University Connects With VR To Help Treat Fears And Phobias

Virtual reality (VR) technology produced by a local tech start-up company is being provided for free to Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Psychology Centre as an innovative tool to treat patients with anxieties and phobias.

The Psychology Centre, which is part of the Clinical Psychology Training Programme at UC and provides counselling services to community clients, has established a new partnership with oVRcome, which specialises in virtual reality exposure therapy.

The Christchurch company is allowing UC to use its VR headset and video library which offers therapy experiences tackling 18 different phobias such as fear of air travel, spiders, heights and public speaking.

After trialling the product through a research project at UC last year, the VR-based exposure therapy is now being used by clinical psychology trainees to treat a number of their patients.

UC Psychology Centre Clinic Director Dr Neil Thompson says the partnership will benefit the University’s clinical training programme by helping to upskill trainees in cutting-edge therapy techniques.

“It will mean our students have experience with VR-based exposure therapy which is a growing area, and it will also allow us to increase our capacity to provide treatment to clients from the community. It really streamlines our workload and provides new avenues for training and education.”

UC Psychology Centre Clinical Educator Sophia Bennetts says oVRcome’s video library for the VR package covers a broad range of anxieties and phobias. “It means you can use different levels of experiences, from mild to more intense, tailored to the client’s specific triggers.

“It reduces a lot of barriers for us, for example, to treat a lift phobia we can use VR instead of having to physically ride in a lift for hours. It reduces a lot of variables and makes everything more accessible.”

Dr Thompson says there is strong evidence for the effectiveness of using exposure therapy to treat phobias and anxieties. “Using VR is another way we can facilitate effective treatment for our clients. Once we understand their trigger points then we can teach them how to sit through difficult situations withrelaxation techniques such as deep breathing.

“Adding in the relaxation helps clients learn that their feared situations are safe and tolerable, undermining their automatic fear response.”

He says feedback from the 20 clients who have used it so far has been very positive. “Most of them have said they didn’t expect it to feel so real or to have such a strong physical response to what they’re seeing. It’s proving to be really helpful.”

oVRcome Founder Adam Hutchinson says there is worldwide demand for the company’s product. “We film all of our content so it’s real life, and it’s a 360-degree experience so the brain is tricked into feeling like it’s there. It’s very immersive.

“The advantage of VR exposure therapy is that it allows the therapist to identify a client’s specific triggers. The clients wear a Samsung Galaxy watch which measures their heartbeat and heart rate variability to detect fluctuations that indicate a higher or lower level of stress while using the Meta Quest Pro VR headset. Once we know potential stressors, we can start to tailor the VR content so it’s beneficial for them.”

Hutchinson says the partnership with UC will provide the company with valuable feedback and allow it to make improvements to its software based on real, anonymous data.

He says there is scope for the company to widen their VR-based therapy options to provide treatment for addictions, such as vaping addiction.

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