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Therapeutic Dungeons & Dragons

for Therapeutic Healers

Have you forgotten the power of play?

Step out of the therapy world and enter a fantasy one!

No experience necessary!

Dungeons & Dragons for Therapeutic Healers

KPop Demon Hunters: 
Healing Through Harmony

KPop Demon Hunters: 

A 4-Part Play Therapy & Mental Health Webinar Series

Whether you're a K-pop fan or not, you have probably heard of this new global sensation. Since its release in June, the animated musical film KPop Demon Hunters has topped global Netflix charts with more than 33 million views. Moreover, two fictional bands featured in the story, Huntr/x and Saja Boys, are dominating global music charts, with their songs currently in first and second spots on Spotify’s U.S. chart. 

KPop Demon Hunters is more than catchy songs and sparkly fight scenes - it’s a goldmine of therapeutic themes just waiting to be explored. And if your clients haven’t brought it up yet, trust us, they will.

In this 4-part webinar series, we’ll show you exactly how to turn this fandom-fueled phenomenon into a powerful clinical tool. Whether you’re a therapist, play-based clinician, school counselor, or just pop culture-curious, you’ll walk away with creative, trauma-informed interventions rooted in music, metaphor, and meaning.

​You don’t need to be a fan (yet); we’ll walk you through everything you need to know. But once you see what’s possible, you might become one!

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What to Expect

This series blends pop culture insight with play therapy practice. You’ll get:

  • Play-based and expressive interventions for kids, teens, and young adults

  • Lyric and metaphor tools for narrative therapy, parts work, and identity exploration

  • Creative worksheets, music-inspired activities, and symbolic play prompts

  • A trauma-informed, inclusive lens for working with clients who connect through fandom

  • No required viewing; we’ll explain the key scenes, lyrics, and symbolism you need.

“Our music ignites the soul and brings people together.”

— Celine, KPop Demon Hunters

Soundtrack

Webinar 1: Soundtrack to the Self - Using Music & Lyrics from KPop Demon Hunters​​

Explore how key songs like “Golden,” “Takedown,” and “Your Idol” express themes of invisibility, power, emotional drain, and transformation. Learn music-informed interventions using lyric journaling, movement, and metaphor that align with the Therapeutic Powers of Play.

Learning Objectives:

  • Analyze the therapeutic themes embedded in key KPop Demon Hunters songs and how they can support client insight and emotional modulation.

  • Demonstrate at least two lyric-based or music-informed interventions that align with the Therapeutic Powers of Play.

  • Create a playlist-based intervention plan tailored to a client’s emotional arc, identity exploration, or regulation goals.

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“How am I to fix the world, fix me, when I don’t have my voice?”

- Rumi, KPop Demon Hunters

Rumi
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Webinar 2: Ghost to Gold - Rumi’s Arc, Identity Work & Reclaiming Voice

 

Dive into the story of Rumi, the half-demon lead singer who loses her voice, and learn to translate her emotional journey into clinical tools for shame, marginalization, and self-acceptance. Includes art, sandtray, and symbolic interventions.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify at least two play-based interventions that support identity exploration and symbolic expression using themes from KPop Demon Hunters.

  • Describe how voice loss and transformation metaphors align with the Therapeutic Powers of Play in addressing shame, trauma, and identity concealment.

  • Facilitate at least one lyric-based or symbolic arts activity that integrates metaphor and self-reflection in play therapy practice.

“Focus is good, but focusing on one part leads to ignoring other parts, making you separated, isolated.”

— Healer Han, KPop Demon Hunters

Webinar 3: Perform and Protect - Emotional Labor, Burnout & Group Dynamics​​

HUNTR/X fights demons while performing, a metaphor for what many clients do daily. Explore masking, protector parts, performance fatigue, and how clients manage invisible emotional labor.

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe the metaphor of “performing while fighting” as it relates to emotional labor, masking, and protective roles in play therapy contexts.

  • Apply at least two experiential or symbolic play-based interventions to help clients externalize emotional labor and explore boundaries through fantasy themes.

  • Explain how play therapy can support identity integration through the exploration of dual roles and group dynamics.

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Perform

“The memories. I want them erased.” – Jinu

- Jinu, KPop Demon Hunters

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Webinar 4: ​Idols, Sacrifice & Shadow Work - Grief, Betrayal, and Relational Healing through Story

Use Jinu’s arc, redemption through sacrifice, and the group’s grief, to support clients with betrayal, rupture, and ambiguous loss. Includes shadow work, narrative repair, and attachment mapping through sand, song, and story.

Learning Objectives:

  • Utilize shadow-based play interventions (e.g., role-play, symbolic scenes) to support children and teens navigating grief, rupture, and emotional dependency.

  • Apply narrative and expressive arts techniques to support emotional catharsis and repair in clients using metaphors from KPop Demon Hunters.

  • Describe how play therapy facilitates complex emotional exploration, including loss, betrayal, and identity repair.

Jinu

"No More Hiding, I'll Be Shining, Like I'm Born To Be"

- Rumi, KPop Demon Hunters

Presenter

 

A self-described geek, Maria Laquerre-Diego, LMFT, RPT-S is a CEO and Owner who is committed to increasing access to mental health services and breaking down the stigma surrounding therapy services. As a therapist turned CEO, Maria has developed a unique perspective when it comes to mental health and the barriers surrounding mental health treatment. Influenced by her time at New Mexico State University in the Family and Consumer Science department, and University of New Hampshire’s Marriage and Family Therapy department, Maria has turned her dedication to giving back and supporting future generations of therapists.

 

In addition to supporting mental health providers, Maria takes an active role in addressing the continued stigma of mental health services through the use of pop culture – everything from movies and television shows to superheroes and Disney characters. Maria has spoken about mental health at several local events, has served as an officer on professional boards and has provided training to clinicians all over the country.

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Details & Registration

Dates and Times:

  1. August 7, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, Soundtrack to the Self: Using Music & Lyrics from K‑Pop Demon Hunters

  2. August 14, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, Ghost to Golden: Rumi’s Arc, Identity Work & Reclaiming Voice

  3. August 21, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, Perform and Protect: Emotional Labor, Burnout & Group Dynamics

  4. August 28, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, Idols, Sacrifice & Shadow Work: Grief, Betrayal, and Relational Healing through Story

Cost: $25 per webinar, which includes 1.5 CEs. 

​​Location: Online Zoom Training (MST Timezone). 

Do I have to sign up for all the sessions? And will recordings be sent?

You can sign up for as many, or as few, of the webinars as you'd like. Attend live or watch the recordings whenever it works for you. All registrants will receive access to the recordings, which will be available for 30 days.

​​

Of note: If you are attending the online training live, it is required that you have your video on and are actively participating in order to earn the offered CEs. Please do not engage in other activities while in this training including driving, driving through for that coffee fix, or rearranging your closet - this training requires your attention and engagement. You will receive an email with the Zoom link and any handouts the day prior to the training.

Each webinar will provide 1.5 CE Credits (if you attend by watching the on-demand recording this will require successful completion of a post-test). ​A New Hope Therapy Center, our sister organization and partner for trainings and workshops, is an Approved Provider for the Association for Play Therapy (APT) - Approved Provider 20-631 and Maria Laquerre-Diego is an Approved Provider for the NM Counseling and Therapy Practice Board CCE020981

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