Date of Award

Spring 2-14-2005

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Nancy Thurston, Psy.D.

Second Advisor

Kathleen Gathercoal, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Kurt Free, Ph.D.

Abstract

Emotionally-disturbed adolescent males, particularly those diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder, are notoriously resistant to traditional forms of psychotherapy. Simultaneously, adolescent males are the target market for entertainment companies that produce products via multiple entertainment venues (e.g., comic books, card games, and video games). This dissertation is the first step in synthesizing psychotherapy with entertainment venues in order to bypass treatment resistance in emotionally-disturbed adolescent males. The entertainment venue of focus for this dissertation is a comic book series. The goal of the comic books is to entertain while promoting therapeutic healing. The therapeutic value entails having multiple cognitive behavioral interventions, which are supported by empirical research, as tools that the main character picks up along his intrapsychic journey towards a cohesive sense of self.

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