A psychology clinic on London’s Harley Street claims to be ‘pioneering the way for virtual reality (VR) to be used to treat a range of mental health issues’.
The Health Psychology Clinic says its ‘unique approach’, which involves ‘blending VR with more traditional treatment methods’, is seeing it successfully treat 90% of patients ‘across a range of conditions’, and ‘helping to further a new gold standard for the treatment of anxiety and phobia management’. The immersive VR technology, which includes a headset and earphones, ‘submerges patients into an alternate world they can interact with, helping them to confront perceived problems and challenges’. The Clinic said: “When combined with traditional cognitive behavioural therapy and biofeedback, virtual reality boasts an impressive 90% success rate.” (based on an assessment before starting treatment, evaluation during the process, and an evaluation at the end of the 12 therapy sessions).
Joanna Konstantopoulou, a Registered Health Psychologist and founder of the Clinic, said: “Virtual reality is still relatively new, and many of the developments focus on the entertainment industry, but it holds a huge amount of potential for treating mental health disorders. Since we began using it in 2017, we’ve seen exceptional results. As the technology further develops and professionals continue exploring how it can benefit patients, I expect VR to take centre stage.”
Joanna Konstantopoulou says VR technology allows her ‘to create a platform where patients can escape from their worries and break down concerns into manageable chunks, creating better ways of dealing with them’. The technology ‘has also proven vital’ for the treatment of phobias.