Author Archives: Sherry Law

Searching for other players…

Posted by: Sherry Law on September 26, 2016 8:22 am
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732016_149For as long as I can recall, I have had access to the internet. From the time I was a young teenager, I had reached out to friends through chat, created profiles on multiple social media sites, and enjoyed expressing who I was to the world. These social media sites were rudimentary at the time, providing image upload limits, having low traffic, unattractive aesthetics, and unsophisticated platforms for spreading information. However, they sufficed at the time and I created friendships with people from all across the world.

I remember playing a MUD while I was a teen, or a Multi-User Dungeon, one of the first online gaming platforms of the internet. You would be asked to type what your character would do; go n, go w, k goblin, get all… these were the inputs that would help your character navigate north, navigate west, kill a goblin, and get all of the corpse’s inventory for possible weapon upgrades or magical items. I was drawn to these online worlds and soon came to meet other users who would play with me, sharing their experience points as we adventured. The people I had encountered often became my Facebook friends, though seldom became conversational.

Later, I remember posting on an online art exhibit platform. There I shared my traditional and digital drawings with the world and pretty soon I started receiving comments. One particular user and I happened to get along and we not only became Facebook friends, but actually called each other on occasion as well!

Fast forward a decade, I now spend time in virtual reality (VR), where online gaming flourishes. While playing virtual billiards, I quickly found an opponent with the built in match-making. By the end of it, we spent nearly two hours talking and shooting billiards, and the experience was unlike anything I had encountered before. Although the MUD allowed we to interact with others, it was purely text based so the presence of another was unconvincing; and my friend on the art exhibit site and I shared dialogue over the phone, it was short lived and our lives naturally drifted apart as the exhibit became less popular. In contrast to this, VR allowed me to see this person’s height compared to my eye level. I saw that he would move his hands while talking to me, and fold them while he listened. I could see his head tilting upward while thinking over what was just discussed, and teleporting around each other made it feel like we were truly in a room together. This created a certain bond unlike anything I had ever experienced before by simply using a computer. I felt like I was with a whole person, even if he was thousands of miles away. I knew immediately that I had made a friend.

The friendship has moved to other platforms and we share experiences together regularly. We have played billiards together, played disc golf, enjoyed some air hockey, hung out in a tennis ball arena and shot selfies with our avatars, and we have even turned into robots and killed drones with our boomerang katanas. I have learned about his personal life beyond the screen, his history, and I have shared my own story with him. The bond between him and I could not have existed without VR, and this fact has profound implications for our evolving social dynamics. I shared various experiences with this new friend of mine. We worked together to battle evil forces, and were able to discuss our experience as we maneuvered and strategized within these simulations. What other experiences could people share together? How does this change the way we perceive and think about others? What other sides of a person could be observed through exploring, as Gene Wilder once said “a world of pure imagination”.

VR is more than fun. VR enhances empathy and understanding. We now have the ability to bond with a mind without the distractions of judgement by using the VR interface to mask irrelevant information, and instead select what our consciousness wishes to share with others.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Making Contact Inside the Computer

Posted by: Sherry Law on June 29, 2016 11:49 am
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Over the last 2 years as I have delved deeper into virtual reality (VR) I have learned things I never expected to experience. The fact that VR is programmable means that the experience is solely dependent on ones imagination (and perhaps a little aptitude for software development). VR transports you immediately into a new reality and this holds many implications. The truth is that the physical body, or meat space, does not go anywhere. It is the mind or the psyche that is convincingly transported and the focus of my exploration. This is the true potential for the impact of VR.

I recently received a consumer version VR device. This device not only allows you to glimpse into another world, but also provides you the ability to manipulate the world around you with your hands. In addition, the technology provides the freedom of movement throughout a play area where you can walk around, sit, dance, pivot, the full range of bodily motions as long as it is within the bounds of a play area. This transforms ones understanding of the lived experiences almost 100% from the meat space into a digital realm. When you can train your aim inside an archery simulation and the fidelity nearly reflects reality, it is a strange experience indeed. I have never done archery myself, but being able to have some measure of behavioural mimicry to archery was not only a fun experience, but immersive and tiring! Having to duck and dodge enemy fire, destroying enemies with accurate aim, and spinning around at a second’s notice to ensure no one was attacking you from behind was thrilling. To imagine that this is the new world of the gamer, no longer bound to a computer chair, but sweating instead in a dimly lit room, practicing proper aim that can maybe be carrieblogphotosherryd into the real world. On the score board, your abilities are compared against the best in the world and usernames compete in a never ending battle to the top rank.

