Virtual reality exposure in the treatment of social anxiety

Abstract

Virtual reality as a medium for exposure therapy in the treatment of social anxiety was utilized in a private-practice setting for two different courses of individual treatment: weekly psychotherapy and a 3-day intensive course of therapy. Participants met diagnostic criteria for social phobia with prominent public speaking fears, and completed self-report questionnaires at pretreatment and posttreatment. During exposure therapy, participants were presented with a virtual audience, consisting of video of actual people embedded within a virtual classroom environment. Results indicated that treatment was successful as measured by completion of a behavioral avoidance test at the end of treatment, decreases in self-reported measures of public speaking anxiety comparable to controlled clinical outcome trials for social phobia, and qualitative feedback. Follow-up data, obtained from 1 participant, showed continued improvement after therapy was completed. These preliminary findings suggest that virtual reality may be a useful tool for exposure therapy within a comprehensive treatment of social anxiety.