Helping Cure Drama, One Resi at a Time: Counseling in Second Life

[kateamdahl]

In a recent post about the SL Secrets site, I mentioned in passing that I was sad that there were residents who seemed to be in a bad place, and I wished there were somewhere such people could go for help. 1ndustria set me straight on that, mentioning several such places! I hope to blog a little about those in future (especially peer counseling, which

Comments

[joshooahlove]

Absolutely fascinating post Kate! I think we've all met a few people in our SL travels, or even ourselves, that could use have used these types of professional services at some point in our virtual lives. It's great to know that there are resources out there where we can refer people when just talking to a friend may not be sufficient for matters that may be beyond the scope of our abilities.

I suspect some of these types of services offered in an unregulated environment may be prone to the occasional unscrupulous practitioner so I wonder how far real life professional governing bodies that license and regulate such therapists are dealing with the offering of such online virtual services. I'm in the medical field and I know my professional regulating body has often struggled with practice guidelines for offering services online. There are huge amounts of ethical and legal issues with offering of such services and I wonder if Avalon's licensing body has even come close with dealing with such issues in a virtual environment such as confidentiality (LL could potentially access client/patient sessions), retention of medical records etc etc.

Most medical type professions in Canada are self-regulating but the licensing bodies are not necessarily there to protect the interests of its members but to protect the interests of the public. There are specific processes in place where the public may file complaints for misconduct which could potentially lead to some form of disciplinary action up to and including revokation of my license to practice. Not to discount Avalon's practice in any way as I personally feel she is offering an important service in-world, but I would suspect offering virtual counselling services currently is a bit like the wild, wild west. Kudos to her though for being a groundbreaker in her field and also to you for highlighting that SL is not just about poseballs and shopping for hair.

[kateamdahl]

Thanks for posting that information, Joshooah, and I worry too about the lack of oversight (although not where people like Avalon are concerned - partly because she's qualified in First Life and shares her credentials with her clients). I hope that mostly any unscrupulous people who try to set themselves up as counselors but don't know what they're doing are getting laughed off the grid or quickly find they're in over their heads and run away. Since we can't be sure, though, I certainly hope some group - maybe even just an in-world association with some kind of First Life credibility? - can help sort the legitimate from the no-good practitioners.

"that SL is not just about poseballs and shopping for hair"

But we can agree that those are the most *important* things, can't we?

^^^\ Kate /^^^

[joshooahlove]

i just took a minute to read the linked article in wellness magazine and was reassured to read the excerpts about how avalon dealt with the limitations to her practice in second life. it would be interesting to know how her regulatory bodies has dealt with these practice settings and whether they've offered any sort of consensus or professional practice guidelines which helped her in developing her island.

All caveats aside, I really think this is such a great opportunity for outreach for those needing mental health services but for whatever reason are unable, unwilling or just don't know how to seek such help.

[joshooahlove]

.. and stop "fashion police"

pew pew

el oh el

[kateamdahl]

*laughing*

I'm itching to see those pictures and video (for anyone who wasn't there, Joshooah showed up to the Battle of the Fashionistas in a Fashion Police outfit with a gun that shot fashion citations; I could hardly stop laughing)...I'm hoping Eris will be able to send me some in the next few days.