Daniel Kaufmann

Dr. Kaufmann is currently a Contributing Faculty at Walden University in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. He has been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida over the past 8 years and is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Arizona. In addition to state licensures, he holds the Internationally Certified Gambling Counselor (ICGC-II) and Board Approved Clinical Consultant (BACC) credentials, and provides counseling and supervision specifically focused on online gaming and gambling-related issues. Dr. Kaufmann assists Walden University several times each year with instructing online courses and contributing his expertise on a variety of clinical issues whenever possible.

Dr. Kaufmann is the current chairperson for the DSM-5 Taskforce on Video Gaming issues reporting to the American Psychiatric Association and is a member of several international boards overseeing the clinical training of counselors intending to specialize in these treatment areas. His research interests include online games, gaming motivation, personality theory, existential fulfillment, and application of technology for online counselor instruction. His research identity began with creating a personality taxonomy using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to identify specific significant differences in how people with varied types play the online game Star Wars: The Old Republic with different motivation levels and activities of focus.

Dr. Kaufmann has been published on numerous occasions and presents at multiple counseling / mental health events each year. He was the 2019 Keynote Speaker at the Arizona Problem Gambling symposium and has presented numerous times nationally for the Geek Therapeutics community. Hit theoretical orientation is heavily influenced by Cognitive, Narrative, and Existential style approaches.