Should Linden Lab require certification for these SL 'Therapists'?

This.

"Therapist" can be anyone from a fully RL licenced professional to someone who's just a keen observer of people and might be able to help. Obviously for serious problems a qualified professional is needed, but many times it's nothing more than a compassionate attitude and an ear to lend that people seek. If that has theraputic value for someone needing to vent or get something off their back, who's to say that it's wrong or that someone isn't qualified to listen? It's really no different than fishing for sympathetic back-pats on a public forum and then getting them. The same need, process, exchange, and return happens in both cases.

Well I am concerned about these people in a weakened psychological state being taken advantage of after relying on someone who pretends to be a therapist.

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A legitimate concern. The first and most important qualification for being able to help someone is to actually give a shit. Sadly many in both RL and SL don't and only see the $ signs.

"If someone claims to be a psychologist and tells me to do something to assist with what I am dealing with, will I do it? Who knows, however I will use the common sense god gave me and decide for myself if it is worth doing with no danger to me or anyone else."

I would also hope if someone was seeing a psychologist in RL they would also do as said above.
Not all professionals are ethical http://books.google.com.au/books?id=zeYjc9PAF_QC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=%22psychologist+abusing+clients+%22&source=bl&ots=bTPMAFWB2L&sig=AxYfvBbrmRXQpPGC3uvH7HjOc5w&hl=en&ei=CSm-SYybNZj07APR2MzmBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA11,M1

The biggest concern I have about unregulated therapists in RL and SL is not so much to do with training as supervision.

As others have said, it doesn't necessarily take years of training to become an empathic listener - that can just be a natural human trait, and conversely, a person can have years of training under their belt, but if you have a basic personality clash then it is unlikely they are the right therapist for you.

Therapists who are members of proper professional organisations not only have to be trained and qualified but have to have regular supervision. This means that for every x hours spent with clients, they in their turn will spend an hour with their supervising therapist. This helps to ensure that the therapist maintains perspective on the client's problems without becoming unhelpfully or dangerously over-involved.

How about demanding that only those with significant relevant experience in real life should be allowed to practise BDSM in sl?

Pep (amateurs might hurt someone! )

Isn't that the idea?


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I know you were being sarcastic but your fairly close to the mark in many ways.

If a couple are "playing" at BDSM and one is more emotionally involved, that person could get hurt if when they learn the so called Dom/slave was only playing as with any relationship in SL/ yahoo/ WoW/ MSN/ local bar or any other venue you can meet someone.

Someone also said about regulations well who's regulations? Different countries have different levels of training so must all psychologist be US certified ?

Guess it comes down to buyer beware

I'm glad someone got it . . .

Pep (If you believe, or worse, take seriously, *anything* that *anyone* says to you in sl - or these forums - you deserve what you get!)

Ohhh careful maybe i am a therapist

I just Googled the word 'therapy' because I'm quite puzzled about the way posts to this thread keep hanging back on the OP's use of the word 'therapist' and the apparent irrelevance of training or accreditation to practice. I was also puzzled about my own tendency to just lump the terms 'therapy' and 'therapist' in with psychology.

Four or five pages of search results for the term 'therapy' seem to be a fair enough indicator of common usage and you know what? All uses of the term that I can find connected with mental or emotional health and well-being and even counseling appear to use the term as an abbreviation for psychotherapy, practitioners of any variety of which are required to be some form of licensed professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist, medical doctor, nurse or social worker. Even group therapy it seems requires a trained psychologist to host sessions.

Now that I have thought about it a little more, it occurs to me that folk often use the expression 'in therapy' to describe a course of visits to a psychiatrist or psychologist.

So can someone please enlighten me as to what other form of therapist actually does not require accreditation? Is it the case that the type of therapist I have been thinking of does not require accreditation because he or she will already be some form of accredited professional?

Already on this thread we have had several expressions of the view that SL is just some kind of game, which is very true for some, including myself, but the line between the two is less distinct for quite a few residents as far as I can tell from the content of these forums and my own experiences in-world. In consideration of this I do not see how it is enough to say that it is a matter of personal choice and careful research in choosing a therapist or that a willingness to listen and all the good will in the world makes someone a capable therapist.

If we are discussing an SL corollary of something that does in fact require RL accreditation, then it is my opinion that we have a far bigger, more potentially damaging issue under discussion here than ageplay: how would a resident determine that the 'therapist' helping them to work through their problems is not just playing a game too or that on a bad day he or she will have sufficient training to avoid letting their own problems get in the way?

Otherwise, if it is a simply a matter of a listening ear and kind words over a herbal tea, then fine I say, go for it.

Nah

Pep (You haven't told me I am unreasonable and unmanageable and tried to charge me for it)

Aroma-therapist?

