The Fake Doctor’s Association

“Ever wanted to impress someone by telling them you’re a doctor? Or have you ever wanted to be a doctor but lacked the time, money, and sheer will to go to school for it? Well not to worry! By joining The Fake Doctor’s Association, you get the title without all the fuss! Now you can finally tell people that you are in fact a person of medicine!”

fda.jpg

That’s the description you’ll find for the Fake Doctor’s Association, which I was offered membership of late last year after a conversation with an FDA member. This week I received a Group Notice from FDA’s founder (pictured):

“Hello Doctors,

I have an assignment for all members of the Fake Doctor’s Association. This week, I want you to commit malpractice at least once and tell me about it.

To help you, here is an axe.

Regards,
Janette Deakins
Founder, The Fake Doctor’s Association”

So if you see someone wielding an axe, they’re likely to be fake health professionals, so no need to be concerned.

Virtual drug use – a way to minimise harm?

The Drug Policy Alliance have posted an interested article on the role of virtual worlds like SL and drug use experimentation. Essentially, work is being done so that individuals can ‘experience’ a substance prior to taking it in real life. As the blog post mentions, how do you re-create the physiological and psychological effects of taking a substance? You don’t.

cannabis.jpg

So although there may be some educational benefits, there’s also the risk of a substance’s effects being massively underestimated based on a virtual experience.

Interview – Wellman and Wellman Counselling

As covered previously on SLOz, counselling in-world is a growing area and one that involves some contention. Tranquil Wellman, a counsellor from Australia and her business partner Transcend Wellman, agreed to a frank interview on the nature of counselling in SL and the challenges it poses.

Lowell: Can you tell me a little about your background as counsellors?

Transcend: I’ve been involved as a counsellor and coach for about 20 years. I use the human givens (HG) approach and a Reichian model called bioenergetics. HG is based on Ericksonian stuff and borrows from what is good about many other approaches including CBT

Lowell: And you, Tranquil?

Tranquil: I did my counselling training in 1992, earning a Diploma of Applied Jungian Psychology. I am qualified to work , in RL, using Jungian Dreamwork, Sandplay, Voice Dialogue, Active Imagination and also Rebirthing. Most of all though, I offer myself as a very good and empathetic, listener 🙂

Lowell: What led to you both setting up business in SL?

Transcend: Well, we met in other avatars and discovered a shared passion for psychology and also a large unmet need here in SL so we decided to establish a professional approach to online counselling.

Lowell: You say there’s a large need – can you define what you mean by that?

Transcend: Well, there are so many folk here in SL who experience the negative aspects of SL’s anonymity in relationships and many are very hurt by that. Many folk also come to SL to seek a way through their own life problems.

Tranquil: Behind every avatar there is a person who has brought to SL all their RL issues in some ways.

Lowell: What sort of issues do you primarily deal with in-world?

Transcend: In-world it is mostly relationship issues

Tranquil: Yes

Transcend: but sometimes more dramatic things.

Lowell: Are the issues with in-world relationships or RL relationships?

Transcend: Both in fact, but predominantly relationships based on SL contacts. The most dramatic thing I had was a guy who was going to commit suicide

Tranquil: Yes, mostly in-world, but both at times

Lowell: What are your thoughts on potential conflicts between RL and SL relationships?

Transcend: It isn’t possible in my view to separate RL and SL emotionally and people who say they can are deluding themselves. SL relationships are as real as RL and often flood over into RL.

Lowell: Can you give a ‘day in the life’ summary of a counselling session?

Tranquil: A session will begin with some time for the client to talk about how they are, and to tell of anything in particular they may wish to work on during the session. Then we will work together for around 35 to 40 minutes, using whichever techniques are most helpful, before finishing with some discussion about what the client has learned or understood during the session. We may then suggest some “homework” to do, or help them to set a goal for themselves to work on in the time until their next session. Initial consultations are free and briefer and exist primarily for us and the client to find out if we want to go further together. This is a vital safeguard in this type of on-line counselling.

Lowell: What is your approach with life coaching?

Tranquil: Therapy and counselling usually address issues which are caused by events that happened in the past. With life coaching, we support clients to work on changing things in their life in the present and future, allowing them to achieve goals they will set for themselves (a vital point) in various areas of their life: work, health and relationships. Areas such as motivation to lose weight, exercise and change bad habits often surface in coaching. Dealing with apparently difficult colleagues or partners is also a big area of coaching work. Most people present with a feeling of being stuck in a rut, however, and the reasons for that need to be coaxed into the open to allow the client themselves to be assisted (never advised) to reach conclusions about the best way forward and to find the right motivational triggers to make that happen.

Lowell: The potential for addiction to SL seems self-evident – would you agree and do you think you’d have a role to play in addressing that?

Tranquil: SL provides people with an escape from pressures and problems in their RL, which could become addictive. We describe SL as a platform for self-expression and this platform can take over from similar RL outlets to the detriment of someone’s wellbeing. Counselling for the issues causing the need to “escape”, along with support for making changes in the way they use SL, to reduce or stop their dependence are helpful for people who see their way of using SL as causing a problem for them. It is about helping people to get their needs met in balance which is the basis for health in the body/mind/spirit continuum.

Lowell: What health outcomes do you think you can achieve through in-world counselling?

Tranquil: Counselling through this medium achieves the same outcomes as in face-to-face work once suitability is established and an empathetic rapport has been created. So a range of problems can be tackled and overcome in ideal circumstances – including depression, anxiety, addictions, phobias, relationship problems and even complex issues like PTSD, in the right cases. The outcome should be a healthy body/mind/spirit after a relatively short number of sessions – usually no more than six.

