Fantasy and fantasy play are key elements in healthy child development, and as such, are potentially important resources for play therapy. The multi-media genre of superhero mythology has long provided children (and adults) with rich fantasies serving a number of important developmental functions, including emotional release, a sense of power, instillation of hope, a resource for problem solving and identity formation. Whether Captain America, Superman, Spiderman, the Justice League of America, X-Men, or Powerpuff Girls, these mythological figures have flown from the pages of comics, television and the silver screen into the imaginations and play of generations of children.
Considering their ubiquity in popular children's culture, a paucity of research or clinical literature has addressed the incorporation of superheroes into child counseling and play therapy. The purpose of this article is to first describe the relationship between fantasy, superhero mythology, and play therapy, and to then provide examples from clinical practice.Long before developmental specialists and child psychologists addressed fantasy play and play therapy, children created stories of great adventure and adversity, playfully or perhaps not so playfully, acting them out. And certainly, long before the first superhero leapt into our cultural consciousness, societies had developed and refined Lawrence Rubin, Ph.D., RPT-S, is a professor of Counselor Education at St. Thomas University in Miami, FL, as well as a practitioner in private practice. Harry Livesay is a licensed, clinical social worker for the Memorial Hermann-Lamar School-Based Health Center in Rosenberg, TX.
