Virtual World - Real Emotions©

Empathetic, caring, professional counseling can help you feel your best, uncover your true selves, and offer support as you find our way.

We offer counseling services by appointment to individuals and couples, as well as group therapy sessions on a variety of topics. Perhaps you are facing relationship issues, or exploring new aspects of yourself in a virtual environment. Utilizing a person-centered approach, we are here to help you on your journey to self-discovery and personal growth and acceptance. Not a roleplay, but genuine talk therapy. Other helpful techniques that may be used are cognitive behavioral, psychoanalytic, and dialectical behavior therapies - and more. It's about you, and meeting your unique needs as a client.

We listen. We do not judge. We are not here to give you the answers, but to help you find your own. We respect and celebrate your individuality.

How does it work?

We have private, secure offices for individual, couple, and even group sessions. You will be out of chat range on the privately-owned Wellness Island.

To make an apppointment :

Look at the counselor's calendar HERE. All times are SLT. If a time says "AVAILABLE," you can request an appointment at that time. Fees are due at the time the appointment is made.

Please note - Avalon Birke's RL work for this summer limits her time in Second Life. She is not in-world everyday, but will try to respond to your inquiries as quickly as she can. IMs cap daily so notecards or email are always preferred. Please check the calendar as it is updated often!

At the front of the Counseling Center annex or inside our Welcome Center on Wellness Island is an INTAKE FORM. The form looks like a clipboard. If you would like to request an appointment, please fill out the form. It is short and simple and helps us know what you are looking for and if we can help. Another option is just to send your inquiry to Avalon Birke in-world via IM or notecard.

You can request the time and day from the Google Calendar that you prefer. Please wait for Avalon Birke to confirm the appointment with you. Session fees are due at the time the appointment is made.

At the time of your appointment, Avalon will IM you with a teleport to a private, professional office setting for your appointment.

Your session is kept completely *confidential, just as you would expect from a RL therapist or counselor. You can come for one visit, a few, or on an ongoing basis - whatever you feel you need. Our office is in a beautiful island setting - private, no one allowed access but you for the duration of your appointment.

A ten-minute IM or email consultation is free for any first-time client.

Rates:

Counseling session: $1500L per 50-minute hour
Couples/Families: $1,500L per each additional person in the session

For example, a couple would be a total of $3,000L. A family of three would be $4,500L, and so on. This is a fraction of real-world fees for professional counseling, which typically run $50 to $150 US dollars per hour. (Regular clients from 2006 and 2007 will pay their old rates - no increase)

We are not a substitute for real-life medical or psychological care, but a source of support and resources in-world.
There are limitations to in-world counseling, and we reserve the right to refer you to Real Life care when needed - your wellbeing comes first. If you are a danger to yourself or others, we can help you find immediate RL care.
*Your confidentiality online is limited if you are threatening to harm yourself or someone else.

100% of proceeds from The Counseling Center go directly
to Wellness Island development, as well as our new project on the Teen Grid.

Wellness Island is a PG non-profit SL island devoted to resources and education about mental health, disability awareness, diversity, and more. The island is open to the general public for special events, workshops, and trainings. Check Avalon Birke's Picks in her Profile for the most up-to-date news, or join the Mental Health Network in-world.

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More Information - If you don't find the answer you need here or in the profile of Avalon Birke, please send an email to avalonbirke@gmail.com, or IM Avalon Birke in-world.

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AVALON BIRKE

Avalon is The Counseling Center Director and owns and operates Wellness Island. Click here to visit Avalon's page, check her Google calendar, or send her an email.

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Professionals - qualified, professional, dedicated individuals in-world are welcome to join our directory of services for Second Life® members. Practitioners in any area are welcome. We will be glad to add your contact information to the Directory free of charge. We are not hiring for Center positions - we list Second Life® practitioners in our Directory.

Consulting: Avalon Birke is available for consulting about issues related to SL/RL mental health issues. Rates vary. IM or email her with your request.

Interviews/Media: You are welcome to email your interview requests to avalonbirke@gmail.com. We receive daily requests for interviews and we try to accommodate all requests - factoring in RL schedules and in-world clients first. Some recent interviews include http://www.sl-newspaper.com (click "Explore" - a good general article about the Counseling Center) and http://www.lifeforyou.tv/eng/index.html for a SL televised interview about adoption.

Grid problems?

What to do if the grid is experiencing problems? First, check the official Second Life® blog at http://blog.secondlife.com/ for news updates.

If you have an appointment, please hang in there and we will be back on as soon as they have it sorted out. If not, email avalonbirke@gmail.com so we can reschedule. The grid can be unpredictable sometimes but we will do our best to work out an alternative if one of us can't log on.

Second Life® and Linden Lab® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No infringement is intended.