Hello! I am Avalon Birke, owner of Wellness Island and the Counseling Center in Second Life. We have been a leading resource for mental health support and education in-world since 2006.

We also manage WELLNESS Publications, and welcome your contributions - IM me in-world for info, or email me at avalonbirke@gmail.com. I am always looking for articles on body, mind, and spiritual wellbeing to add to our growing library of materials offered free of charge to SL residents.

Wellness Island provides:

• A growing library on mental health resources for individuals and couples
• Community Outreach - news, events, links, publications
• The Counseling Center - in-world professional counseling services
• Conference room for events and workshops
• Recreation in a PG environment
• Training classes for the Guiding Lights Peer Specialist program

We also maintain an outreach center on Boncarus (76,40,79) which is open 24 hours a day, offering free resources and information to visitors.

In RL I have two Master's degrees and work as a psychotherapist, an mfti, and an adjunct college professor. In addition to a small private practice, I work in Acute Case Management for a local hospital, providing therapy, support, social service resources to patients and their families. I am a Board Certified Counselor (American Psychotherapy Association), working toward my PhD, and additional related licensure to stay current in my field.

I have specialized training in EMDR, non-violent communication, addiction (certified in internet addiction), domestic violence (DVRP certified), chronic pain/illness, and disability issues. I have Multiple Sclerosis IRL and sometimes it has me :-)

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Plurk users feel free to add me: http://www.plurk.com/avalonbirke

Our website and magazine are on the web at www.slwellness.com