BackgroundNon-attendance of treatment groups in the community has been a long-standing problem in mental health care. It has been found to have financial ramifications for services, worsen outcomes for those that do not attend and negatively impact on therapeutic group processes. There is a need to gain a better understanding of patients’ reasons for attending or not attending. This study aimed to explore patient views on facilitators and barriers to the attendance of treatment groups in the community.MethodsThe study used interview data collected as part of three studies that investigated treatment groups for psychiatric patients in the community. Sixty-seven interview transcripts were analysed using the framework method.ResultsFive themes relating to facilitators of group attendance were identified: opportunity for autonomy; self-acknowledging need and therapist encouragement; optimal group format and safe environment; interest in content and enjoyment; actual and expected benefits of attendance. Four themes related to barriers: not being sufficiently informed; concerns about social interactions and the unknown; limited accessibility; and negative group dynamics.ConclusionTo facilitate attendance and reduce attrition to treatment groups in the community clinicians should address patient’s wishes for information, capture their interest in the group modality, and potentially offer a ‘trial’ session. Furthermore, they should make the group location and time as accessible as possible and create a moderately sized group of six to eight patients. In these groups, mutual respect, feelings of safety and encouragement appear essential to make patients feel they can benefit from attendance.

Background: Cognitive behavioral group therapy alleviates depression by teaching patients to think and behave in more positive ways. Teletherapy (e.g., Zoom) is becoming more widely used, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (where meeting in person is not safe). The current study explores the acceptability of taking teletherapy to the next level: Virtual Reality Group Therapy (VRGT).Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore stakeholder views on VRGT. Ten depressed patients and ten therapists watched a demonstration video of the proposed VRGT intervention and tested the VR application using a stand-alone VR headset. In VRGT, patients will use an avatar to interact with each other and with their therapist via networked multiparticipant VR.Results: Therapists and patients generally responded favorably to the idea of doing group therapy sessions in VR. Patients especially liked the idea of remaining anonymous via an avatar. Patients and therapists both indicated that the anonymity provided by avatars could increase patient’s willingness to make disclosures (to talk more freely and honestly), which could increase participation and could lead to better group cohesion.Conclusion: Although the findings suggested that VRGT may be more acceptable for some patients than for others, overall, the response of the patients and therapists was largely positive. Recommendations from this study could be used during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver VRGTs. Finally, design ideas for creating a group VR world custom-designed for group therapy are discussed.

Background. Virtual reality (VR) has been effectively used in the treatment of many mental health disorders.However, significant gaps exist in the literature. There is no treatment framework for researchers to use when developing new VR treatments. One recommended treatment across a range of diagnoses, which may be suitable for use in VR treatments, is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The aim of this systematic review is to investigate CBT treatment methods that utilize VR to treat mental health disorders.Objectives. To investigate how CBT has been used in VR to treat mental health disorders and to report on the treatment characteristics (number of sessions, duration, and frequency) that are linked to effective and ineffective trials. Methods. Studies were included if patients had a mental health diagnosis and their treatment included immersive VR technology and CBT principles. Data were extracted in relation to treatment characteristics and outcomes, and analysed using narrative synthesis. Results. Ninety-three studies were analysed. Exposure-based VR treatments were mainly used to treat anxietyrelated disorders. Treatments generally consisted of eight sessions, once a week for approximately one hour. VR treatments were commonly equal to or more effective than 'traditional' face-to-face methods. No specific treatment characteristics were linked to this effectiveness. Conclusion. The number, frequency and duration of the VR treatment sessions identified in this review, could be used as a treatment framework by researchers and clinicians. This could potentially save researchers time and money when developing new interventions. АННОТАЦИЯ Введение. Виртуальная реальность (ВР) эффективно применяется при лечении многих психических расстройств. Тем не менее информации в литературе об использовании этого подхода недостаточно. В частности, отсутствуют данные по формату лечения, который могли бы использовать исследователи Применение когнитивно-поведенческой терапии в формате виртуальной реальности при различных психических состояниях: систематический обзор