Thursday 25 December 2008

Second Life Counselling Office


Here is a picture of my new counselling office in Second Life (SL) as it is just now. Its located in a sky box 600 metres above the ground with a security orb that creates the maximum amount of privacy possible in SL.

Hopefully there is enough space to feel comfortable and cosy enough to feel relaxed.

Please drop by and try out the leather sofa, and you could even make some recommendations for my decor :) by following this link http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bast/105/18/21

New reception building for Second Life counselling practice


Thought I would spend some time doing things on my macbook that I can manage ... well that I think that I can. Thought I might show you the new reception building for my counselling practice in Second Life (SL).

In the first pic I am standing outside the reception building for wilsoncounselling.co.uk in SL and I guess the area needs some landscaping :)

Feels like it could do with more development but hopefully it is an appropriate space for people to come and find out about my practice and make contact if they want.

Inside there is a waiting area, connections to my offices including the space where I offer counselling, a space for group work and another for conferencing. and a really interesting piece of technology which allows people to fill in a consent form prior to counselling.

You can visit my reception building by following this link http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bast/105/16/21

New addition to the family

There is a new addition to the family this week, a Macbook Aluminum, and I love it :) Although i just cant seem to work it.

I have that feeling of never having had a computer before, everything seems new and either takes twice as long to do ... or i just cant seem to manage it at all.

I regularly read isilo files that gives me access to .pdb files ... and i just cant find a way to open them on my mac

Have just managed to get Entourage downloaded and running ... which feels like a victory!

But my macbook is so shiny and fast that I will definitely persevere ... I am really interested in web broadcasting and hopefully that my macbook will be an important tool in this as I think about conferencing in Second Life and Real Life simultaneously.

With a mixture of excitement and frustration I am turning to my other new activity ... blogging :)


Saturday 13 December 2008

RL/SL Conference







I was really excited to attend the "Program for the Future Conference" in second life (SL) this week that was also being held in real life (RL). Feels like the lines between the two worlds are continue to blur and what is important is not so much what is "real" but which space is more convenient, beneficial and desirable for me to inhabit at any particular moment in time.

In this case it was the only possible way to experience the conference as the RL element was happening in California USA and I was in Scotland, but thanks to SL I was still able to experience it.

When I arrived at the SL site there was a giant screen with video and audio from the RL site, I could easily see and hear what was going on in the RL location.

This technology is particularly of interest to me as I am investigating the viability of a SL element at OCTIA the first British onlinie counsellinig conference. So even if you can't make it physically to the conference you could join us virtually in SL!



-- Post From My iPhone

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Neuroscience

I listened to a really interesting podcast from listened yo a really intereating podcast from the BBC yesterday about neuroscience. Melvyn Beag interviewed a panel of experts who touched something that really caught my attention.

They mentioned a set of experiments that suggest the unconscious minds reacts and decides before the conscios mind. That what happens below our awareness is then acted upon in what can feel like a decision.

Really got me thinking about experiences where we might think we have made a conscious decision, and at times have no idea where an action comes from and of course there are actions where other people impure motives to us. But thinking about these moments in terms of all the decisions being taken outside of our awareness puts a different light on this for me.

And of course as a therapist leaves me thinking about the question, if I want to be diferent how do I change my thoughts and actions that I don't necessarily have conscious control over.

Much to think about ...


-- Post From My iPhone

Monday 1 December 2008

Karuna opens as a resource for HIV/AIDS education and support




There is so much talk about SL and how it damages “real life” (RL) relationships that I decided to spend some time in SL to see what might be curative and helpful.

Today, Monday December 1st, is world AIDS day and a new resource has opened up on the island of Karuna funded by the National Library of Medicine dedicated to HIV/AIDS education, outreach and support. Carolina Keats the islands owner kindly spent some time talking to me.

For the opening day today there were a number of events including a workshop on storytelling to help showcase the kinds of ongoing support that will be on offer. At the heart of this facility is the “Garden of Experience” where poetry, photo’s, music and storytelling using video and writing will allow members to communicate their own experiences around HIV and AIDS. There is space set aside for a social worker based in the US to offer therapeutic listening and there are plans to extend this to a counselling service.

Despite the negative publicity that Second Life often gets there are many projects that strive to fit the meaning of this islands name “Karuna”, which embodies the desire to remove harm and suffering, and to bring about the well-being and happiness of others.

Monday 10 November 2008

Interviewed today

Was interviewed by a journalist from The Psychologist magazine - the flagship publication of the British Psychological Society. http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/ about my counselling practice in Second Life.

Really got me thinking about the need for more research to evaluate online counselling and the outcomes it can produce.

Feels to me that a very strong relationship and working reliance can be formed between counsellor and client, and I have witnessed clients getting a huge benefit from online counselling and it would be great to have that formalised in a some more solid research ....

much to think about ....