The Timeline: A Qualitative Study Exploring Therapeutic Experiences in an Immersive Interactive Virtual Environment (IIVE) for Trauma Mental Healthcare

Abstract

When facilitating mental health interventions, therapists typically involve clients in discussion within a room containing seating and a table. We argue that digital technologies can be leveraged to encourage physiological, multisensory experiences for users to work through their challenges. In the context of trauma in mental healthcare, where the body's involvement can play a critical role in the recovery journey, such an approach can offer potential in altering the dynamic of how interventions are delivered and received. This infers a client-led process where environment and features become inclusive to a holistic treatment pathway. We developed an intervention called The Timeline, situated in an immersive interactive virtual environment (IIVE). The iterative process was informed by interviews with 12 "Experts by Profession", as frontline mental health workers with an average engagement of 16 years. We then invited 12 "Experts by Experience", with lived understanding of a range of trauma, to trial and evaluate the system at a UK-based hospital. We report on data from participants across both studies, evidencing how The Timeline, as bespoke content, could lead to participatory choice and personalized control in the context of dig-ital therapy. Finally, we discuss how IIVEs could become a new platform towards a more integrative therapeutic delivery in mental healthcare. CCS CONCEPTS• Applied computing Life and medical sciences; Health care information systems; • Human-centered computing Human computer interaction (HCI); Interaction paradigms; Virtual reality; Human computer interaction (HCI); Empirical studies in HCI.

The Intuitive Jacket: Creating A Wearable Interface Acknowledging the Role of the Body in Trauma Mental Health

“…It builds on evaluating the use of a digital mental healthcare intervention in an immersive interactive room and observing and gathering data from participants interacting directly with the technology. [2] A main action at the end of a session was for participants to close down "virtual doors" on their deep past. The original design used a virtual "button" on the wall which the user would touch.…”

“…We discovered that participants favour having options to build towards gaining control during the process, where being physically involved in the context of therapies can lead to autonomy. [2] However, currently interactions in virtual environments typically involve either handheld controllers which are more aligned to gaming; or simple gestures such as "virtual buttons" on the wall of an immersive room.…”