We are a research and development lab that aims to establish the scientific foundations for effective mental health games. We empirically validate our games with rigorous research designs, we share our data publicly, and publish our results regardless of outcomes. We are also committed to developing a theoretical framework and new methodologies that stipulate how to use games to experimentally test theories of psychological change.
Our international partners include developmental psychologists, neuroscientists, veteran game developers, and artists whose objective is to harness the power of play to transform children's emotional lives. We co-design game experiences based on empirically validated principles, together with clinicians, parents and children themselves.
Welcome to the Games for Emotional and Mental Health (GEMH) Lab! We are committed to meeting young people in the digital playgrounds they have chosen to inhabit and providing choices that delight and empower youth while also training emotional resilience skills.
The Wall Street Journal highlights Biofeedback Therapy with DEEP VR and the GEMH Lab at Radboud University
read the full story here
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Joanneke was invited as a guest on the Play Well for Life Podcast hosted by Dr. Sarah Campbell where they discussed using Virtual Reality to improve mental health, merging art and science, and the importance of play.
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Exciting! In exactly a week, on February 19th, we'll be launching GEMH Sessions: a quarterly live webinar series in which Joanneke Weerdmeester, Nastasia Griffioen and Hanneke Scholten invite guests to discuss digital media for good!
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The last couple of months, Yannick—one of our interns—has worked closely with us on knowledge translation. Specifically, he and Nastasia have been working on translating the core message of one of Nastasia's research papers into a comic!
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It's been a hell of a year, that old 2020. But now, we're starting a new one, and a new decade at that! Time for a fresh start. Here are some personal tips given by our GEMH Lab team members!
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I met the GEMHLab on Facebook some years ago while I was still in my Sociology Bachelor. Now, I'm doing my Master's internship at GEMH Lab, and here's my experience so far!
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Little over a month ago, I was approached by Dipan Patel to talk about my work on social media and wellbeing! Now, it's out!
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We compiled a huge list of online games you can play together; classic video games as well as online board games. Updated list: 2-11-2020
In this online event that takes place tomorrow, Wednesday 24th of November, Isabela will lead a discussion about how we create the story of our 'self', how the tendrils of identity become intertwined through storytelling. We will think about the many processes and artefacts we use to construct the self, centuries old to the present digital moment.
We’re building an app to help youth reflect on their digital tech use, and in order for us to know better what to build for our target audience and how, I set out to conduct focus groups. This is my experience so far!
On October 13th, 2020 Geert Verheijen successfully defended his dissertation on the interplay between video games and social adjustment in adolescence. In this blog you can find a summary of the press releases surrounding his doctoral defence as well as a link to his dissertation.
Digital media are designed to serve many different functions: socialising, working, building relationships, as well as playing and being entertained. In this project, we seek to understand the impact of different features of digital media, and help youth align what they value and love with what they do on digital platforms, in order to increase wellbeing and coherent identity development.
Fast and accurate decision making in threatening situations is vital for police officers on duty. However, under threat, people tend to react impulsively and lack cognitive control. This is why police officers need to train control over their responses to threat as much as possible. To enable this, we develop a virtual training environment with real-time biofeedback. We combine virtual reality and biofeedback to create a personalized, realistic training experience, while honing state-of-the-art technology and psychophysical theory.
People with large social networks on average live longer, happier, less stressed lives. We can potentially leverage video games and virtual spaces to increase the experience of social support and impact daily stress and anxiety. Therefore, this project aims to show that virtual social support can lower stress, and potentially impact stress coping behaviours.
