Today We feature two more speakers we have invited to present at the sixth annual Mental Health Symposium on Saturday the 27th of May, with the theme, "I can relate to that." We hope you will find these topics of great interest and mark your calendar to attend the symposium. We also have something new this year, mini-tours of three SL locations of interest in the topic of mental health.
First Responder Mental Health: The Importance of Training and Intervention
Sarah Henderson, MS, and Kristin Klimley, BS, present “First Responder Mental Health: The Importance of Training and Intervention” at 7:30am US Pacific time. This presentation will explore a variety of topics related to first responders and mental health. These include: background of the culture, research findings, and interventions. Additionally, this presentation will discuss police officer crisis intervention team (CIT) training and its benefits to the community.
Sarah N. Henderson is a fourth year clinical psychology doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University. Her research has focused on behavioral health issues in first responders, particularly the effects of post-traumatic stress on physical health conditions. Ms. Henderson has published several articles related to stress and suicide within the fire service and co-created a number of behavioral health programs within Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services. Ms. Henderson is also a co-coordinator of the Family Violence Program, under Dr. Van Hasselt.
Kristin Klimley is a second year clinical psychology doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University, hoping to specialize in trauma and police psychology. Ms. Klimley is the Research Coordinator for Dr. Van Hasselt’s Police Psychology Research and Training Team, as well as a Nova Players Coordinator working with various hostage negotiation teams in South Florida. Ms. Klimley is engaged in research with various first responder populations including law enforcement, emergency dispatchers, firefighters, and correctional staff.
Mini Tours of SL Mental Health Sites
Something new for the Mental Health Symposium this year is a trio of mini-tours of virtual world sites devoted to information in different formats about mental health issues. You can attend one, two, or all three of the tours, as your schedule permits.
Each tour lasts 20 minutes, and will leave every half hour (10:30, 11 and 11:30am US Pacific time (1:30, 2 and 2:30pm US Eastern time) from the Symposium site in The Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. You will return to the Auditorium between tours to join a different tour group. All tours will be conducted simultaneously in voice+text for full accessibility.
1) Virtual Hallucinations is an activity set in a mental health clinic. It’s an opportunity to experience life as a person with schizophrenia. After a group introduction outside the clinic, tour participants will enter and go through one at a time.
WARNING: This is an immersive tour, with known “triggers.” Some people may find it disturbing and overwhelming.
This tour will be led by Em Warrior. Em lives in Canada in real life, but is everywhere in SL. She came to SL over 11 years ago. As she is deaf, SL is a great social media format for her. She has also learned many things - to build and hostess events including live musical events. She’s met a lot of great people from all over the world in SL, which has helped her understanding of geography. If you're curious about anything else, feel free to ask.
Em’s “voice” for the tour will be Eme Capalini, Vice President of Development for Virtual Ability, Inc. A native of Texas, she has worked on numerous VAI development projects with researchers from different universities and government agencies. One of the projects Eme worked on with the US military was AVESS, the Amputee Virtual Environment Support Space. She also just completed a project involving the use of avatars to teach new amputees to use their prostheses.
2) Ethnographia is part of a research project, "Virtual Worlds, Disability, and New Cultures of the Embodied Self." This project has two Principal Investigators, Professor Tom Boellstorff (University of California, Irvine) and Professor Donna Z. Davis (University of Oregon). It is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Persons with disabilities create studio spaces on the dedicated islands, and use art to explain how they have used Second Life to change their experiences living with a disability.
Jadyn Firehawk is a medically retired professor from the University of Texas at Austin, who used to conduct research in Yosemite National Park. An award-winning builder, she is owner of Maganda Arts and Yosemite in Second Life. She is the founder and director of the Pixel To Pixel Foundation, which assists people in Second Life who are on disability.
Jadyn has created an Ethnographia exhibit telling the story of how she become disabled, struggled with mental illness, and how her experiences in a virtual world have helped her rebuild a sense of identity in the years ever since. The title of her exhibit is “Reconstructing Identity After Disability: A 'Build Biography'.” This is another immersive experience.
3) Whole Brain Health is an effort in Second Life supported by the nonprofit Ageless Mind Project (http://agelessmindproject/org). On Inspiration Island in Second Life, you’ll find information and activities to promote mental health and self-care. The community has a special focus on wellness of persons over the age of 50.
The tour group will stay within the Multiple Intelligences Experience (MIE) area of Inspiration Island. After a brief explanation of the focus of Whole Brain Health and its relation to promoting mental health in seniors, visitors can explore the MIE. The tour will end with a brief Q and A.
The 10:30am SLT tour will be led by Lissena (aka Wisdomseeker). She is the co-founder of the Ageless Mind Project, based on New York State, and the Director of Whole Brain Health in Second Life. She has been a clinical social worker for 35 years, with special training in an evidence-based multi-dimensional approach to brain wellness. She is the owner of Inspiration Island, where over 30 Collective members offer programs and activities that promote brain health and total well-being
The 11am and 11:30am tours will be led by Ewan Bonham (Scott Anstadt in the physical world), a retired faculty in Social Work. One area of research and publication while he was teaching was the use of virtual reality to enhance exposure to diverse world cultures and spiritual orientations. Since the conception of Whole Brain Health team, he has provided opportunities for resident explorations throughout Second Life to explore its vast resources. To assist in this endeavor, he developed the Community Cultural Teleportation Hub, and facilitated a variety of interactive groups including the current Transcendent Activation mindful meditation practices.
The full schedule for the symposium hosted by Virtual Ability, Inc.®, can be seen in this previous post. It is free and open to the public.
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