Pep (Not much use in sl though . . . )

I dunno. Plenty of things in SL smell to me and it ain't all roses neither, I can tell you.

good luck with that. I've seen some helpful groups of people for several different RL issues operating within SL, especially peer support. I've seen a few predatory ones too, so be careful.


no offense taken, it was intended as disingenuous gallows humor, having been on both sides of that divide.

@Ephraim:
I agree in general principal with your critique, except the very last. I don't see it being effective or useful ( and probably not feasible either) for LL to validate, license, or otherwise manage professional certifications when those services are provided by the governments and authorities local to those presumed professionals. Making a false claim of professional license is just as illegal in SL as it is in RL.

as for the term therapist and it's relation to the field of psychology, it is true that it sees heavy use there, which I chalk up to most people not knowing the exact title of each subspecialty (which incidentally is what's usually printed on their degrees and licenses). a good analogy would be 'athelete' which covers anyone from the occasional powerwalker, to Olympic gold medalists. it just means they engage in athletic actions. similarly a therapist provides a theraputic treatment. whether it be psychoanalysis, or a spa treatment.

@pep and his flirtations with misogyny and discussions therof:
presuming pep acts the same in life as he presents here, and really is married (one never knows) i'd guess his wife is either brow beaten into submission with a potential to snap and claim battered woman syndrome at the trial, or quietly looking for an untraceable means to off him and collect the life insurance.
[My name is void Singer and I approve of those responses, er I mean this message... yeah, that's totally what I meant, uh huh]

Ephraim - I was going to write a long reply, instead, to spare you, here is a summary:

There are as many types/styles of "therapies" as there are religion.

In the Colonies, licensing/credentialing is determined on a state by state basis. For example, in Colorado, anyone can hang a shingle out as long as you don't pass yourself off as having credentials in a field you don't have.

It would be interesting if SL could enforce California standards, but the issue is not so easily clarified as most states have not a legislative clue. So to expect LL to step into that fray is expecting too much.

But the bottom line to all this talk is quite simple:

Licensed people can apply for insurance reimbursement; unlicensed can not.

And, as a previous poster posted: Let the buyer beware.

Listening ear and tea is fine, but my poison is a fine whiskey.

So who is behaving like an unwanted therapist now? If my wife *did* read your post you could find yourself implicated in any actions she might take, if you believe the nonsense already suggested in this thread.

Also, it might be just as well I have informed my wife that in the UK (and the US) Battered Woman Syndrome is not accepted as a defence, the best that can be expected being a diminished responsibility plea, which would get her locked up in a much nastier place than simple first degree murder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_woman_defence is very illuminating in a lay fashion, and I have in fact established considerably more grounds for the reverse being the case, although the feminists out there probably don't want to hear that.

Pep (Of course you know *nothing* about my marital circumstances; I may even be a therapist myself )

As the owner of the Garden of Lost Love, I knew that I wanted to have a qualified counselor on staff, with experience in grief counseling, as I felt it was irresponsible to provide a place for someone to express their grief, without providing a way to help heal the grief. I also had some very real concerns about someone grieving their way to suicide.

Fortunately, someone I know IS a grief counselor. I've confirmed his qualifications, and have even had a session or two with him myself.

People who contact him typically only need a visit or two to help get a handle on their grieving process.

Those who treat with him pay far less than they would pay for counseling in the real world, but far more than the typical resident would spend on...say, a pair of shoes.

So, who is the typical patient? Someone who feels more comfortable spilling their guts in an anonymous environment. Someone who, for whatever reasons, can't leave their home (kids, illness, disability). Someone with no insurance but can afford the relatively small amount charged here (less than a typical insurance co-payment).

The last time I checked in with him about this, he had no less than 40 residents in treatment with him and has hired another RL counselor (qualifications checked) to assist him.

It's not just grief counseling that he gives, nor what the residents seek.

In a virtual world where higher education is available, where Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held, and even church services (my own church operates an inworld branch), I see nothing wrong with counseling.

Is it a case of physician heal thyself ?

If there was anything wrong with me I would fix it.

Pep (But it is the whole of the rest of the world that is the problem, which is too big a task even for me )

Maybe you could try to fix it one av at a time ?
Pep do you think ppl with alts have Dissociative identity disorder?

Yes and no.

Or maybe they DID have.

Pep (depending upon which one of them you might ask)

that's odd, I don't remember offering any therapeutic services... as for implications, imply away. I stated a guess of events already in play, not suggestions of actions, never mind the statements were to you and not your wife.

fwiw better variations exist like self defense in the face of imminent harm... but did you really mean to give away that last sentence?

agreed. in fact I pointed out there might not be any marital circumstance at all... I did predicate it all on the reliability of your own reporting, and end it with overt humor....

because in truth, I doubt you are the same in person as you present yourself here

Damnit I expected dry English wit. I feel deprived; correct it this instant!

if one person calls you a horse... =P

damn, did I just precipitate the derailment of this thread?