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One of the great things about San Diego Comic-Con is how it can help you see things through a new lens. Some people might dismiss comic book films as mindless entertainment or escapism, but during the the 2023 convention I attended a panel that might change your perspective. Multiverse of Marvel: Secret Invasion, Across the Spider-Verse, and Loki Too was a panel that focused on mental health.

The panel was filled with various mental health professionals, including Dr. Janina Scarlet. “I’m a clinical psychologist, an author, and a full-time geek. I specialize in incorporating pop culture elements into therapy to help folks with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Dr. Scarlet said.

Dr. Scarlet has a website, podcast, and book devoted to superhero therapy. She told the panel that her patients have been able to discover their true selves, thanks to superhero media. Comic book films are a big part of her therapy practice, and it has resonated with her patients.

All superheroes have origin stories, but what about superhero therapists? During the panel Dr. Scarlet shared her backstory, and how it has shaped her as a mental health professional.

“Growing up, I never quite felt like I fit in. Growing up in Ukraine during the Soviet Union time, there was no word for bisexual. In fact, there was this stereotype about how there’s no sex in the Soviet Union. There was no term like pansexual or anything, so I was growing up thinking that I was a freak and there was something wrong with me,” Dr. Scarlet recalled.

“Seeing films in the United States and seeing the representations of various characters with a variety of sexual orientations, characters who were going through difficulties with trauma – it gave me a vocabulary, and it gave me a vehicle and a mirror for understanding my experience. And now, as somebody whose home country is at war, watching television shows dealing with trauma and war is also allowing me to make sense of that experience,” she continued.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s WandaVision, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Avengers, or something else. We sometimes lack the vocabulary to express our truth, and that is where fiction comes in. It gives us the strength and the vocabulary that we need to express what our hearts can’t quite say. This is where we learn the truth, and if a television show or movie is done well, that is where we learn about ourselves, and the truth that we’re not quite ready to tell others.”

I left the panel with a renewed love for the comic book medium. Geek media is more than entertainment, it’s self-care. Every day fans are using their favorite heroes to discover their truths and confront their personal traumas.

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