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Hero Journey Club wants to meet gamers’ mental health needs, just don’t call it therapy

Hero Journey Club is a budding mental health service for gamers that aims to offer a safe space for people to find community do inner work.

To be hired, one must have at least a master’s degree from an accredited graduate program in clinical psychology, mental health counseling, marriage/family therapy or licensed social work, says CEO and Hero Journey Club co-founder Brian Chhor. Other high-profile telecounseling platforms before it haven’t set the best example; last year the FTC came after BetterHelp for allegedly sharing customers’ data — including health information — with Facebook, Snapchat and other third parties for targeted advertising without explicit user consent. Amanda McGuire — who says she applied to work as a Journey Guide while in school for her master’s — told Engadget that the way it’s advertised felt “a little misleading” after she had the opportunity for a closer look, both in terms of the mental health services and the actual involvement of gaming.

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