After thinking about Prof. McLeod’s research on Second Life, I’ve been wondering about whether Second Life could be effective as a psych-therapy tool. Given the evidence in his paper and lecture, I’m beginning to think it really could be. Last semester in 245 we discussed the social and psychological effects of an increasingly CMC centered society, and covered briefly the benefits it can bring to people trying to strengthen already-existing relationships. I personally have seen what CMC can do for people that for some reason just can’t express themselves well in face to face interaction.
Based on these thoughts, I think it’d be interesting to try therapy in a setting such as Second Life. The effect of being anonymous and of being able to create your own image of yourself (avatar) I feel should create an excellent environment for people to open up in sessions with psychiatrists/therapists. I know of many people that would balk at the idea of visiting a therapist for even seriously noticeable issues, but with a setting such as Second Life, most of the reasons for reluctance they express would be removed. Of course, some sort of reputable system would have to be set up, but in Second Life, a patient would have a whole lot of control over factors such as not having to leave their office or residence, being able to abort the session/communication at any time, being able to present themselves however they like, and, as I mentioned before, being able to be anonymous.
Areas in which I feel that Second Life would be lacking in include serious business meetings. In class we talked about how factors such as eye contact and facial/body cues are important in settings where trust is an issue. Although Prof. McLeod talked about how IBM has been using Second Life for business, I feel that for serious meetings in which important business deals are being discussed, the absence of these kinds of cues in Second Life would probably cause people to feel uncomfortable making important decisions. Not only that, they wouldn’t even know for sure that the people behind the avatars are who they should be.
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Ooh, your idea of using SecondLife for therapy is interesting. The self-expressive tools of SL can make it therapeutic I think. In terms of psychotherapy though, I think SL works better as more of an environment for exploring new behaviors and selves, rather than as a communication tool between a therapist and a patient. It could definitely be part of a cognitive behavioral therapy program, where a user can practice desireable behaviors within the relatively safe environment of SL, much like the idea McLeod mentioned about shy people learning to be more outgoing and comfortable in social interaction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment before mine, second life as a therapeutic tool actually sounds like a great idea. The anonymity of the internet really makes it conducive to to opening up, but I feel that if therapy is to be used in between doctors and patients you wouldn't see the true effects of internet anonymity because the patient would know they were speaking with a doctor
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