Virtual Reality Treatment At MindWell NYC

Are you afraid of public speaking? Terrified about going to the doctor’s office for a shot? Can’t go to high floors without panicking? Do tests keep you up all night?

At MindWell NYC we provide virtual reality exposure therapy, which allows you to experience simulated environments right from the safety of your therapist’s office! During virtual reality exposure therapy, you will wear goggles with computer-generated images and the therapist will guide you through different real-life scenes depending on your fear.

For example, if you are afraid of public speaking, the therapist can guide you through speaking in different environments such as an auditorium, broadcast television, or an office. If you are afraid of needles, your therapist will guide you through a waiting room and extraction scene. Your therapist can control various aspects of the scenes in order to tailor them to your specific fears.

How does virtual reality help?

Virtual reality is one modality of exposure therapy, and has been shown in research studies to effectively treat phobias. Exposure therapy is the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders, including phobias. It involves systematically facing the subject that you are afraid of, which helps you learn how to get more comfortable in the situation and better tolerate it. Have you ever heard of the saying, “if you fall off the horse get back on?” If you fall off a horse and then never get back on, you are telling your brain that horses are very dangerous and you must stay away from them. Even though it might feel relieving in the moment, avoiding horses will only increase your anxiety about them in the long run. 

 Exposure therapy helps you face your fears, “get back on the horse,” and live your life. Sometimes exposure therapy is done in real life situations. For example, if you are afraid of elevators, your therapist may go with you to ride different elevators. Other times, exposure therapy is done imaginally.  This means the therapist will have you imagine the situation you are afraid of and walk you through the different parts that are anxiety-provoking in order to help you tolerate them. 

At MindWell NYC, we also use virtual reality exposure therapy to simulate environments that people are afraid of where it would be difficult to do real-life exposures. For example, if you are afraid of flying, it is important to take an actual flight. However, in order to work up to that, it is not usually practical to go to the airport and take practice flights. This is where virtual reality comes into play. Virtual reality therapy allows you to take simulated flights right from your therapist’s office.

You may have concerns about virtual reality.

-What if it’s not realistic enough?  Science has shown that when you focus your attention on the virtual scene, your brain gets fully immersed and is able to react to it. This is like when you are watching a movie and you feel emotions, even though you know that the movie is not real. While the scenes are computer-generated, they are close enough to reality to allow your brain to fill in the rest. 

-But I will know that I’m really in your office. Yes, you will have a sense of being in the therapist’s office while you are participating in virtual reality therapy. However, the therapist will help you to get fully immersed in the scene so that you are still able to react to it even though you know that you are not actually there. 

-Are there any side effects? There are rarely any side effects to doing virtual reality. Sometimes when you first do it, you feel some dizziness. If this happens, you will stop the virtual reality and your therapist will help you re-acclimate to your environment. The dizziness disappears as your brain gets used to the virtual reality. 

-I have seizures, is virtual reality for me?  If you have epilepsy, talk to your doctor first before doing virtual reality. Virtual reality is not recommended for people with hypertension, vertigo, ear infections, recent surgical interventions, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy, or psychosis. If you are not sure if virtual reality would be a good fit for you, contact us by calling 646.809.5440 or clicking below. We are happy to answer any questions you have about the process.

Ready To Be Brave With MindWell NYC?

At MindWell NYC, we will work with you to create a treatment plan specifically targeting your anxiety or phobias. This plan may involve a combination of imaginal exposure, exposure in real life, and virtual reality exposure therapy. If you are ready to take control back and face your fears, or have questions about the program, please contact us for a free 15 minute phone consultation today by calling 646.809.5440 or clicking below. We look forward to hearing from you!