ABSTRACT
The idea of a virtual reality process in art therapy is an exploration space of images, meaning we are dealing with experimental interactions, reconstructions and extensions of image reception, all of which have the potential to influence inner worlds and change rigid behavior patterns. Gender issues, such as gender discrimination, are also observed online because subjects and avatars are actual people carrying their fears and preconceptions into virtual worlds. Although the experimental virtual art therapy in Second Life was not limited to pure roles of gender, the results indicate a surprisingly large majority of role reversals of various kinds. In the depressed patients in the study, the virtual proxy was not just a fantasy figure, but also an embodiment of an ideal image to which they could transfer substantial amounts of their own self. The analysis of Standardized psychological test showed that patients with personality disorders performed better in improving the self-esteem than the subjects with major depression.
