SecondLife Therapy Sessions – Get A (Second) Life

Psychotherapy in a virtual world has its advantages – particularly if the real world is what you can’t cope with

The emotions are real. The rewards are real. Only the location is fake

“This ability to construct and control a virtual environment is creating a new branch of psycho-therapy “avatar therapy” in which therapists interact with their clients avatar to avatar.”

Say “Hi!” to Second Life, a virtual world with almost 20 million players, where the avatars – digital personas of the players – create their environment and the limit is only their imagination.
For many users this isn’t simply a game. They use it to socialize and  immitate real life: Musicians have concerts, artists display their work and scientists go to meetings. People work, learn and connect in this virtual environment.

This ability to construct and control a virtual environment is creating a new branch of psycho-therapy “avatar therapy” in which therapists interact with their clients avatar to avatar.

On the surface, a virtual therapy session  might sound like a pale imitation of a real-life therapy session; Yet its advocates claim that avatar therapy has some unique advantages that take psychotherapy to the next level. (I wonder what level is that!!! LOL)

In Second Life, therapy sessions are not confined to the therapist’s virtual office; they can also involve role-play scenarios to allow the patient to practice their newly learned coping skills in virtual environments tailored to their needs. All the while the therapist gives real-time feedback (In reality you will find that its very time and resource consuming to create virtual environments tailored to each client’s individual therapy needs.)

The biggest drawback though, is the -almost- complete absence of body language. For people used to Second Life, this is not as much of a problem as they are already familiar with expressing themselves using their avatars. On the positive side the clients can benefit from the loss of inhibition because their interface to the virtual world is the avatar.

The Online Therapy Institute, a mental health training body in Second Life, is pushing for professional standards to be agreed across this emerging field. It offers a “Verified by” logo that therapists who meet its standards can display on their websites.

OK, when I first read that I almost fell off my chair laughing. “Verified by” logo? Its hilarious …  Mental Health Training Body?….

So far studies have shown similar success rates to traditional therapy for social anxiety

Does that mean that the digital avatar will have to come back again and again and again and again and again and again for yet another therapy session?
(By the way, most virtual therapists charge real $$ money  for their virtual sessions)