What’s Next in Mental Health?
What’s Next in Mental Health is a podcast for professionals and enthusiasts. It discusses key challenges, future visions and advances in the big picture of mental health. Topics range from neuroscience perspectives to reforming the diagnostic system and the future of psychedelic-assisted therapy. In each episode psychologist and psychotherapist Helena Service talks to an expert about their work and ideas about how to move the field forward.
What’s Next in Mental Health?
A Glimpse into VR Exposure Therapy (with Dr. Andrew Sherrill)
Virtual reality technology has been used for exposure therapy for decades but has not yet become mainstream in clinical practice. Advances in the gaming industry and recreational applications for VR have, however, made equipment increasingly affordable and available.
In this episode we discuss VR exposure therapy with Dr. Andrew Sherrill who is Assistant professor and clinical psychologist at the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program at Emory University School of Medicine and specializes in VR therapy for anxiety. Dr. Sherrill guides us through what VR exposure therapy is like in practice, why it is appealing, what limitations it has and what he thinks the future will bring.
Timestamps
00:00 Virtual reality exposure therapy in practice
18:00 Role of the clinician, self-help, telehealth and group therapy in VR
26:46 VR therapy results and patient preferences
31:50 Range of virtual environments in VR therapy
36:15 Fears and safety in VR exposure
42:44 Disadvantages of VR therapy
49:07 Future of VR therapy
Related material
NY Times: Virtual Reality Therapy Plunges Patients Back Into Trauma. Here Is Why Some Swear by It.
Overcoming Clinician Technophobia: What We Learned from Our Mass Exposure to Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic