VR-STEM
In dialogue with parent and child schema mode avatars.
Experiential psychological treatments, such as EMDR and schema therapy, which make use of imagery exercises, are becoming increasingly popular and are being offered more widely. Although many patients benefit from these approaches, there is also a substantial group of patients who do not see results because they struggle to visualise events. That is why, in this project, we are developing dialogues with virtual avatars that represent schema modes such as the ‘vulnerable child’ and comparing these with imagery dialogues as they are currently delivered. Patients visit the Virtual Reality lab once to undergo an exercise. We expect the VR exercises to be more effective, particularly for people who struggle with visualisation. If the VR exercises we have developed prove effective, this will offer new treatment options for people who currently do not benefit from existing treatments. The next steps will then be to develop and investigate a complete treatment programme consisting of such exercises.
Researchers
UMCG: Elise van der Stouwe & Marit Hidding
