Dr. Rachel Kowert

This morning, the NY Times posted an article entitled “Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?”. This article told the story of Charlie Bracke and his descent into video game addiction. This article is just one of many that have following the…

The International Games Summit on Mental Health Awareness (TIGS) was held last week over world mental health day in Toronto, Canada. This was the first annual meeting of the group and was hosted by Mark Chandler and Take This. Attendees included…

In March, I will be traveling to Boston for PAX East 2019. I am lucky enough to be on six panels this year ranging from moral panic to the nostaliga of video games. If you are going to be traveling East for PAX this year, here is where you will be…

In June 2018, a commentary article entitled “Video game loot boxes are psychologically akin to gambling” by Aaron Drummond and James D. Sauer (2018) was published in Nature. The authors assess if loot boxes (i.e., purchasable randomized rewards in…

In a few short weeks, I will be joining some of my favorite people at PAX West in Seattle, WA. This time around, I will be participating in two different panels.

On Saturday, I will be part of the The Psychology of The Legend of Zelda Franchise panel alongside Drs. Anthony Bean, Stephen Daniel, and Sarah Hays…

Have a tween or teen obsessed with video games? Find yourself in a constant battle over how much your kids spend on video games?

Earlier in the year, I spoke with Annie Fox about A Parent’s Guide to Video Games about kids’ gaming, its effect on…

When I was younger, my Mom would say that we become who our friends are. So if I was friends with the overachieving scholars, then I would rise up to their level. But, if instead I was friends with the kids getting bad grades, skipping school, and…

You know the old adage “dress for the job that you want”? I think we need to take that one step further and dress for the life that we want.

Here is an example: This morning I had a phone conference with a Kitsune client. As it was early this morning…

Back in August, I was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer about the role that video games can play in spirituality. Specifically, how video games may help one connect with their spirituality and possibly induce feelings of transcendence.

This…

Later this month, I will be speaking at the BRAVE Women’s Conference about how to tackle the new challenges that come with parenting in a “digital” world. This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. As a mother of two, I find myself…