BIOFEEDBACK AND VIRTUAL REALITY FOR THE TREATMENT OF ANXIETY DISORDERS WEBINAR RECORDING
Presenter: Stéphane Bouchard
The webinar will begin with a review of the core features of effective psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. The role of exposure and inhibitory learning will be described, along with nuances to distinguish between therapeutic strategies that create more avoidance versus those that are effective. The limitations of standard exposure and the advantages of using virtual reality (VR) will be presented, with a focus on empirical evidences from clinical trials. The studies combining VR with biofeedback will be described with sufficient details to highlight the pros and cons of biofeedback. Current research trials will also be briefly mentioned. The webinar will include clinical illustrations and new opportunites to apply biofeedback in the treatment of complex anxiety disorders.
All views expressed in the recording are solely those of the presenters and participants.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, the learner will be able to:
1) Explain how to use virtual reality (VR) to treat anxiety disorders;
2) Discuss studies using VR combined with biofeedback;
3) Analyze the difference between a good and a bad use of biofeedback in VR in order to avoid pitfalls.
References
Bouchard S, Dumoulin S, Robillard G, et al. Virtual reality compared with in vivo exposure in the treatment of social anxiety disorder: a three-arm randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2017;210(4):276-283. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.116.184234
Gorini A, Griez E, Petrova A, Riva G. Assessment of the emotional responses produced by exposure to real food, virtual food and photographs of food in patients affected by eating disorders. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2010;9:30. Published 2010 Jul 5. doi:10.1186/1744-859X-9-30
Repetto, Claudia & Gaggioli, Andrea & Pallavicini, Federica & Cipresso, Pietro & Raspelli, Simona & Riva, Giuseppe. (2013). Virtual reality and mobile phones in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders: A phase-2 clinical trial. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. 17. 253-260. 10.1007/s00779-011-0467-0.
Salkevicius, Justas & Miskinyte, Audrone & Navickas, Lukas. (2019). Cloud Based Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Service for Public Speaking Anxiety. Information. 10. 62. 10.3390/info10020062.
van der Hoort B, Guterstam A, Ehrsson HH (2011) Being Barbie: The Size of One’s Own Body Determines the Perceived Size of the World. PLoS ONE 6(5): e20195. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0020195
About Stéphane Bouchard
Stephane Bouchard holds the Canada research Chair in clinical cyberpsychology and teaches psychotherapy and cyberpsychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in Canada. As a scientist-practitioner, his current research projects involve developing virtual environments to treat complex anxiety disorders, leading randomized control trials on the efficacy of in virtuo exposure for mental health disorders, and conducting experimental studies to understand why virtual reality is an effective treatment tool. His research lab holds Psyche, the only six-sided total immersion virtual reality system dedicated to mental health research. He has received more than 12 millions dollars in research funding, has published more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters, delivered hundreds of scientific communications around the world and is actively collaborating with researchers from around the globe. He is also the president of Cliniques and Development In Virtuo, a company that distributes virtual environments to mental health professionals.