Lowell: Like RL, knowing whether any professional is appropriately qualified can be difficult – does the lack of accreditation options in SL put either professionals or clients at risk?

Tranquil: It is certainly a possibility that unqualified people may pose as being able to help people. Our advice to clients is to always have an introductory session to see if there is a genuine counsellor who can help in an empathetic manner. Leave at once if you are uncertain or if you are asked to do anything which makes you uncomfortable. A golden rule for our type of therapy and counselling is that you should always leave a session feeling better than when you arrived. We do not dredge up the past and absolutely discount the ‘no pain, no gain’ school of therapy. Accreditation would be very helpful but SL is an international world and national regulations vary so much (and in some cases do not exist). We are looking to partner with similar minded counsellors to define high standards of practice and perhaps create a self-regulatory framework of SL accreditation in this important area.

Lowell: What plans do you have for your business?

Tranquil: We are relatively new to SL although we have long experience in RL counselling, coaching and therapy. Our goal is to provide ongoing, reliable and professional counselling support for the residents of SL. As we see more and more clients we will be able to be judged on our results more and more. On-line counselling is in its infancy but in the future we have an interest to offer group discussion sessions at our premises in Thargor, for people who will find that type of service helpful.

Lowell: What can someone expect when they come to see you?

Tranquil: Clients can expect to receive professional, confidential and non-judgmental support from a counsellor who is an empathetic and good listener. They can expect to be seen over a brief period of time (not hooked into months and months of expensive treatment) and they can expect to feel better very quickly. If at any time we feel that someone else can better treat them, they can expect to be referred promptly. We will not begin to treat cases which we are uncomfortable dealing with because of the nature of on-line counselling or where we are concerned about establishing rapport. We use SL IM for initial contact but will almost always need to talk to clients using VOIP (Skype or Yahoo) with web cams.

Counselling in Second Life

One of the main objectives of SLOz is to discuss the wider societal issues that SL raises. Previously we’ve discussed addiction in SL as a double-edged sword in that it can both help to treat real-life addiction but also has the potential to create new addictions. Delving further into the former, finding counselling options in-world is becoming easier and more become available. However, determining what is valid counselling in Second Life is extremely difficult. If you don’t know the difference between Jungian and Family therapy in real life, what hope do you have deciphering the options in SL? Some disciplined Googling wil help clarify some of the terminology but won’t tell you which counselling approach works best – and that’s because there is no one approach that works – it’s a very individual thing. This means that you may need to spend some time with a counsellor in SL before you know whether you feel comfortable, both with their demeanour and approach. Counselling can be one of the most health-enabling things you can do but an inexperienced or inappropriate counsellor can at best be ineffectual, at worst damaging.

An example of a counselling service avilable in SL is Wellman and Wellman Counselling, Coaching and Therapy. We’ll profile them and others over coming weeks. We’re not in a position to recommend any but want to publicise as many options as possible. If you’ve had positive or negative in-world experiences with counselling we’d love to hear from you.

SL’s Healthinfo Island

Healthinfo Island is an impressive community effort on the part of health librarians and it offers two services – a consumer health library and a medical library for health professionals. Both are run by specialist health librarians, Namro Orman and Carolina Keats.

When describing the Consumer Health Library, Keats says “the building is deliberately non-tech, home-like and the doors never close. It’s meant to be welcoming – I think lots about what’s welcoming, non-institutional, and about fostering trust”.

The library, although comprehensive, is always evolving, with new initiatives in development.

“One.. initiative, just in early days, is to encourage the development and identification of assistive technologies so that people with disabilities can come to SL, interact,’ Keats continued

The array of health information on offer is enormous, but approachable through use of everyday objects and environments.

‘if I could give a sort of high-level picture of what we’re about – we’re about supporting SL groups and individuals with quality health information, to empower them as health consumers,” Keats said.

“I’ll be going out to folks, finding out about information needs – and hope to enlist them in collaborative events, like health fairs. There are many healthcare-associated people in SL, so I want to connect with them, too. We are looking for people to help create content in health & wellness subject areas”.

If you’re looking for health information for a family member or friend, or a health professional after research findings, Healthinfo island should be your first stop in-world

Health Care – Second Life Style

The issue of Addiction in Second Life has been discussed previously, but there’s a much wider scope in Second Life for the issue of health. Ask any health professional what their definition of health is and you’ll get a very different answer every time. The World Health Organisation states that: “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, and that’s as good a definition as you’ll find.

Even though health is so much more than hospitals, they deserve a mention. As of now, there are no Australian health services with a presence in SL, hospital or otherwise. At an international level, finding health services in-world tends to lead to things like Danvers State Hospital (pictured), which is offering themed rental like no other. There is also a real-life Danvers Insane Asylum and neither particularly help to remove the stereotype of mental health care options. Add to that groups like the Fake Doctors Association and the colourful side of the equation is well serviced.

Support for Healing Island (pictured) is a well known support service for anyone wanting to talk about an issue, but otherwise there’s very little around that I’ve come across as yet.

Is this due to lack of R&D funds for health services to investigate innovative ways of delivering health care or a general lack of awareness and understanding? The Education sector leads the way in this area, with health lagging, at best. The Australian scene is even less evolved and the University
sector will probably need to lead the way if any real progress is to be made.

One other thing – we love being proved wrong at SLOz – if you know of health services in-world that we’ve missed, we’d love to hear about them.

Previous Posts