‘Innerworld’ Shares New Community Story, Plus a Special Message from Co-Founder Jewel

Innerworld has been giving people access to evidence-based mental health tools and support in VR since November 2022. And today, they’re sharing a story of a community member whose life was transformed, plus a special message from multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel, Innerworld’s Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer.

“I hadn’t left my house in four years,” says Innerworld community member MoonGoddess66. “I was consumed by fear 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The anxiety that I suffered was so bad, I couldn’t walk out the front door—nevermind down the driveway to the mailbox.”

Eventually, she picked up a Meta Quest headset as a way to reconnect with the outside world. And once she tried Innerworld, things began to radically change.

“I discovered people that were going through the same thing that I was going through,” she explains. “I wasn’t alone anymore.”

“There’s a few massive benefits of doing mental health intervention in virtual reality,” adds Jewel. “At Innerworld, we really have built a platform so that when you come into VR, you feel connected and you learn tools so that you can make your real life better.”

In addition to meetings led by guides certified in Cognitive Behavioral Immersion™, which teaches tools to reframe thoughts or change behaviors, Innerworld offers a safe, welcoming, and anonymous community—one that MoonGoddess66 was able to benefit from. And the benefits of that community are being felt by a diverse and growing number of people.

“We have people that are elderly, we have Veterans, we have housewives, so this is something that can help support people anytime, anywhere,“ says Jewel. “We have therapists who use Innerworld to help support them and prevent burnout.”

“The Quest headset allows you to be with somebody and feel their presence, all while being anonymous,” notes MoonGoddess66. “The tools that I learned in Innerworld along with the support that I get from the great community that we have is what made it where I could walk down my own driveway with pride, to my mailbox with no fear.”

This is Innerworld’s first time sharing a community member’s real-world testimonial, and it won’t be the last. The team plans to continue interviewing people whose lives have been positively impacted by Innerworld and sharing their stories with the world at large.

“Science has shown that just connecting meaningfully in a safe environment delivers favorable mental health outcomes,” Jewel says. “At Innerworld, you go into a private space, into a community space that’s there 24 hours a day, seven days a week that’s safe. It’s troll-free. It’s anonymous. And it looks kind of like a video game except it’s real, and it feels real because these are real people around you.”