Mike Langlois

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED

• Psychotherapist, work with adults, children & adolescents for over 25 years.
• Author, Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy
• Public Speaker, SXSW, PAX East, Harvard University, Boston University, Boston College, SUNY-Buffalo, & dozens of other organizations internationally
• Educational Consultant helping children & adolescents who need extra support & understanding in order to make effective progress in their school environment
• Trainer at Harvard Medical School
• Resource on digital literacy & social justice issues such as LGBT awareness to the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth, & serve in an advisory capacity to the NASW on issues including youth suicide prevention
• Faculty member at Boston College, University at Buffalo & Harvard Medical School teaching graduate classes on Technology & Social Practice, Diversity, & Psychodynamic Theory
• Contributor, Tauren Think Tank, GamerTherapist & Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

Early adopter, enterprise social media platform co-founder, psychotherapist; Mike Langlois wears many hats, from clinical social worker to public speaker to corporate consultant for Fortune 500 companies & non-profits. Committed to applying principles of play & game design to psychology & education to maximize fun & learning, if you're looking for an engaging, direct, friendly futurist to help guide you or your organization into a better & more vital place, Mike's your guy.

Mike's work focuses on gaming, social media, & psychology, as well as the impact of social networks on relationships. A gamer-affirmative psychotherapist & educator, he's interested in team-building between the video game industry, consumers & mental health. He wrote a book about it, called Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy & have conducted workshops at SXSW, PAX East, Harvard University, Boston University, Boston College, SUNY-Buffalo, & dozens of other organizations. Mike consults to podcasts such as Tauren Think Tank; blogs at GamerTherapist; & pops up in other places like the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Recent interviews include The Psychotherapy Networker, The New Social Worker & Mother Jones.

Mike received his BA from Connecticut College in 1991, and his MSW from Smith College School for Social Work in 1994. He has over 20 years of experience counseling adults and families. He started out working in public school and clinical settings to advance the access of students with differing abilities and learning challenges. He quickly identified the crucial role of emerging technologies for equity and health. His work includes treating patients who use video games from a gamer-affirmative stance, and his theoretical background combines psychodynamic theory, contemporary cognitive and learning theory with cutting edge technologies. He is currently an adjunct faculty member of Boston College School for Social Work and a teaching associate in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he supervises interns and clinicians. He has served on the Massachusetts Commission for LGBT Youth, and currently is a Advisory Board Member for the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

In addition to being a clinician, Mike co-founded the social media company Sparta Social Networks. Sparta is a full-service social media company providing software platforms, hosting, and consultancy. Its clients include such Fortune 500 companies as General Mills, Washington Post, and Citrix. Mike participated in the company from startup to running the present business in many capacities to grow it. He has pitched ideas to clients, helped orchestrate launches, analyzed client needs, kept an eye on marketing trends; wrote press releases, managed budgets and negotiated CEO contracts. Most importantly perhaps, Mike helped develop the product that several versions and six years later is one of the social media companies to be included in the Gartner Group report.

Mike serves as a resource on digital literacy & social justice issues such as LGBT awareness & safety, disability awareness, cultural awareness, & non-traditional families. He was appointed to the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth, & serves in an advisory capacity to the NASW on issues including youth suicide prevention.

As an adjunct faculty member at Boston College, The University at Buffalo, and Harvard Medical School, Mike supervises and teaches graduate classes on Technology & Social Practice, Diversity, & Psychodynamic Theory.
Mike blogs on Gamasutra and on his site Gamer Therapist.