Virtual Reality Group Therapy for the Treatment of Depression: A Qualitative Study on Stakeholder Perspectives

Abstract

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.

Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next

“…The current survey asks therapists for the first time if therapists are already using immersive virtual reality to help treat their psychology therapy patients, and the current survey includes several exploratory questions to obtain an initial assessment of therapists reaction to the idea of using virtual reality during treatment. If the current trend is any indication, networked immersive VR therapy (and augmented reality therapy) may be used with increasing frequency in the future, (e.g., Dilgul et al, 2020) and it will be interesting to track whether therapists start using VR and, if so, the therapists' ratings of the pros and cons of immersive therapy in future surveys.…”

“…The essence of immersive virtual reality is the computer user's illusion of "being there" in the virtual world, as if the computer-generated environment is a place they are visiting (Slater et al, 1994). In the near future, with networked immersive virtual reality, therapists and patients in different physical locations will be able to "meet" and "be there together" in a shared computer-generated world designed for therapy sessions, including one-on-one sessions and group therapy sessions (e.g., Dilgul et al, 2020). Future studies may explore the use of new multimodal clinical telepsychology therapy treatment approaches that include networked shared immersive virtual reality technology.…”

The Influence of Avatar Embodiment on Time Perception - Towards VR for Time-Based Therapy

“…Most approaches regarding people suffering from schizophrenia or depression do not focus on the disturbed perception of time (Freeman et al, 2017). Patients in group therapies prefer the possibility of anonymization through an avatar (Dilgul et al, 2021). Hence it seems worthwhile to investigate the applicability of VR for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic methods based on time perception as depicted in Figure 1.…”

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

“…The transcripts were used for the basis of a thematic analysis and followed Braun and Clarke's [10] six step guide. The use of qualitative interviewing to obtain perspectives from potential future adopters of VR therapy follows other research such as Dilgul et al [15]; Kip et al [32]. When interpreting data, we were mindful of any subjective bias that might form, with Galdas [18] reporting on the need to employ mechanisms to minimize this.…”