Developing Resilience in Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals - Exploring the Impact of Social Challenges in the Metaverse

The activities will be conducted in a Metaverse platform with immersive features. Each session is divided into two parts (\~2 hours duration). First, a specific social context will be represented (environmental features and static avatars) and a microaggression scenario (adapted for the chosen context) will be described. Participants are engaged in the conversation by the moderator in order to identify various psychological manifestations regarding the context (according to the SORC model) and to come up with solutions for the main, model avatar (part of the research team). Second, the debriefing part of the session will allow participants to talk about their own experiences alongside specific self-compassionate exercises. Repeated measurements will be required: pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention and at follow-up (after 3 months).

The activities will be conducted asynchronously in an online platform where participants will be guided by the moderator through the same type of activities. First, a social context with specific microaggressions will be presented in a text format followed by the same requirements for participants (identifying various psychological manifestations regarding the context and coming up with solutions for the problematic situation). Second, participants will have the transcripts of several self-compassionate exercises to be done independently. A discussion forum will also require their active engagement. Repeated measurements will be required pre-interventions, mid-intervention, post-intervention and at follow-up (3 months).