Provider Spotlight Kahlin Whatley MSW
Meet our newest provider Kahlin Whatley MSW
Kahlin is here to run more applied gaming groups for us!
What brought you to Health Quest?
I have always believed in the power of stories and comradery to help people change and grow. I started in the film industry but ultimately wanted to do more to help and connect with people. After a decade, I returned to school to become a social worker. While attending graduate school in New York City, I met Dr Connell at a tabletop gaming convention. The opportunity to work at a place like Health Quest was just too good of a fit to pass up. I graduated and moved to Charlotte a few months later.
What does innovation mean for you and your practice?
For me, innovation is rooted in meeting clients where they are. The ability to verbally describe your feelings is a skill many people have yet to develop, especially men & boys. There are so many other ways to externalize your emotions, from making art to storytelling to moving your body. There are so many different angles from which to see a situation. How often do we give great advice to a friend we would never come up with for ourselves? You have a whole new perspective when you put yourself into a story.
What are some recent developments in your field that you are most excited about?
I am so excited that so many more studies are being done on roleplaying games and collaborative storytelling as a healing practice. This modern version of the ancient practice of telling stories around the campfire is starting to get the evidence-based recognition it deserves.
What media (books, films, TV etc.) do find most inspirational?
GODZILLA: MINUS ONE - one of the best examples of community cooperation I’ve ever seen on film.
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia Butler - “Everything you touch, you change. Everything you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.”
WEST SIDE STORY - It’s a bunch of guys in gangs singing and dancing their feelings. I mean, come on!
What does good self-care look like for you?
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare," - Audre Lorde
Play. Be it games, music, sports, daydreaming, or anything I can honestly do for its own sake, without expectation of outcome. That is what fills my cup.
