ABSTRACT
Virtual worlds are computer-simulated environments where one can create an avatar—a computerised representation of the self. Many people take the opportunity to create an ideal self, such as a strong warrior or heavily sexualised woman. The creation of the environment is as limitless as the imagination—for the Online Therapy Institute, counsellors have Second Life offices with virtual laptops, break-out rooms, a board room with virtual doughnuts and coffee, a virtual therapy room, and a garden and gazebo. Traditionally, avatar therapy and therapeutic virtual environments have been treated with as much resistance as other forms of online therapy, which, themselves, have only just become more mainstream. Avatar therapy and the use of virtual worlds to explore how best to correct that black dense shadow that C. G. Jung identified is just one more way to facilitate "the long-hoped-for and expected triumph of consciousness over the unconscious".