I also experienced an amazing level of intimacy in VR. Coming headset to headset with other people around the world, playing games and chatting with them through mics was absolutely astounding. I could see their heads move about as they thought about the ideas I shared with them. People witnessed my hands held on my hips as I wait for them to take the next shot at pool. We giggled together as we threw chairs all around a digital bar and made a mess with beer bottles and books. I high fived someone from Germany, we chatted about what a strange experience VR was, we looked at each other’s computer screens to check time zone differences between me and someone from Illinois, and goofed around with the interface as we learned and tinkered with our new toys. I was approached by a Frenchman from Austria that even wanted to show me around the digital space while I practiced my French. We spent time with phantom others in our minds, while our bodies remained alone and without company, yet I felt connected online for the very first time. I have made several friends already from around the world.

Does the mind care that you are not physically next to a person? No. I can say for myself that my mind was thoroughly convinced that I was properly socializing with others beside me, sharing and laughing together in a room. Meeting with strangers was no more jarring than in person, and in earnest, less so because all my fears of judgment vanished with the replacement of my body as an avatar. However, my expression, who “I” was did not vanish, and was perhaps enhanced by the removal of my distracting physical self.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Unspoken Empathy

Posted by: Sherry Law on April 20, 2016 10:46 am
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In my counselling program, we were always taught that the therapeutic alliance was the most important part of any successful therapy. Trust was fundamental to the construction of the therapeutic alliance, and it was through empathy that trust was forged. In my few years of practice, it seemed to hold true that relating to my clients through the use of empathy helped them to trust and confide in me the details of their struggles. As I would listen, my mind would focus on what it may have been like to be in my client’s shoes. I believed every word they would say, and considered their positions as though they were my own. I would ask questions when I was not clear to help define my clients position on their experience of an event or a reality, and I would adjust my views accordingly to better empathize. This worked well enough as time after time, the clients thanked me and seemed appreciative of my time spent with them. I always thought that the more empathy you could harness, the better the outcome. But what did I think empathy was? One session made me reconsider what empathy meant to me in my practice.

This client had seen me multiple times before. For confidentiality, let us call him “Toby”. Toby had originally come to me to help him with raising a problematic teenage child. I would see them regularly and helped them with communication exercises, and untangling their emotions and intentions from their words and reactions. My empathy worked well for a number of sessions as Toby continued to come back with son in tow, claiming successes in the home that had never been witnessed before. After a few months of sessions, Toby disclosed to me that he wanted sessions for himself, rather than with the child. I was open to the idea and happy that the successes helped Toby believe that if I can help him and his son, that maybe I can help him as well.

In our first session, Toby explained that he had been victim of multiple forms of domestic and family abuse, spanning years. He described vivid memories that I watched through my mind’s eye. The abuse was horrible. I sat silently as Toby recounted the tales, and feelings of helplessness in moving past these experiences. At the end of the session, all I could feel was gratefulness of this person reaching out to help themselves move on. I utilized the same tools of empathy that had worked so well before, and looked forward to seeing Toby again. Unfortunately, after that session, neither Toby, nor his son, ever came back to see me.

