just learning about podcasting. Feel free to jump to … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 9 – A Simple Case
We start things off with our new current events section. Hear our thoughts about the recent Wonder Woman and Justice League trailers. After that, we discuss both the graphic novel as well as the recent film adaptation of Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. Hear our thoughts about how they portray the character of Batgirl as well as mental health. NOTE: This early episode … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 8 – The Killing Joke
We discuss the wildly popular Pokemon Go! game. What are some of the pros and cons that you have noticed? After that we talk about one of our new favorite graphic novels, Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini. NOTE: This early episode suffers from lower sound quality, as we were just learning about podcasting. Feel free … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 7 – Pokemon GO and Dark Night
We discuss how we became interested in comics, what we like so much about Buffy and Batman, DC Rebirth, and potential applications of comics in mental health settings. We get most of our comics at Paradox Comics-N-Cards. We especially like DC Comics & Dark Horse Comics. Many excellent psychologists have utilized comics in their work – we have posted links to their … Continue reading Jedi Counsel Podcast 5 – Comics & Psychology
We discussed how the scientific process is used in diagnosing and treating mental health problems at a local Nerd Nite event. Batman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are presented as case examples. It was a lot of fun, and we’re grateful to all of the people who came out to the talk!
PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORT Name: Bruce Wayne, aka Batman Date of Birth: February 19th Age: 30 – 32 years of age (in the current Batman comics) Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian Education: Degrees in Criminal Science, Forensics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Engineering, Biology, Physics, Advanced Chemistry, and Technology Date of Initial Interview: 3/01/2016 Date of Report: 3/24/2016 Therapists: Brandon Saxton, Kathryn … Continue reading Diagnosing the Dark Knight
Brandon Saxton is a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He hopes that this website will serve as a means to get people thinking about mental health and the way that it can influence anyone either directly or indirectly. His favorite fictional character is Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. Katie Gordon has a Ph.D. in clinical … Continue reading About