VR Therapy

VR Therapy

This article relates to Moderation

In Elaine Castillo's novel Moderation, content moderators working for a virtual reality platform are assigned to undergo mandatory VR therapy. This can look like meditation on a beach for employees experiencing general stress or standing on top of Big Ben for those afraid of heights. For Girlie, the book's protagonist, this therapy looks like finding empowerment in the form of VR swimming lessons. While parts of the novel's VR technology are speculative (the ability to taste food in VR is sadly not a reality yet), virtual reality is already being used for therapy in the real world—and signs point to its effectiveness.

The primary use of VR for mental health is exposure therapy. This involves exposing the client to potential triggers in a controlled environment, and can be effective for anxiety disorders, PTSD, and phobias. For instance, a person with an intense fear of flying may spend time in a VR environment that simulates being on a plane. As the scenario unfolds, the therapist can talk them through it. It's also being used to help people with social anxiety or autism practice social skills, generally with the therapist acting as the voice for characters the client encounters in the simulation.

VR exposure therapy can use senses other than sight for enhanced realism. For instance, it may use haptic vibrations to simulate a plane taking off. But unlike the VR platform in Moderation, today's virtual reality technology is not advanced enough to perfectly simulate real life. Experts say this can actually be beneficial for patients. Daniel Freeman, the founder of the University of Oxford VR lab for mental health disorders, tells the scientific publication Nature Medicine: "The beauty is that the conscious awareness of these simulations allows people to try things that they would be wary of in real life, but the learning leads to major benefits in day-to-day life."

Some barriers stand in the way of more widespread adoption of virtual reality by mental health providers. Though most use off-the-shelf VR headsets, which can run as low as a few hundred dollars, few commercially available software programs meet therapists' needs. Creating a specific scenario often means hiring a programmer. Additionally, few therapists are trained in using VR with clients, meaning others may lack the skills or confidence to do so effectively.

Experts believe VR therapy with a virtual therapist rather than a real one guiding the process can also be effective in some cases. The National Health Service in the U.K. has approved gameChange, a VR cognitive therapy tool where a virtual therapist (the prerecorded voice of a real person) guides users through various everyday activities that can cause anxiety. It's targeted at psychosis patients, who can experience intense anxiety about re-engaging with the outside world and sometimes exhibit severe agoraphobia. A study in Lancet Psychiatry found that the tool significantly reduced distress and avoidance of common situations, especially for patients with the most severe symptoms. It's worth noting that while this tool doesn’t require the active involvement of a therapist during the simulations, it's provided through mental health services and used under the general supervision of mental health staff.

VR is one of many tools mental health providers can draw on to help patients. For those in need of exposure therapy, it can be a game changer.

A physician at Southeast Louisiana VA uses VR technology to treat a veteran with PTSD, courtesy of US Department of Veterans Affairs

Filed under Medicine, Science and Tech

This article relates to Moderation. It first ran in the August 13, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.