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

Artificial Intelligence and robots providing psychotherapy to superheroes – what’s not to love? Tom King does it again, balancing mental health confessionals and a deathly whodunit with lighthearted humor. Recommend this read from a comic book and psychology perspective!

We discuss the comic Harleen, a beautifully illustrated telling of how Harley Quinn came to be. Psychiatrist and therapist to Arkham’s most infamous, Dr. Quinzel had the best of intentions. Sadly, she struggled to maintain healthy boundaries and ended up in her own downward spiral.

After the snap that eradicated 50% of life, Captain America has taken off his uniform and taken on the mantle of support group facilitator. We talk about the power of peer-to-peer connection and shared experiences as well as the struggle to provide support to others while also caring for your own needs during difficult times, particularly a time with many similarities to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It doesn’t matter what role this psychiatrist plays – scientist, mental health treater, chief of Arkham – his ethics are…questionable at best. We talk about what is behind Hugo Strange’s streak of mayhem and how conscientiousness may be a factor in why his obsessive nature results in being a villain rather than a hero.

Professor Charles Xavier is teacher, guardian, mentor, boss, leader, and…maybe therapist? With an MD in Psychiatry and a PhD “in Psychology” (we talk about how little that actually tells us), not to mention some powerful mind manipulation skills, it is important to understand the complications Professor X has with dual relationships and the ethics behind the practices he employs.

Before he was Scarecrow, one portrayal of Dr. Jonathan Crane is of a Jungian psychopharmacologist with a flair for the dramatic. We use Dr. Crane, Carmine Falcone, and Victor Zsasz to discuss competency to stand trial and not guilty by reason of insanity.

Dr. Christina Raynor (likely a clinical psychologist) has a therapeutic style that we love – using spunk and sarcasm to hold Bucky Barnes / the Winter Soldier’s feet to the fire in order to encourage him to grow and change. In this episode, we talk self-disclosure and the importance of a good fit between client and therapist.

Hear about our experiences recording our first season. Get a sneak peek at what’s coming, including a new outro theme for season 2!

Keeden went to San Diego Comic-Con! In this final episode of Season 1, your hosts talk psychology of nerds and cosplay.

This week, we compare the filming of Thor: Love & Thunder with processes that happen in psychotherapy. Listen in as we explore how the way we tell a story can impact how connected we feel to the characters.

Two orphans, ripped from their biological parents by death and destruction. One chooses to symbolize hope, the other fear. One strives to be human, the other does all he can to appear monstrous and inhuman. Hear us breakdown the commonalities and differences between these two beloved superheroes.

Superpower counterparts, a hero and a villain. One wishes their parents still alive while the other wanted them dead all along. Meanwhile, Batman takes a tortured path of loneliness in his struggle to stay at arm’s length from other people.

What do you do when your options are a lifetime (or more) of prison or a few years off your sentence through a dangerous mission and a bomb in your skull? Oh wait, just kidding, you may not even have a choice.

Bruce Wayne makes a pact to be fearless. But what are the consequences of trying to rid our minds of fear? See how Batman’s striving for control and perfection take him down a winding path in this poetic story.

Fear is a driving force in Batman Begins, each character using it to obtain their version of justice. Carmine Falcone, Scarecrow, and Ra’s al Ghul aim to create fear in others for vengeance and retaliation. With the support of his family and friends, Bruce Wayne learns to use his fear as a guide to find compassion and help Gotham grow. Bonus: This movie contains Dr. Brown’s favorite mental health quote!

Villains. Are they born bad, or do we shape them into what they become? This episode explores the dangers of self-fulfilling prophecies by breaking down how the cruelty of societal expectations may have influenced Waylon Jones to match his insides with his scaley exterior, becoming the supervillain Killer Croc.

In this episode, we breakdown Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. We take a focused look at how this different approach to Batman lore impacts the motivations and moral codes of Batman and the Joker.

In The Killing Joke storyline, Joker wreaks havoc on Commissioner Gordon’s life in an attempt to show that the Joker is not alone – every person has the capacity to reject all reason and rationality. Yet Gordon does not accept Joker’s invitation to use “madness [as] the emergency exit”, instead finding a way to stay true to his beliefs and refusing to avoid his own pain by inflicting it on others.

Wanda Maximoff is a character riddled with grief while also having nearly unimaginable (and untrained) power and abilities. Bat Therapy explores how this creates a complex bereavement process that appears in both WandaVision and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Included is a discussion of the myth of the 5 Stages of Grief.

Living in a world of superheroes isn’t as thrilling as it may sound, especially when you live in Gotham. Listen in as Dr. Brown answers some of Keeden’s most pressing questions: How does someone living in Gotham decide to leave their house? How do you manage the fear of running into a supervillain when that very fear makes you a target for Scarecrow? Despite the high likelihood of an open job market and low cost of living, why would someone live in Gotham?

What does psychology say about what it takes to be the patriarch of the Bat Family? Beneath Alfred Pennyworth's sass and sarcasm lies the glue that holds everything together.

Last episode, we talked about The Batman’s tale of two orphans…but there is a third and her story is a necessary part of Batman’s growth! In part 2, we explore how Batman has benefited from his relationships with Catwoman and Gordon. Batman starts the movie taking a dark, inflexible approach to the criminals of Gotham and it costs Batman and the city a lot. Catwoman and Gordon do not see Gotham in black-and-white and they help Batman find a better way.

Matt Reeve’s The Batman is the tale of an orphan, seeking vengeance through violence and fear so that justice can prevail and the corruption in Gotham can be wiped out. But which orphan do we mean – Batman or the Riddler? We explore how personal connection and hope are necessary for Batman to accomplish the change he wants for Gotham. Also, listen in as Dr. Brown uses the Riddler to explore the important differences between psychosis and psychopathy.

Mr. Freeze is a character with few storylines of his own, but he's stolen the hearts of your podcast hosts. Hear us talk about his capacity for love, his fear of loss, and the importance of accepting death so that one can live.

Let's talk about why it's not so easy to psychoanalyze Batman. To know and understand a person or character, we need to be able to zoom in and look at the patterns and intricacies in their life. Listen in on our comic and psychology inspired reasonings for how we will tackle this beloved hero in our podcast.

We start our Bat Therapy journey by exploring the psychiatric hospital that treats many of Batman's criminal counterparts, Arkham Asylum. No one would accuse this facility of being an effective treatment center, but what does a clinical psychologist think are its worst attributes? Find out by listening in!

Welcome! Meet the hosts of Bat Therapy: Exploring your favorite comic book characters through the lens of clinical psychology. We are longtime friends who can never manage to wander too far from talking about Batman, superheroes, and the next DC/Marvel movie. Share a few laughs with us as you learn about who we are and why we decided to start this podcast that connects our nerdy interests with mental health knowledge and awareness.