In today’s episode of Confessions of a CyberPsychologist, I chat to Dr Stéphane Bouchard w3.uqo.ca/cyberpsy. We talk about the benefits of Virtual Reality as a therapeutic tool and focus on:
00:33 How he originally got into using Virtual Reality (VR) as a therapeutic tool.
04:53 The difference between video-based or tele-psychotherapy and VR therapy, because there is a big difference between them.
07:18 The main areas of research that the lab covers at the University of Quebec – including managing anxiety through exposure therapy using VR.
19:05 The concept of ‘Presence’, why it is important in VR-based therapy, how it helps with overcoming anxiety and phobias and why Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) as a term is a misnomer.
37:40 How VR can be used as a medical treatment in managing acute pain (which is different from chronic pain) – especially when it comes to reducing the focus on the pain.
47:50 The advantages of VR as a therapy tool versus tools such as telepsychotherapy.- from a video conferencing perspective.
55:38 How effective VR is in helping change behaviour in those who struggle with specific disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), pathological gambling or sexual offences.
1:01:20 The benefits that those with neurocognitive issues or dementia patients can get from VR, including neurocognitive assessments and cognitive rehab.
1:07:16 The explanation of why some feel ‘unwanted negative symptoms induced by immersion in VR’ induced by the ‘decoupling of the sensors’ and some practice guidelines on how to mitigate the symptoms.
1:19:19 The differences in the response to VR therapeutic interventions by age.
1:23:27 The In Virtuo ( company developed to sell therapy tools to help fund the research lab work, and how to get in touch to find out more.
1:30:07 His books on virtual reality therapy including:
• ‘Advances in Virtual Reality and Anxiety Disorders’:
• Virtual Reality for Psychological and Neurocognitive Interventions:
1:35:10 How to get involved in the Quebec University CyberPsychology lab.
If you are interested in understanding a little more about VR as a form of therapeutic intervention, you will probably find this episode interesting.
#ConfessionsOfACyberPsychologist #CyberPsychology #Cybercology
Find out more about Dr Stéphane Bouchard and read the (AI generated) transcript of the episode here:
If you want to read more about Stéphanes’ research, check out his ORCiD profile listing:
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Cybercology is a CyberPsychology resource focusing on the psychology of adult digital technology use – at work, home and play. The vision is to empower individuals and organisations with the insights and tools to make better-informed decisions about technology use. The aim is to help us regain control of our digital technology use – making it work hard for us, rather than feeling a victim of the digital technology we own and use.
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