East Providence, R.I. – Researchers at Bradley Hospital found that a virtual reality (VR) training program can help therapists feel more confident using exposure therapy and reduce their negative beliefs about it — even more than traditional classroom-style training alone. The study is one of the first to test how the level of immersion in VR affects therapist training, and it uses a clear framework aimed at addressing a major reason exposure therapy is underused.
Exposure therapy is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders, but many therapists avoid using it. A big reason is that some providers believe exposure therapy might overwhelm or scare patients. Training methods that help therapists overcome these concerns exist, but they’re often hard to access, inconsistent, or difficult to deliver the same way every time.
“VR gives us a scalable way to offer consistent, hands‑on practice,” said Joshua Kemp, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center at Bradley Hospital and innovation officer at Brown University Health’s Office of Research Administration. “Using our ‘exposure to exposure’ (E2E) framework, we designed VR training to help therapists face their own worries about exposure therapy.”
The study tested two versions of VR: one using a head‑mounted display (HMD) and one using a regular desktop computer. The results showed no major advantage for the more immersive headset. This suggests that simpler, more accessible VR setups may still provide enough of the “experience” needed to help therapists shift their beliefs.
The researchers say larger and more diverse studies are needed to confirm these results and to understand how VR‑based training might improve real‑world access to effective anxiety treatment.
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