Virtual Reality Therapy
To understand virtual reality therapy, you have to know what virtual reality (VR) is. VR refers to a virtual world that can be created through the use of technology. When you use VR equipment, you can enter a world that seems very real. Your senses accept this world almost completely while you’re in it. While it’s true that at any time, you can remind yourself that it isn’t real, you’ll physically and mentally respond to it in the moment as if it were real.
Virtual reality therapy makes use of a virtual world to put you in situations you can learn from. If the goal is to overcome a fear, you might be exposed to the thing you fear, with exposure gradually increasing over several sessions. The therapist also provides talk therapy before, after, and sometimes during your virtual experience to help you process what you’ve seen in the healthiest way possible.
Dr. Silverman also uses Virtual Reality to supplement CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). VR and CBT can be used together to help clients overcome fears, both through exposure and through replacing unhelpful thoughts with more beneficial ones. For example, a patient experiencing anxiety when talking with a spouse can simulate the experience and then regulate their emotions in a virtual relaxing world. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps them find new ways to think about their experiences and feelings. Because this all happens in the virtual world rather than at home, the therapist is right there with them, able to observe their reactions and help them make cognitive changes in the moment.
Dr. Silverman uses the Quest VR and Vive VR,
If you are curious to learn more about Quest VR and its technology, visit their site here. Vive VR can be found here.
Below is an informational video on how Virtual Reality Therapy works and what it is like.
If you are interested in trying out Virtual Reality for yourself, please feel free to book your first session here.
To see more Holistic sessions offered, please see more on Reiki, Healing Bowl Therapy, and Biofeedback.