eBook: Virtual Reality in clinical practice

Virtual Reality allows patients to be exposed to new situations in a safe environment.

One of the problems that mental health professionals usually encounter is the lack of tools available to them. In many cases they are limited to conversation, the application of techniques or evaluations. Fortunately, more and more tools are appearing that help both the therapist and the patient.

We live in an ever-changing environment and the industrial revolution has brought us new technologies that facilitate the work of both therapists and patients. new technologies that facilitate the work of psychologists, making more effective treatmentsThis has led to more effective treatments, thus increasing patient loyalty 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 that more and more psychologists are starting to apply Virtual Reality (VR) in their therapies.?

What is Virtual Reality and how to use it in therapy.

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

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

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

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

In addition, it is technology with more than 20 years of scientific studies behind it. behind it. The first publication on Virtual Reality in the field of psychology was made in 1985.

Currently, Psious is being used in renowned centers such as Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Hospital St Joan de Déu, 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 are the following.

1. More effective than in vivo therapy

The patient does not need to go through the whole process of physical exposure, which also saves time and money.which also saves time and money. It avoids traveling by plane, subway, climbing skyscrapers...

2. Facilitates self-training and overlearning

The user no longer waits for the events to take place in real life, now he can reproduce them as many times as he wants, as many times as needed and as necessary. The person to be treated has an active and participating role.The person to be treated has an active and participating role, thus encouraging re-learning and behavior modification.

3. The psychologist has total control over the parameters

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

4. No imagination skills are required

Virtual reality does not require high imaginative skills 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 settings and the control panel. In addition the therapist can see at all times what the patient is seeingThis facilitates the detection of the most relevant stimuli.

It is also possible to design personalized exposure hierarchies, graduating 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, performing an exam or having a chat in a bar.

7. Ensure the user's privacy and safety.

If the patient feels uncomfortable at any time, it is as easy as removing the glasses, it is as easy as removing the glasses to take them back to a safe place. In addition, all Psious environments include the option to use instant relaxation and Mindfulness sessions.

8. Accessibility

This method is much easier than taking patients to any situation that makes them feel anxious or scared without leaving your office, thus saving time and money on travel or the purchase of transportation tickets such as airfare.

9. Patient monitoring and automatic reporting

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

10. Faster treatment

According to several studies, this treatment is more effective and immersiveand thus decreases the rate of patients who drop out of the practice.

Are there any risks to consider?

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, the use of flashing lights has been controlled in Psious when designing the environments.

Therapies and techniques to be used

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

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

In this electronic document you will learn more about...

• Virtual Reality and how to use it in clinical psychology.
• The positive and negative points of its use.
• How is an intervention dynamic in session.
• Tips according to the technique usedExposure therapy, Systematic desensitization, Activation control techniques, Cognitive restructuring, Mindfulness.
• What to answer to the patient when he/she asks...
• Bibliography of interest.

Bibliographical references:

• Gutiérrez, J (2002): Applications of virtual reality in clinical psychology.
• Aula médica de psiquiatría, 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