Questions? We have Answers

The Genius Academy Mental Health Library was created by award-winning educators & instructional designers to change the future of mental health practice. Every piece of content in the Genius Academy Library is academically backed, thoughtfully produced, and vetted by experts for accuracy.​

Based on our historic partnerships with top-tier universities and years of data studies pioneered by our VP of Curriculum and Instruction: Dr. Gary Wood,  PhD. , we have proven results that our content works:​
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+ Increased Learning and Retention
+ Higher Performance In the Field
+ Proven Accelerated Competency Development

Stories are powerful. They entertain, they educate, and they connect us to each other through our shared experiences, desires, and instincts.  While technology rapidly changes our world and our lives, it fails to have as drastic an impact on our minds.  The human brain continues to evolve, but the foundations of thought and emotion remain very much the same.
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When information is presented in the form of a narrative or a “story”, it is received by the brain in a far different way than when delivered in a traditional method. “Traditional” educational methods (i.e. lectures, slideshows, textbooks) have been shown to activate what scientists call the Broca's area and Wernicke's area, the parts of the brain where words are decoded into meaning.  Unfortunately, after that processing is complete, the activity ceases.

​With storytelling, however, those same language-processing areas are similarly engaged, but it is also processed through cognitive empathy, which allows us to relate to the information personally.  The result of that extra processing is increased absorption, familiarity, and memory.  Additional physiological reactions to storytelling also contribute to learning.  When an audience or learner is thoroughly invested in a story,  the brain releases chemicals, such as cortisol, dopamine, and oxytocin, which help with awareness, arousal, and ultimately action.

Our immersive media experiences are intended for use as a powerful supplementary learning activity and can be integrated seamlessly into any number of social work, therapy, psychology, and clinical training programs.​

Instructors may see value in structuring synchronous class discussions around the content, allowing each learner to reflect on what they observed and what it meant to them or they may find better use in creating a course project or knowledge-check activity that requires students to identify and report on symptoms and other diagnostic criteria present in the video.

​The content is authentic and valid to the diagnosis being portrayed with a focus on communicating the symptoms and details in a way that requires student engagement and thought.​

Based on learner outcomes, we help recommend pedagogy to utilize the content in our catalog in a multitude of ways. Here are a few examples:

THE CASE STUDY
The traditional case study ‘paper’ that is often utilized in beginning courses is simply replaced with a Genius Academy case study - which heightens experiential learning as students are observing rather than ‘being told’ much like they would in practice.

THE “CASELOAD.”
Onsite or online, individually or in groups, students are presented with characters for them to determine the appropriate course of action to take. Why is it one and not another?

“ID THE SYMPTOMS.”
Observing and recognizing symptoms to establish a treatment plan.

“THE ANCHOR.”
Use the video as a jumping-off point for exploring issues -- prevalence, gender and cultural differences, treatments/therapies with demonstrated effectiveness. The video serves as a memorable and engaging anchor to organize additional learning around.

“THE REWIND.”
In courses involved with teaching developmental theory, or theories of causation, students develop a history of the clients’ lives prior to the video. What significant influences or life events may have happened in clients' lives in the years before we see the client on video? What bio-psycho-socio-cultural factors may have been involved?

“THE TREATMENT PLAN.”
How can the character be helped? As a conversation starter or jumping-off point of a lecture. What would students suggest as ways to help? What does professional literature suggest?

Genius Academy Cases have been precisely crafted to fulfill the diagnostic criteria for the intended “Correct Diagnosis.” However, students, course instructors, and clinicians may at times disagree with the diagnosis.​

This is similar to diagnostic disagreements between clinicians in real-life situations and results because assigning a diagnosis requires clinical judgement to determine if the diagnostic criteria have been met. And that judgement may vary among clinicians.

In real life, there would be the ability to ask further questions of the client, or possibly of others in the client’s life, in order to clarify details.

Disagreement over the most accurate diagnoses to assign make wonderful teaching moments. Why do students see it differently? How do they justify their diagnosis over their colleagues?

What additional information would they like to confirm the diagnosis?

Situations like these can lead to robust class discussions exploring the deeper nuances of the diagnosis.