People are resilient and we all use different tools and mechanisms to adapt and survive. Toby’s pain was something he was surviving, and it is possible that he distanced himself from his own experience in order to survive the pain. The logic and flat tone he used when narrating his experience was not lost on me. How does empathy build trust when the very thing that kept a person alive was to block the feelings that hurt so much? I do not have an answer, but that moment helped me to temper my views on empathy, and therefore my practice. Empathy was not solely isolating the feelings and views stated by the client and taking them as your own. Empathy was also reading between the lines and understanding the quiet hesitancy, fears, anxieties, and resistance within the session as well. Maybe I was moving too fast for Toby, but I believe I struck a nerve. Perhaps it is also what Toby needed to create a chink in the armor to truly begin healing from past wounds.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

The Medium Is The Message

Posted by: Sherry Law on January 6, 2016 3:02 pm

Marshall_McLuhanYou may be familiar with the title of this blog post as it comes from the works of Marshall McLuhan, a prominent Canadian philosopher. He specialized in the area of communications theory at the University of Toronto and spoke at length about media and its effect on society, locally and globally. His claim that the medium is the message describes how the medium by which information is transmitted ultimately reorganizes human behaviour. The idea emerged during the transition of mass media transmission from radio to television, but applies to all other mediums such as printed words, telephones, texting, movies, and the internet. Indeed, there are more mediums from which to transmit information and communications than McLuhan could have imagined as he died in 1980. His ideas hold more weight today than ever.

To expand on the concept, the advent of the printing press allowed for literacy to emerge as a normative experience. Literacy changed the way the individual received information about the world. Before the printing press, individuals derived their understanding of events and life experiences through others by oral tradition, or sermon. The printing press provided a choice to disband from the community into individual contemplation. As literacy became standardized, individuals were able to question the information received through oral tradition and extend their relationship with history and the imagined future. Instead of relying on institution and the wealthy to be the sole inspiration of our human experience, thoughts, creativity, historical perspective, and in essence the human narrative was becoming democratized. Individuals were able to construct their own plays, journals, poetry, fictions, research, and with each published work, develop new industry and physical structures as testaments of the effects of the new medium: the printed word. In the same way, the internet has shifted humans in how we communicate with one another. A global culture has begun to emerge through the medium of the internet, and a collective consciousness extends our relationship to “the other”. Our social lives are now intimately connected to screened devices, giving humans the choice to connect to others through electronics rather than having to share physical space, therefore retribalizing by democratizing the social experience in a global arena.

In my blogging history, I have written about the phenomenon of presence, a state generated through virtual reality (VR) whereby the audience’s sensory experience has been transported to a virtual space. This new medium, VR, in conjunction with the internet, will and has already begun changing how humans organize. Social media has become a vessel of unprecedented influence in many aspects of life, from changing our eating habits, our day to day routines, to providing a global stage for outrage and political mobilization. Once these elements merge with a more globalized physiological experience through the medium of VR, the change in our social fabric will be dramatic.

As psychotherapists, it is critical to consider our clients and ourselves within the context of the larger scheme. After all, what is empathy without the recognition of the individual within their lived experience?




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Do our screens get in the way of people?

Posted by: Sherry Law on November 25, 2015 11:59 am

The Technology in Counselling Chapter of the CCPA has been one of the quickest chapters to form it its history. It is difficult to ignore the captivating nature of these devices while everyone is kept busy tapping away. Our integration of these devices into our day to day may explain some of the interest practitioners may have. However, when I approach those with an interest it seems people are still wrought with uncertainty about their technological literacy and shy to dig their hands into tech.

When I get a better understanding of these folks perspective, it dawns on me that they are unsure because they don’t believe they understand technology, even though they use it every day. Technology seems strange, different, and to a psychotherapist, even a bit arcane. Psychotherapists are studied in the art of personal interaction, where computers and screens seem devoid of it. The flickering screens that people are so focused on seemingly distract from personal interactions. The buzzing, bleeps, and rings from devices sound alien, not like human voices at all, and again, devoid of the human spirit.

Skype.Blog.PictureI grew up with technology. From a young age, the computer screen was my portal to be with my friends during most of my adolescence when my family would shelter me from contact with my peers. I learned how to build relationships through AIM, MSN, and Facebook chats. During my formative years, I would spend hours toiling away at a thought, or analyzing the thoughts of others through the computer and keyboard. Now in my adult life, I continue to use similar platforms to stay in touch with others and practice the same process, even evolving the way in which I spend time with my friends through the computer. I have web conferenced with friends to teach them how to use their Ebay accounts. I have bonded over online e-sports competitions such as StarCraft with co-workers a province away whom I’ve never met. I also spend quality time playing games with friends, getting to know them by how they problem solve, how they react to stressful situations, and team building, not unlike engaging in a sport with a group of friends.

