Reknowned Gamer Psychotherapist Digs Into Video Game Phenomenon “Minecraft"

Mike Langlois, a psychotherapist and Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School will be presenting at SXSW on the video game “Minecraft,” and its connections to human consciousness and mindfulness. The game creates a mediated environment for relationship, gives us memes to live by, and points the way towards deeper mindfulness and well-being.

Reknowned Gamer Psychotherapist Digs Into Video Game Phenomenon “Minecraft"
Cambridge, MA, November 15, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Mike Langlois, a psychotherapist and Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School will be presenting at SXSW on the video game “Minecraft,” and its connections to human consciousness and mindfulness.

Minecraft has been bought and played by over 8 million people and combines elements of sandbox games, MMOs and First-person shooters. It has won over gamers, educators and designers alike, and Langlois, who blogs regularly at gamertherapist.com, is no exception.

"Minecraft has a lot to teach us about how we pay attention to, get distracted from, and cope with things," he says. "Embedded in the design and the lore of the game are nuggets of philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology. From work/life balance to physical and mental health to the meaning of life the game has something to teach us."

The SXSW 2013 workshop, entitled "Nice Everything You Have There, Mindful Minecraft," will investigate the nature of mind as illustrated by Minecraft, its gameplay, and content. "We'll take a look at how this game creates a mediated environment for relationship, gives us memes to live by, and points the way towards deeper mindfulness and well-being."

The workshop is both part of SXSW's Interactive Festival, for which Langlois is a returning speaker, and its rapidly growing video game component, SXSW Gaming. At SXSW 2012, Langlois challenged the audience to rethink the idea of video game addiction - that video games are not substances to be addicted to, but rather a combination of art form and social media. He covered many of these concepts in his recent e-book “Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy.”

About Mike Langlois, MSW, LICSW

Mike Langlois is currently a teaching associate in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an adjunct faculty member of Boston College Graduate School for Social Work. He devised the curriculum for the first course of technology and its effects on social work. He has lectured at SUNY-Buffalo, Boston College, Harvard Medical School, The Horace Mann School, and the National Association of Social Workers.

Mike is licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. Mike Langlois received his BA from Connecticut College in 1991, and his MSW from Smith College School for Social Work in 1994. He has 20 years of experience counseling adults and families.

His book Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy is currently available for in digital form for $2.99 on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble as well as other online publishers.

For more information about the presentation or other public speaking questions, please contact 617-776-3409.
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Mike Langlois, MSW, LICSW
Mike Langlois
617-776-3409
http://gamertherapist.com/blog/
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