Almost as soon as the news reports came out of Newtown, hospitals and kids organizations started offering advice about how to talk to kids about the horrific school shooting.
These short-term coping methods will be enough for many children, but others will need more help in dealing with the anxiety caused by a shooting in a school. Anxiety disorders are already common in kids and teenagers. One study reported that up to 13% of nine- to 17-years-old have an anxiety disorder each year.
A Cincinnati startup is developing an online game that offers this extra help for kids dealing with fears about monsters, monsters, the dark or any other scary thing that is bothering them.
Andrea Brady and Tracy Ruberg started Empowering Innovations LLC and the company’s first product is MyFear Zapper.
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“For some kids, especially the ones who have heard about the shooting and might be upset or afraid that it might happen, this game might help them,” Brady said. “As time goes on and those kids are a little calmer, it would be a good thing that they could then use.”
MyFear Zapper uses the basic techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy in a web-based game. The MyFear Zapper team worked with Zack who was afraid of zoombies – fast zombies.
Brady said that when a child is scared of something, one of the first things parents try is comfort options like stuffed animals.
“Games don’t help, books generally are preachy,” Brady said. “Parenting is the best solutions but that often doesn’t work either. We’re missing an opportunity to teach kids new skills.”
Brady described the game this way:
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- A child meets two expert guides – Bold Bill and Courageous Kate who used to be scaredy cats
- The guides ask the child to rate the fear and describe it
- The child learns techniques that can be used anywhere and any time
“The idea is that the child is doing something,” Brady said. “She can call to mind the technique and gain control of the fear.”
In addition to the MyFear Zapper program, kids can use the site’s Critter Creator to imagine his fear as a silly animal.
Brady said that Zack’s fear of zoombies went from level 10 to level 2 after playing the game.
A mental health agency in Cincinnati was MyFear Zapper’s first beta customer. One practitioner used the system with 21 kids.
“81% saw a reduction in fear after only a few uses,” Brady said.
Brady said that a Ronald McDonald house was doing test with residents. Also, doctors and therapists at the Lindner Center of Hope are recommending the game to their patients. The residential treatment center is in Mason, OH, and helps children, teenagers, and adults with anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD, substance abuse and mood disorders.
The startup is focusing on selling to professionals,including therapists, counselors, and Head Start programs. There is a monthly subscription option for consumers. Parent accounts are free. There is a charge for each child’s account. A year’s subscription is $29.95.
Brady said that improvements for 2013 include updating the game to use HTML 5. Some organizations can’t use Flash, the technology that the game uses currently.
The startup was part of Innov8 for Health’s first class.
Brady worked at Procter and Gamble and owned her own marketing consulting company for 20 years. Ruberg is a strategic development and sales professional with experience at companies including Dell, HP and Ernst & Young.