In other words, my experience with technology is one of human connectivity. When I look at a computer screen, I see friends and ways to interact with people. When I hear a chime on my phone, or feel it vibrate, I’m delighted because it may be a co-worker, or a friend that wants to catch up. Seeing technology does not have to be scary. It’s a matter of seeing beyond the screen and thinking about the person on the other side. Being technologically literate begins with understanding that there’s nothing to be scared of. Part of that journey is understanding that the device is simply a window to people.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Technology: the easy scapegoat

Posted by: Sherry Law on October 21, 2015 5:00 am

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Recently, technology and its effect on the human attention span has become a growing topic of discussion. When people develop issues which may include a technology element, there are often quick judgements and a cursory analysis typically highlight technology as the main culprit. All the while technology has become an increasingly irremovable part of our environment. Even among friends, family, and the public at large, it is a common attitude that technology can lead to dependency and estrangement, oftentimes applied towards the youth. However, this could simply be a change in behaviour due to a change in environment.

As a mental health service worker, and also a technology enthusiast, my perspective on the matter is different. Hearing the attitudes of change as negative by default sparked interest in me to consider looking at change in a different way. Is the change present? According to some research  humans have shown indication that there is a drop in focus time during certain activities. But should we be concerned by this? Some are pre-emptively saying “yes”. Continue reading →




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Empathy Through Virtual Reality

Posted by: Sherry Law on September 22, 2015 12:51 pm

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As a virtual reality (VR) enthusiast, I have seen first hand demonstrations which encourage empathy. Computer graphics is sophisticated enough where facial expressions of avatars are believable, and if you pay attention to video games which focus on story/narrative, then you can see that context of avatars can be deep, meaningful, and nuanced, reflecting real people and real situations. These characters and their stories can be powerful enough to elicit deep emotions, not unlike how poetry or song can. However, because VR includes visual, audio, and contextual stimulus, the emotions rely less on interpretation, and instead are directly administered through the story telling and the expressiveness of the characters and environment which surround the observer.

Empathy, the ability to understand or share the feelings of others, is a powerful tool that all therapists employ. As a skill, it serves to help therapists navigate through the challenges that a client may be facing. Empathy is critical in client care for its ability to create a therapeutic alliance bound by understanding. Not only can empathy directly impact the therapeutic relationship, it can impact a therapist’s practice by reducing bias, prejudice, and conflict within the therapist from which they can develop and improve their practice. Due to the importance of this skill, developing empathy is a significant focus for many health professionals. Traditional ways of developing therapeutic skills include workshops, conferences, lectures, reading, and field experience. Although these methods have been invaluable and cannot be replaced, what VR could offer in the future is a streamlined, safe, and efficient way to learn and practice therapeutic skills, but also to tinker with our social interactions in a digital vacuum.

Once computer graphics, story-telling, and VR merge, you can have in the palm of your hands a powerful experience that is convincing on a human level. Imagine the avatars reacting to your movements, and paying attention to your actions and reactions to them. Imagine the avatars being able to express without even speaking, simply by using their facial expressions. Imagine having text boxes popping up to explain the reaction of the avatar and why they may have occurred, and more importantly, what you have done to contribute to such a response. What VR can provide is the isolation of these human expressions and an interactive environment from which to build empathy and tinker with social behaviour in a safe and insulated way.

As a practicing counsellor, I can see immense benefits in being able to interact with an avatar to test therapeutic methods. Given some context, how will the avatar react if I did this, said that, or looked away? Of course, the reactions of the avatar rely solely on the ability of the programmer to predict how a human would respond. Once health professionals become part of the development for these programs and experiences, much more can be expected of them.




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Presence

Posted by: Sherry Law on August 25, 2015 5:00 am

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In one of my previous posts I mentioned a phenomenon called presence, which is a potent experience capable of convincing a person that they occupy a place which they do not exist physically. This experience is difficult to describe but is the quintessential point I, and other researchers in the field of virtual reality, believe the technological and the therapeutic intersect. This post will attempt to explain how presence is achieved and how it can be therapeutic.

