Not Just Fun: Geek Culture, Play, and Identity Repair with LGBTQIA+ Clients
June 26, 2026 | Live Zoom Webinar
Empower LGBTQIA+ Clients of All Ages who find Affinity and Sanctuary within Geek Culture
Pop and geek culture are often dismissed in clinical settings as entertainment or superficial engagement strategies. From a play therapy perspective, however, symbolic play, storytelling, and imaginative identification are primary mechanisms through which clients of all ages communicate, regulate, and construct meaning. For many LGBTQIA+ clients, pop and geek culture function as developmentally and culturally relevant forms of symbolic play that support identity development, emotional regulation, and narrative repair.
This full-day play therapy training examines how geek and pop culture operate as symbolic language within the therapeutic process and how play therapists can intentionally and ethically integrate these elements into treatment with their clients of all ages. Grounded in play therapy theory, the Therapeutic Powers of Play, and culturally responsive practice, participants will explore how fandom, characters, and story-based play can facilitate self-expression, increase psychological flexibility, and strengthen the therapeutic relationship.
Through experiential activities, case conceptualization, and self-of-the-therapist reflection, participants will learn to assess when pop culture–based play is clinically integrative versus avoidant, how to translate symbolic material into therapeutic goals, and how therapist assumptions about play, maturity, and culture may unintentionally impact LGBTQIA+ clients.
This training assumes foundational knowledge of play therapy and focuses on deepening clinical skill, ethical awareness, and cultural humility when working with LGBTQIA+ clients across the lifespan. Join Maria as she works to convince you that play is healing and important for clients of all ages!
Presenter
Maria Laquerre-Diego
A self-proclaimed geek and President of A New Hope Academy, Maria Laquerre Diego, LMFT, RPT-S, is an internationally recognized expert and leading voice in integrating play and pop culture into clinical practice, to make therapy more culturally-responsive and enhance connection in the therapy room. A published author and sought-after speaker, Maria’s innovative work invites clinicians to embrace playfulness, fandom, and the Force as tools for healing.
Maria's book chapter, 'Embracing Geek Play Therapy: A Creative Approach for LGBTQIA+ Individuals' was published in Transformative Expressions in Play Therapy, Vol. II (2025). Through a focused exploration of integrating cosplay, fanfiction, and role-playing games with play therapy, Maria is a passionate advocate for geek play therapy as a unique, culturally-competent approach to supporting LGBTQIA+ clients who find affinity and sanctuary within geek culture.
Learning Objectives
1. Identify how pop and geek culture function as forms of symbolic play that support identity development, emotional regulation, and meaning-making for many LGBTQIA+ clients across the lifespan.
2. Describe how the Therapeutic Powers of Play, including symbolic expression, narrative integration, and facilitation of self-regulation, are activated through pop and geek culture–based play therapy interventions.
3. Differentiate between pop culture engagement as avoidant behavior and pop culture engagement as clinically meaningful play using play therapy theory and case conceptualization.
4. Apply play therapy–informed interventions that intentionally incorporate pop and geek culture to support identity exploration, agency, and emotional processing in LGBTQIA+ clients.
5. Explain how play therapy principles support culturally responsive practice with LGBTQIA+ clients by honoring developmentally appropriate, symbolic, and story-based forms of self-expression.
6. Examine self-of-the-therapist beliefs about play, maturity, and culture and evaluate how these beliefs may influence clinical attunement, ethical decision-making, and therapeutic presence in play therapy with LGBTQIA+ clients.
Details & Registration
Date: Friday June 26, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM Mountain Time (See how this translates into your timezone).
Location: Online Zoom Training (MST Timezone)
Pricing:
$175 Full Professional Rate
$130 Mid-Level Professional Rate
$85 Student / Accessible Professional Rate
*Pricing includes CE Certificate
Schedule:
8:50
Check In/Sign in
9:00
Presentation Begins
10:30
15 Minute Break
12:00-1:00
Lunch Break
2:30
15 Minute Break
4:30
Presentation Ends
What if I can't make the training live? We've got you covered! With this event, you can register to attend live or for the recording only and watch it 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.
This training will provide 6 CE Credits following 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. A New Hope Academy has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7816. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. A New Hope Academy is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.