EBook: Virtual Reality in Clinical Practice

One of the problems that mental health professionals usually encounter is the lack of tools available to them. In many cases they limit themselves to talking, to the application of techniques or evaluations. Luckily, more and more tools appear that help both the therapist and the patient.

We live in a constantly changing environment and the industrial revolution has given us new technologies that facilitate the work of psychologists, carrying out more effective treatments, thus retaining their patients and providing extra value in their consultations.

One of the tools that aims to be the most disruptive in the healthcare field is Virtual Reality. Did you know more and more psychologists are beginning to apply Virtual Reality (VR) in their therapies?

• Related article: "Virtual Reality and Psychotherapy: these are its qualities"

What is Virtual Reality and how to use it in therapy

But... what exactly is Virtual Reality? It is an environment generated by computer through 3D graphics, fully immersive, interactive, safe, non-invasive and that generates a sense of presence.

In the healthcare field, there is the Psious platform that is designed by and for psychologists. This company works with a VR kit: glasses, a smartphone, a computer with which the The therapist configures the variables and a biofeedback sensor to monitor the physiological response of the patient. patient.

With this kit you can reproduce the configurations of stimuli that you think are relevant and change the variables to adapt them to the needs of the patient: add more or less people, control what the virtual people around them do, the weather, and much more further.

You can also repeat certain events as many times as you want (for example, takeoff or plane landing) and configure exposure hierarchies, intervention stages... All this without leaving consultation.

Furthermore, it is about a technology with more than 20 years of scientific studies behind her back. The first publication on Virtual Reality in the psychological field was made in 1985.

Currently, Psious is being used in renowned centers such as the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, St Joan de Déu Hospital, Hospital Clínic or Stanford University, among others.

Advantages of Virtual Reality in mental health

There are many advantages offered by this type of technology, especially the one designed by Psious. Among the most relevant we find the following.

1. More effective than in vivo therapy

The patient You do not need to go through the entire process of physical exposure, which also saves time and money. Avoid traveling by plane, subway, climbing a skyscraper...

2. Facilitates self-training and overlearning

The user no longer expects events to take place in real life, now she can play them as many times as she wants, as many times as necessary and as necessary. The person to be treated has an active and participating role, thus promoting re-learning and behavior modification.

3. The psychologist has full control over the parameters

She can control the duration of the therapy, the weather, the time of day, the number of people, the interactions with people or animals, etc. In the eating disorder scenes you can choose, for example, the menu that the user is eating, or in the fear of flying scene, the level of turbulence.

4. No imagination skills required

Virtual reality does not require high imaginative abilities which are generally needed in exposure therapy.

5. personalized treatment

With Virtual Reality there is the ability to adapt the scene to the needs of each patient thanks to the variable configuration and the control panel. Besides the therapist sees at all times what the patient is seeing, thus facilitating the detection of the most relevant stimuli.

Likewise, personalized exposure hierarchies can be designed, grading each step in detail.

6. Repeat any step of the process at any time

The patient can practice the scenes as many times as necessary. For example, getting into an elevator, taking a blood draw, taking an exam, or having a chat in a bar.

7. Ensures user privacy and security

If the patient feels uncomfortable at any time, It's as easy as taking off his glasses to take you back to a safe place. In addition, all Psious environments include the option to use relaxation sessions and mindfulness Instantly.

8. Accessibility

This method is much easier than bringing patients into any situation that makes them feel anxious or scared. without leaving your office, thus saving time and money on trips or buying transport tickets such as plane.

9. Patient monitoring and automatic reports

You can save the details of each session, monitor the physiological response of the patient using the biofeedback sensors and see the evolution in graphs.

10. faster treatment

According to several studies, this treatment it is more effective and immersive, thus decreasing the rate of patients leaving the practice.

Are there any risks to be aware of?

It is a very safe tool. Only 0.025% of people may experience seizures, nausea, or disorientation. In addition, these types of adverse reactions are more common in epileptic patients, so they should not use this tool or if they do, they should be aware of the risk involved.

To keep these risks to a minimum, Psious has controlled the use of flashing lights when designing the environments.

Therapies and techniques to use

In addition to all the advantages that we have seen, the good thing that Virtual Reality has is the multitude of cases in which it can be used. Specifically, Psious offers the option of working on various disorders (anxiety, specific phobias, eating disorders, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, etc.), in addition to being able to be used to carry out Mindfulness sessions, EMDR, relaxation techniques or distraction from pain.

And best of all, it can be used as a preliminary step for the diagnosis of mental disorders. Emory University in Atlanta and the UK Alzheimer's Society have conducted studies showing that it is useful for diagnosing PTSD and Alzheimer's, but there are also other publications that have shown positive results for ADHD, anxiety, brain trauma or Vertigo.

To learn more download the eBook

This electronic document delves into...

• Virtual reality and how to use it in clinical psychology.
• The positive and negative points of its use.
• How is a session intervention dynamic.
• Advice according to the technique used: Exposure therapy, Systematic desensitization, Activation control techniques, Cognitive restructuring, Mindfulness.
• What to answer the patient when he asks...
• Bibliography of interest.

Bibliographic references:

• Gutiérrez, J (2002): Applications of virtual reality in clinical psychology.
• Medical Classroom of Psychiatry, 4(2), 92-126.
• Laura Louchska et al. (2018): You can do that?!: Feasibility of virtual reality exposure therapy in the treatment of PTSD due to military sexual trauma.
• The Guardian (2018): Virtual reality to help detect early risk of Alzheimer's