Clinical Use of Video Games

Abstract

Despite the extreme popularity of video games among adolescents, researchers in the fields of developmental and social psychology examining video games have focused mainly on the association between video game use and negative outcomes, while research on positive outcomes is more limited. Video game, and the usage of video games, in (adolescent) therapy and (adolescent) psychotherapy is anything but ubiquitous. The research and clinical potential for combining video games and the communicative possibilities of the internet are immense. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is on video game and their usages in (adolescent) therapy and psychotherapy. This chapter will cover the history of video games, video games in psychotherapy, and the different types of video games and their usages in psychotherapy.