Surfing through Facebook™ last Sunday afternoon I came across Life Talk Adult Counseling Services™ page and saw the inspiring posts left by its founder, Sabrina Hannu aka sabrinaxoxo hannu, her avatar name in Second Life™.
Life Talk Adult Counseling Services, LTACS for short in this interview, a non profit organization was created by Sabrina and her best friend and business partner, kataluna Quinnell.
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| logo of LTACS |
How did you meet I asked."Kataluna and I met at a club in SL and I had IM'd her asking where she had bought her outfit. We both have a love for shopping so we clicked right away. I have known her for a few years now and she is the sweetest person I know alive, also very smart." Sabrina answered.
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| Glam shot of Sabrina's avatar done by our photographer Kaley Rae Fancypants ({g} Photography) |
When asked how it came about creating LTACS, Sabrina told me "We started throwing ideas at each other probably about 4 or 5 months ago and that night I was pumped up about starting it that I had started to create a blog and Facebook page and we talked about how we would run it, and that it'd be free because helping people is something that makes us feel good and we aren't greedy like some. I am doing this for the sake of others in the time of need. We decided to start this because we seem to always have friends coming to us for advice and we have been through a lot. So I have always loved helping others by sharing my experience with them. We both realized how many people came to both of us just to talk, or vent, or just need some help with life. When we realized that I sort of joked around saying maybe we could save many SL relationships. That's where the idea of marriage counseling came in, then decided to broaden it to a more diverse population."
Relationships seemed a big interest for LTACS to their clients. The advices left on the Facebook page are very uplifting. Wondering if and why she encouraged SL relationships, she replied "Well SL relationships are a lot harder to maintain than in RL. A lot more trust is involved but every couple has their own rules set and ideas of what they want. It is just to find that other half that wants the same. I have tried and failed many times. With every failure you learn a lesson. I encourage it but be cautious."
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| Lovely RL pic of Sabrina Hannu! |
LTACS has existed for a few months and is in process of also making its debut in form of a blog, I wondered what the best way was for clients to contact her and Kataluna when they need to talk.
"Best way right now is by our Facebook group (click hyper link).Then as I finish our blog I will be keeping the page updated about that."
Sabrina told me she had a few hours before she headed to work in real life, so I went deeper into our conversation mentioning at OI Magazine SL we were familiar with counseling groups as our co founder Krissy Sinclair had founded Survivors of Suicide group in SL.
Asking her if she was familiar with depression issues and if she was including that into her services, she took a pause and replied "Depression hits home for me. I would support it 100%. I have lost a loved one a few months back for this very reason who was my inspiration, my brother in real life..... Even in hard times myself, I still find I feel better helping others. As I heal, I find ways to cope and continue on in life in a positive manor and if I can share that conception about grief I hope it spreads to others. To let them know that everything happens for a reason. As we don't have a cure all we can do is show our support to those who need someone they can trust and know that we really do care."
Sorry to hear that, Sabrina. My condolences. "Thank you."
With the recent rise for civil rights finally in LGBT groups and couples, many LGBT people in SL also look for their life partner and take it to real life in many cases. I asked Sabrina what her opinion was of the movement finally happening in our era and if she supported and included it in her counselings in SL. "Yes definitely, all are welcomed. We are all the same, a human being looking for someone to love and appreciate them. If they find someone who makes them happy and it happens to be the same gender then so be it."
How long have you been in Second Life and what do you hope to see Second Life develop into or are you happy with the way it is? Follow up, who introduced you to SL ,how did you find it?
"Well I was in a previous virtual game called Vside™, and the group of friends I had there we heard about Second Life. We realized how much more freedom there was and a lot more to do. So as a group we all joined SL. I have been in SL now for just over 3 years, and it has grown lots. I still find neat sims and I am always learning new things to build or create. I do hope to see it improve a little more quality wise as we all know as "Lag" it can get pretty bad sometimes :P, " She smirked.
Who designed your logo on Facebook and how did it come about?
"I came up with it myself. I wanted something simple I didn't want to be known as an artist so I didn't want a fancy logo. After a few hours of me being picky I came across this one I liked. As a Facebook group I use inspirational pictures as most can relate to using Facebook to generalize some topics that have come up to talk as a group."
We came to a close of the interview with Sabrina's parting words "I am no professional, no degree in counseling I am only here to provide my opinion. I would like to see myself as someone who can try my best to help others sort through any hard time in life. I haven't been married but I will help sort out fights, or life questions, grief is very popular as I have been through it I can provide exercises and activities to help cope."
Great words, to support or contact Life Talk Adult Counseling Services, please contact Sabrina directly at her Facebook page listed earlier in the article where you can contact her business partner as well and remember Life Talk Adult Counseling Services is a free service and client issues remain confidential.
Thank you for reading our article, feel free to leave comments and please let others know about this, my name is Carmichael Caudron, reporting for OI Magazine SL.
Update July 10th, Sabrina just designed her blog and it's ready to be viewed at this link:
http://sabrinaxoxo.wix.com/howtodeal#
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