Speaking

Mike is available for public speaking, and has presented internationally to a variety of audiences including:

  • Technology and Gaming Conferences
  • Professional Groups
  • School and Universities
  • State Departments and Commissions
  • Hospitals
  • Mental Health Clinics

Some things I am thinking, talking and speaking about now include:

  • Applying psychodynamic theory to video game-related content as projection, ego-function, transitional phenomenon, lusory attitude, play & dream state
  • Explaining how the topic of technology in psychodynamic therapy can be used to understand the transference & countertransference within the treatment
  • Identifying potential risks & opportunities for using technology in treatment & assess when that use is helpful or problematic
  • Demonstrating interactively how video games can be used in treatment
  • Thinking critically about the existing research on social media technology and video games
  • The Phenomenology of technology
  • How IT and social media are democratizing and disrupting who we think couples are
  • Recent clinical research on SEM (Sexual Entertainment Media) and how it is used and understood by couples
  • The ways individuals and social systems engage technophobia in services of racism, classism, homophobia and ableism

GPS elements of apps and their impact on boundaries, control, & behavior

You can listen for free to a sample presentation of “Better Living Through Minecraft” here!

If you are looking for a presenter on using social media in health or social justice education, this gives you a sense of Mike’s approach.

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

Press-Kit

Here are what people say about attending Mike’s talks:

  • Matthew McVickar ‏@matthewmcvickar : Really enjoyed @MikeLICSW’s talk on video games and psychotherapy; chatting with him now. Starting to understand what’s so great about this.
  • “The issue of cyberbullying increases anxiety for everyone. I found Mike’s approach very refreshing and helpful. I left his training with a real understanding of all the ways behaviors play out and how important it is to understand the context.” – Nancy J. Smyth, PhD, LCSW, Dean at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.
  • Mikhail Grinberg ‏@mbgrinberg : Wonderful #sxmindgames talk at #sxsw by @mikelicsw
  • Carlee Mallard ‏@carleemallard : @MikeLICSW Loved your perspective on gaming psychotherapy… it was one of the most engaging talks I’ve been to at #sxsw! Hope you come back
  • I attended your training in Buffalo last week and it keeps on resonating with me. I am sharing your perspective with my colleagues and they are feeling the excitement too.  Thanks for the new “Lens” and new found energy for treatment!—Barb Murphy
  • I am a child psychiatrist who spends a lot of time talking with teenagers, but I am remarkably clueless when it comes to understanding how they may spend six hours a day glued to the computer screen. I may be able to ask questions casually (“Do you like girls, boys, or both?”) and feel relatively hip, but when it comes to exploring their interest in video and computer games I become remarkably self-conscious about my ignorance (and, more honestly, my lack of interest). This changed for me after attending a workshop with social worker Mike Langlois (com), who has made it his mission to help rehabilitate those of us who may mask our anxiety by thing we have moral superiority over those who waste time on video games and who don’t appreciate how to assess when computer gaming is a problem.—Nancy Rappaport, MD
  • “Mike’s workshop on the World of Selfcraft was very helpful to me in my practice with clients who may have gaming as an important part of their lives. He is professional and knowledgeable with good teaching skills. His concept of World of Warcraft as other presentation of self lends a very different perspective on gaming.” —Christine Becker