Will Second Life’s avatar therapy sessions further isolate us?

By Christiaan Patterson
January 25th, 2011
Section: Opinions

A new approach in psychotherapy uses avatar therapists. As described in a recent posting by Popular Science magazine, instead of face-to-face interaction with another human being, mental health patients can now see their therapists in cyberspace.

This may seem to be a good idea at the moment, yet like almost every other technology, will most likely become another disintegrating factor to human interaction. Considering all the technological advances our society has seen over the past few decades, there is little surprise that we have arrived at this level of future medicine.

The concept was developed by the makers of Second Life, an interactive online game with multiple players, in an attempt to ease patients’ anxiety of talking with an actual person or in a real group setting. Virtual doctor offices provide more discrete sessions with voice chat becoming available in the very near future. The cost of these online meetings are about $100 for 50 minutes or if one already has a current Second Life account, they can pay in virtual money.

Sure, talking to a computer might ease anxieties or fears of admitting problems. However, lack of human-to-human communication might just lead to further isolation and disconnection from the real world. Instead of dealing with issues one might have, we now have the option of hiding behind computer screens that are capable of projecting any mood or image, completely the opposite of what might be felt.

This type of therapy has raised some questions regarding sustainability and benefits for the patients. Over the past two years, research by Preferred Family Healthcare shows a 97 percent success rate of adolescents finishing their group sessions with an avatar. In contrast, the completion rate with an actual human is a mere 37 percent. Patients seem to be more relaxed and open up easier when facing an avatar. In the psychological world, this could lead to better treatment plans for patients since doctors would be able to get to the root of an issue.

Perhaps one of the reasons why people have such a difficult time communicating with a therapist is the lessening of actual human contact. Our people skills are already being eaten away by the very technologies we invented to further our intellect. It is extremely ironic that with all the use of computers, cell phones, Smart cars, etc., we now have a video game-like therapy session to talk openly about being the isolated product we’ve become.

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  • http://john-norris.net John Norris

    It may not be that we are simply getting more used to interacting with machines rather than people.

    At least one study* has shown that electronic surveys can get more sensitive information from the client than face to face encounters. It may be self-assessment works better without a person immediately on the other end. Perhaps some thing like this may come into play in online therapy.

    *Turner CF, Ku L, Rogers SM, Lindberg LD, Pleck JH, Sonenstein FL. Adolescent sexual behavior, drug use, and violence: increased reporting with computer survey technology. Science. 1998 May 8;280(5365):867-73.

  • Maria

    I just read about this very topic today as I was studying and composing a synopsis of a book called:

    Training and Collaboration with Virtual Worlds
    How to Create Cost-Saving, Efficient, and Engaging Programs
    Alex Heiphetz, Ph.D. and Gary Woodill, Ed.D.
    ISBN: 978-0-07-162802-0

    Toward the end of this book there is a section on this very topic, and how Second Life and other virtual worlds will change the way humans behave, respond, learn and feel.

    As with any newly emerging technology, there will be pros and cons.
    I agree with the three [above] responses to the article, particularly the post by Richard Elen.

    Maria

  • http://twitter.com/TherapyOnline DeeAnna Nagel

    No, Second Life did not discover or event the concept of Avatar Therapy. And no, one of the reasons people have such a difficult time communicating with a therapist is NOT the lessening of actual human contact. In fact, with technology, the stigma of mental health issues has subsided somewhat and now accessibility is viable for many who would not have sought services before now.

    For more information about avatar therapy, see the resources posted here: http://www.onlinetherapyinstituteblog.com/?p=951

    Thanks for your article. It is good to keep the conversation going!

    DeeAnna

  • http://www.facebook.com/richard.elen Richard Elen

    It looks to me as if the writer of this piece came at it with something to prove and delivered a slanted view of the facts to fit. Leaving aside the factual errors (I am not aware of “the makers of Second Life” putting programs of this kind together, for example) I see no evidence presented in the article for the claims made of increased isolation, loss of “people skills” or other problems.

    Despite the fact that the results achieved by Preferred Family Healthcare demonstrate a great deal of success, and ignoring the fact that the reason the approach was tried in the first place was for a completely different and practical reason (the fact that it was problematical for some patients to come in to the physical facility) the article seeks to present them as negative by conjuring imaginary reasons why this approach might possibly be a bad idea, with no evidence whatsoever to justify this position.

    When you are talking to someone in Second Life you are not “talking to a computer” any more than when you speak to someone on the telephone you are “talking to a telephone”. The suggestion is simply absurd.

    Indeed, the analogy is a fitting one as telephone consultations have been used for many decades with great success in healthcare environments. And I seem to recall having read criticisms of exactly this sort about such ventures when they were first tried – yet today nobody in their right mind would suggest that being able to talk to a medical professional on the telephone instead of going into the office was a bad thing.

    There is indeed a great deal to be researched and said about the way people interact at a distance, from the sending of the first letters to modern computer-mediated systems. Unfortunately this article makes no contribution to such discussions.

    I suggest your correspondent might like to have more of an open mind about new technology. Of course every new idea has its pros and cons, but it might be worth evaluating them objectively, by looking at the results, rather than assuming negative impacts without the benefit of evidence to back them up.

    The essence of good journalism – and not only in the science and technology field, but more generally – is to see where the facts in the story lead and report them, not to take a position first and then attempt to prove it. The latter, I would suggest, is neither good science nor good journalism.

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  • Dick Dillon

    Other issues aside, let me note that the initial purpose of Preferred Family Healthcare’s foray into using avatars to connect with and deliver counseling services to consumers was our strong presence in rural parts of Missouri and Kansas. The clients we see virtually have begun their care with us as residents of one of our treatment centers. Sadly, when they no longer need the intensity of a residential care center, many of them find that the time and/or expense involved in getting from their home base back to our physical offices two or three times a week for followup counseling is too big an obstacle, and they drop out. The major benefit, or so we thought going in to the project, was to transcend this space and time limitation by providing immediate co-presence via the internet – and this has proven to be the case.

    What we did not predict, but have been interested and excited to observe, is that consumers find the experience attractive and rewarding enough, and possibly even feel safer and more confident about confiding in others, which suggests that, even for those without geographic or financial limitations, this could be the “treatment of choice”.

    Using technology to communicate effectively has legitimate historical antecedent, even if you only go as far back as the printing press, which made newspapers possible…..ironic?

    Dick Dillon
    Sr. VP, Planning and Development
    Preferred Family Healthcare
    ddillon@pfh.org