Abstract
Understanding AVATAR therapy: who, or what, is changing?
Highlights
The experience of persistent, distressing auditory verbal hallucinations can be highly debilitating, and provision of better support for those affected is a priority for mental health services
Important questions remain regarding the role of AVATAR therapy in the resolution of ostensibly persistent auditory verbal hallucinations, and mechanisms of action that potentially contributed to remission for some participants versus quantitative reductions in distress for others
More information is needed on the developing phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations during the course of therapy; part of the method in later sessions is for the therapist to gradually adapt what the avatar says during dialogues, but this does not necessarily reflect changes to the voice per se
Summary
The experience of persistent, distressing auditory verbal hallucinations (known as hearing voices) can be highly debilitating, and provision of better support for those affected is a priority for mental health services. The authors noted reductions in the severity of auditory verbal hallucinations, as measured by PSYRATS–AH total score at 12 weeks after treatment, compared with an active control
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