Advances in Therapy Technology

Although I am a face-to-face therapy client, I find the idea of having online therapy quite interesting. It's not just emailing back and forth, it also may be through webcam, chat room, or even on a role-playing platform. What amazes me the most is the latter. Second Life is a site where you can make your own character and act out every day activities. It's like The SIMS, but everyone on Second Life is a real person. There are therapists who practice actual therapy techniques, meditation circles, and group therapy sessions on this platform. It may seem outlandish, but isn't the point helping others, not how it's done?

Some argue that this could be detrimental to someone who is too involved with the game or someone who won't leave their house and lives only virtually. Though I'm no scholar, it seems that if you can open the door to therapy, at least a crack, perhaps you can help someone to get out of their virtual head and eventually transition to face-to-face therapy. TILT Magazine covers a lot of this subject and offers some opinions on how to best use online therapy. It also gives resources for both therapists and clients.

I find it amazing to see how the practice of helping others has begun to mold itself to the age of technology. Now instead of laying down on a couch in a dusty office, you can lay on a virtual couch from the comfort of your desk chair!