Virtual Reality in Clinical Therapy

[Granite Maul]

Hello -

I am within the final year of earning my BA degree in psychology, and gearing up for pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology afterwards.
I am fine with the tedious 6-8 years of graduate school to end up earning only a slightly above average salary (I honestly enjoy the grind of school work). Private therapy is my end game; I like talking with people one on one for long periods of time.

I am very interested in the practice of virtual reality in a clinical setting. Does anyone with experience in this field see a future for utilizing VR in therapy sessions? Is clinical psychology the right path to follow for someone interested in VR therapy? Would it be wise to look into graduate schools in the pacific northwest (University of Washington Seattle) due to the focus on technology?

If my questions sound ill-informed and ignorant, I am only an ill-informed and ignorant undergraduate student. Please be gentle...

(edit: It's worth noting that I have talked to a prof I was doing research with over the summer and he gave some promising information about VR use in therapy.. The main point of this thread was to see if I could get some diverse information from someone besides my professor.)

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[G Costanza]

It's my understanding the VA is starting to use VR for PTSD exposure. Might be worth looking around at different VA locations and consider seeing if they accept prac students from nearbye schools.

 

[Granite Maul]

It's my understanding the VA is starting to use VR for PTSD exposure. Might be worth looking around at different VA locations and consider seeing if they accept prac students from nearbye schools.

Coincidentally one of the things that drew me to clinical psychology was treating vets with PTSD. Thank you.

 

[Ollie123]

We've done some playing around with it and a colleague had a grant using it. At best mixed results. Most of the research with it to date has been crap - a way to showcase technology for startups trying to market a product to practitioners who don't know any better. The tech still isn't very good (at least not for anything that can be customized - which for therapeutic purposes it inevitably would need to be). I'm not convinced it will ever beat traditional PE methods (imaginal), but who knows what the future holds. No harm in studying it, just recognize that a lot of folks are extremely skeptical right now.

Clin psych could get you into this, though for reasons noted above there aren't many working in that area presently. I'd look for folks doing the type of work you are interested in first - doesn't really make sense to pick school based on location. Mentor first, school second. Most of us have collaborators all over the country/world - its "nice" when something is local, but these days it hardly matters.

 

[deleted343839]

I think there could be a role for VR tech in therapy for some disorders. As of 2017 the hype has way outpaced the data to support its effectiveness or incremental value over conventional therapeutic techniques.

If you go down this path you should make sure that the mentor you work with has a history of publications and grant funding for this type of work (preferably from sources other than the companies that would profit from the technology).

 

[Granite Maul]

We've done some playing around with it and a colleague had a grant using it. At best mixed results. Most of the research with it to date has been crap - a way to showcase technology for startups trying to market a product to practitioners who don't know any better. The tech still isn't very good (at least not for anything that can be customized - which for therapeutic purposes it inevitably would need to be). I'm not convinced it will ever beat traditional PE methods (imaginal), but who knows what the future holds. No harm in studying it, just recognize that a lot of folks are extremely skeptical right now.

Clin psych could get you into this, though for reasons noted above there aren't many working in that area presently. I'd look for folks doing the type of work you are interested in first - doesn't really make sense to pick school based on location. Mentor first, school second. Most of us have collaborators all over the country/world - its "nice" when something is local, but these days it hardly matters.

Thank you. I still have plenty of time to continue my research in graduate programs that are relevant to my interests, so I will keep all of this in mind.

"Mentor first"

Do you mean the professor that I work with when I attend graduate school?

I think there could be a role for VR tech in therapy for some disorders. As of 2017 the hype has way outpaced the data to support its effectiveness or incremental value over conventional therapeutic techniques.

If you go down this path you should make sure that the mentor you work with has a history of publications and grant funding for this type of work (preferably from sources other than the companies that would profit from the technology).

Thank you.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

There are a few places researching VR in regard to treatment, with the most well known linked to (combat-related) PTSD. There is a large lab at UCSD that does VR work, though the main guy's name escapes me.

 

[Ollie123]

"Mentor first"

Do you mean the professor that I work with when I attend graduate school?

Precisely. In general, I'd recommend picking an advisor (and then perhaps ruling OUT certain schools) rather than school. Matters less if you want a primarily clinical career, but if you want to do research that is the way to go.

That is triply true in cases like this when you are interested in niche areas where there is a lot of skepticism. Doesn't matter how close your university is close to a tech hub if you propose a thesis idea to your mentor and they say "tech isn't there yet, not worth doing, try something else." Plus this kind of stuff is expensive/complex enough you can't really do it without support as a student anyways.

 

[Ollie123]

"Mentor first"

Do you mean the professor that I work with when I attend graduate school?

Precisely. In general, I'd recommend picking an advisor (and then perhaps ruling OUT certain schools) rather than school. Matters less if you want a primarily clinical career, but if you want to do research that is the way to go.

That is triply true in cases like this when you are interested in niche areas where there is a lot of skepticism. Doesn't matter how close your university is close to a tech hub if you propose a thesis idea to your mentor and they say "tech isn't there yet, not worth doing, try something else." Plus this kind of stuff is expensive/complex enough you can't really do it without support as a student anyways.

 

[Ollie123]

"Mentor first"

Do you mean the professor that I work with when I attend graduate school?

Precisely. In general, I'd recommend picking an advisor (and then perhaps ruling OUT certain schools) rather than school. Matters less if you want a primarily clinical career, but if you want to do research that is the way to go.

That is triply true in cases like this when you are interested in niche areas where there is a lot of skepticism. Doesn't matter how close your university is close to a tech hub if you propose a thesis idea to your mentor and they say "tech isn't there yet, not worth doing, try something else." Plus this kind of stuff is expensive/complex enough you can't really do it without support as a student anyways.