Headshots: Psychology + Gaming

Hosted ByJosué Cardona & Lauren Keller

Geek Therapy's psychology and gaming podcast.


All Episodes

Black Mirror 3.2: Playtest

#8: We discuss season 3, episode 2 of Black Mirror titled “Playtest.” Full spoilers for the episode! If you are a big fan of Black Mirror, join us for deep dives of every episode on PsychTech.   Visit us at www.HeadshotsPodcast.com.

Plato’s VR Pencil

#7: Plato thought the pencil would ruin learning… Our guess is that VR games are the next big thing that is likely to be blamed for the end of civilization. Join us for a discussion on the actual effects of violence in video games and how that discussi…

How Game Mechanics Build Empathy for Mental Health Issues

#6: Josué and Kelli dig deep into the interactive narrative game Depression Quest and examine how it can raise empathy and understanding about depression.   Visit us at www.HeadshotsPodcast.com.   Follow us on Twitter: @HeadshotsCast @KelliNDunlap @Jos…

Shared Presence Brings Us One Step Closer to the Holodeck

# 5: Josué and special guest Dr. Ali Mattu share their recent experience playing the VR game Star Trek Bridge Crew. It’s Star Trek’s 50th anniversary so we’re celebrating with an all Star Trek discussion about VR, holodecks, collaboration,

A No Man’s Sky Celebration!

# 4: We have a lot of very nice things to say about No Man’s Sky. Josué and special guest Lara Taylor briefly discuss some of the hate directed toward No Man’s Sky and celebrate everything they love about it,

Positivity and Prosocial Game Design in Overwatch

# 3: Blizzard’s Overwatch is oozing with positivity. It not only encourages prosocial behavior, it is designed to give you very few antisocial options. Kelli is out this week so Josué talks with special guest Dr.

What does game design say about mental illness?

# 2: Did you know that in the Halo series there are Marines commonly referred to as “AWOL,” “Suicidal,” and “Paranoid”? These are NPCs that seem to display symptoms of mental illness and are unique in that you can kill them without any repercussion wha…

Pokémon GO and Build a Community

#1: On the first episode of Headshots we do a deep dive into the Pokémon Go phenomenon and why the game seems to be resonating with so many people.   Visit us at www.HeadshotsPodcast.com.   Follow us on Twitter: @HeadshotsCast @KelliNDunlap @JosueACardona

Bonus: From PsychTech to Headshots

Headshots is Josué and Kelli’s second podcast together. Their other show is PsychTech and it’s about psychology and technology. This short clip is how they pitched Headshots to their PsychTech listeners. It’s essentially a series of bloopers and face p…