Presence, in terms of artistic experience, is also called immersion, explained by philosopher, Samuel Coleridge, as a “suspension of disbelief”. This experience can occur in any medium, such as a good book, or a tv show. If you can imagine a quiet evening with a book where an exciting story can make you forget that you have been turning the page for hours. This is an example of immersion. You feel as though you are a visitor to the story, or a witness to the events unfolding in your minds eye. What virtual reality (VR) accomplishes is immersion but replacing the minds eye with direct visual input. Continue reading →




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Technology is Expanding a Counsellor’s Toolbox

Posted by: Sherry Law on July 22, 2015 9:37 am

I recently spent some time with a colleague and the idea of video conference counselling came up. Both being technology buffs, we dove right into the idea without hesitation. As we discussed, it became clear to me that there were real ethical arguments to support the idea of integrating technology with therapy. Unfortunately, the fears around the little known realm of technology in counselling creates a demanding barrier of entry, stifling enthusiasm to attempt online therapeutic practice. Hoping to fan some burning embers of excitement, I present three ethical considerations for the use of technology in counselling:

Financial Access

Cost has always been a struggle for people who need mental health assistance. Both the direct cost per session as well as indirect costs can affect people’s budgets, adding pressures to the decline of one’s mental health. For example, taking time off work or out of the day may not always be feasible for people, especially if you have children to take care of, and during a contracting economy where every day matters in the eyes of your employer. The struggle to balance self care, and life responsibilities is very real. Online counselling could reduce the cost of office space rental, parking space rental, and utilities in the office. The savings from such a transition could help to increase access for some clients.

Physical Access

Physical access can be limited due to a person’s living arrangements, or life circumstance. Many people cannot afford a convenient mode of transportation to attend a counselling session. For example, in rural areas, the problem can worsen with some people having to depend on the therapist’s mode of transportation into their area before they can acquire mental health services. The dependency could lead to spotty access at best, and an inconsistent therapeutic relationship at worst. For counsellors working within a rural area, a plethora of other ethical concerns can arise, such as multiple relationships, limits on resources, isolation, and community expectations. Online counselling could not only offer larger variety of therapists for the rural clientele who can specialize, but can subdue altogether some of the ethical issues around rural therapeutic practices.

Continue reading →




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Moore’s Law

Posted by: Sherry Law on June 8, 2015 1:40 pm
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Moore’s law is an observation of exponential improvement in digital technology both due to the accumulating effect of research and development, and also the falling consumer cost of products. This describes a trend that we have been witnessing for the past few decades, and the explanation to our increasingly digital life style as Canadians. Computers used to be the size of trailer homes and very costly, convincing people that it was impossible that the computer would ever be a mainstream consumer product. The average person today carries with them more computer power in their pocket than was used during the Apollo missions to put humans on the moon. So what does this have to do with counselling and psychotherapy?

A new fleet of wearable technologies will be saturating the markets in the coming years. These technologies have great implications for how we interact with our world and with each other. Virtual reality (VR) can become one of those technologies which revolutionizes psychotherapy. VR is typically experienced through a head-mounted device and gives the user the experience of presence, a phenomenon whereby the user is convinced they are in a place other than reality, regardless of their conscious acknowledgment that what they are witnessing is not real. Once a person puts on one of these headsets, they are transported into an entirely crafted digital world . The programmable nature of digital technology means that a user can exist anywhere in reality, and in fantasy. A person can experience the thrill and excitement of a 100 foot high roller coaster, and moments later, be visibly shaken, left alone in a claustrophobic series of hallways and crypts. One can soar gracefully through space observing spiral galaxies to an accompanying orchestra, or simply relax within a virtual cinema with friends and family connected through the internet. Due to VR’s powerful impact, it has the potential to provide convincing therapeutic tools to aid in many therapies which rely on visualization, such as therapies to help manage phobias, anxieties, depression, and even mindfulness training for relaxation, among others.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA