Improving Treatment of Phobias Using Virtual Reality

In my work as a clinical psychologist with Kaiser Permanente, I treat many adults with anxiety problems.

In 2010, I received an "Innovation Grant" for software and hardware to improve treatment of phobias, specifically fear of flying, fear of heights, and fear of public speaking, through the use of "Virtual Reality". As a result, I have been invited to showcase my Virtual Reality Innovation Project at an Innovation Retreat being held April 18-20 at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health in Washington DC for leaders within Kaiser Permanente from across the country. It is exciting to have been chosen.

Effective treatment for phobias exists. But to overcome a phobia, you have to face it and exposure to the feared situation can be difficult to arrange. Virtual Reality makes this easier.

The software and equipment create an immersive, 3-D environment that looks, sounds, and feels enough like reality to trigger your fear and permit effective cognitive-behavioral therapy to be conducted. You are guided by a therapist as you face and conquer your fear in a controlled, safe setting.

The results have been very exciting. Patients using virtual reality to assist in exposure find it realistic. Dramatic decreases in fear have occurred.